555 results about "Microfluidic channel" patented technology

A biochip and apparatus is disclosed for performing biological assays in a self-contained microfluidic platform. The disposable biochip for multi-step reactions comprises a body structure with a plurality of reagent cavities and reaction wells connected via microfluidic channels; the reagent cavities with reagent sealing means for storing a plurality of reagents; the reagent sealing means being breakable and allowing a sequence of reagents to be released into microfluidic channel and reaction well; and the reaction well allowing multi-step reactions to occur. The apparatus may further comprise a microactuator, a heating and cooling element, a detector, a moving stage, a magnetic field generator, and a processor operable to perform all necessary functions, such as reagent delivery, magnetic purification, mixing and incubation, heating and cooling, and optical detection on a microfluidic biochip.

The present invention provides microfluidic devices and methods using the same in various types of thermal cycling reactions. Certaom devices include a rotary microfluidic channel and a plurality of temperature regions at different locations along the rotary microfluidic channel at which temperature is regulated. Solution can be repeatedly passed through the temperature regions such that the solution is exposed to different temperatures. Other microfluidic devices include an array of reaction chambers formed by intersecting vertical and horizontal flow channels, with the ability to regulate temperature at the reaction chambers. The microfluidic devices can be used to conduct a number of different analyses, including various primer extension reactions and nucleic acid amplification reactions.

Apparatus and Methods are provided for a microfabricated fluorescence activated cell sorter based on an optical switch for rapid, active control of cell routing through a microfluidic channel network. This sorter enables low-stress, highly efficient sorting of populations of small numbers of cells (i.e., 1000-100,000 cells). The invention includes packaging of the microfluidic channel network in a self-contained plastic cartridge that enables microfluidic channel network to macro-scale instrument interconnect, in a sterile, disposable format.

An apparatus for conducting a microfluidic process and analysis, including at least one elongated microfluidic channel, fluidic transport means for transport of fluids through the microfluidic channel, and at least one thick-film electrode in fluidic connection with the outlet end of the microfluidic channel. The present invention includes an integrated on-chip combination reaction, separation and thick-film electrochemical detection microsystem, for use in detection of a wide range of analytes, and methods for the use thereof.

A device, method and process for three-dimensional spatial localization and functional interconnection of the same or different types of cells. The two or three-dimensional device comprising multiple layers containing wells for cell deposition where both the wells and layers are interconnected through microfluidic channels. A process for fabricating the three-dimensional device and a method for depositing different types of cells within the device in a functional interdependent spatial orientation thereby mimicking physiological functions. The device is useful for diagnostic assays, determination of dysfunction of certain cells in the system, quantification of production of cellular proteins, metabolites, hormones or other cellular products, for organ or tissue replacement, for co-culturing different cells, for testing pharmaceutical agents and as a bioreactor for production of biologicals.

The present invention describes methods and cassettes for cell-based toxin detection and organ localization. The cassettes includes an array containing cells and a matrix of openings or depressions, wherein each region of the substrate enclosed by the opening or depression in the matrix forms a domain individually addressable by microfluidic channels in the device.

A method for forming monodisperse lipoplex assemblies includes providing a microfluidic device having a main microfluidic channel coupled to first and second reactant inlet channels. The first inlet channel is used to deliver a cationic lipid to the main channel while the second channel is used to deliver a nucleic acid. A droplet generation zone is provided in the main channel at the intersection of first and second carrier channels that contain a hydrophobic fluid. The cationic lipid, nucleic acid, and the hydrophobic fluid are then pumped through the device. In the droplet generation zone, shear force from the hydrophobic fluid pinches off droplets. The cationic lipid and nucleic acid are mixed in the generated droplets as the droplets move within a mixing region. A plurality of splitting channels may be coupled to the outlet of the device to produce smaller, monodisperse droplets having picoliter volumes.

The present invention provides novel microfluidic devices and methods for preventing/ameliorating formation of precipitate blockages in microfluidic devices. In particular the devices and methods of the invention utilize microchannels of specific cross-sectional configuration and of specific arrangement as well as application of AC current orthogonal to the direction of fluid flow, in order to preventing/ameliorating formation of precipitate blockages in microfluidic devices.

Described herein is microfluidic device for joining fluids and a related method for doing the same. The device according to the present invention includes a microfluidic junction, an outlet channel, and a plurality of circuit units. A microfluidic junction is an area for converging multiple fluids. An outlet channel is capable of receiving fluid from the microfluidic junction. An outlet channel includes a first end connected with the microfluidic junction, a second end connected with a waste reservoir, and an analysis region positioned between the first end and the second end of the outlet channel. The device also includes a plurality of circuit units. Each circuit unit includes a source channel with a first end capable of receiving sample fluid and a second end connected with the microfluidic junction; a branch channel connected with the source channel at an intersection; and a flow diversion system capable of differentially directing fluid flowing through a source channel either into the microfluidic junction or into a branch channel.

The present invention relates to microfluidic laminar flow detection strip devices and methods for using and making the same. The disclosed devices comprise: a first inlet; a microfluidic channel having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end is fluidly connected to the first inlet; a bellows pump fluidly connected to the second end of the microfluidic channel, wherein the bellows pump comprises an absorbent material disposed therein; a dried reagent zone within the microfluidic channel, wherein the dried reagent zone comprises a first reagent and a control reagent printed thereon, the first reagent comprising a first detection antibody conjugated to a dyed substrate bead or functionalized for colorimetric development, and the control reagent comprising a control detection antibody conjugated to a dyed substrate bead or functionalized for calorimetric development; a first bound antibody zone within the microfluidic channel, wherein the first bound antibody zone comprises a first bound antibody printed thereon; and a control zone within the microfluidic channel, wherein the control zone comprises a control bound antibody printed thereon.

The object of the present invention is to provide a sample assay structure in a microfluidic chip for quantitative analysis which comprises a sample inlet port for inputting a testing sample; an analyte detection region, coupled to the sample inlet port, consisting of at least one microfluidic channel, in which a plurality of immobilized substances capable of reacting with the analyte are placed; and a fluid driving device, capable of controlling the speed of the flow of the test sample through the analyte detection region, allowing the quantity of the analyte be indicated by the length of the portion of the microfluidic channel where the analyte reacted with the immobilized substances.

This invention provides microfluidic devices that comprise a fluidics layer having microfluidic channels and one or more regulating layers that regulate the movement of fluid in the channels. The microfluidic devices can be used to mix one or more fluids. At least a portion of the fluidics layer can be isolated from the regulating layer, for example in the form of a shelf. Such isolated portions can be used as areas in which the temperature of liquids is controlled. Also provided are instruments including thermal control devices into which the microfluidic device is engaged so that the thermal control device controls temperature in the isolated portion, and a movable magnetic assembly including magnets with shields so that a focused magnetic field can be applied to or withdrawn from the isolated portion or any other portion of the microfluidic device. Also provided are methods of mixing fluids. The methods include stacking a plurality of alternating boluses of different liquids in a microfluidic channel, and moving the stacked boluses through the channel. In another method, the boluses are moved into a diaphragm valve having a volume able to accommodate several boluses, and then pumping the liquids out of the valve.

A device for detecting a presence of an analyte in a sample. The device comprises a device body configured with at least one reaction chamber configured for containing a sensor capable of producing a detectable signal when exposed to the analyte in the sample. The reaction chambers are in fluid communication with at least one sample port and at least one actuator port via a first set of microfluidic channels arranged such that application of a negative pressure to actuator port delivers fluid placed in the sample port to the reaction chambers.

The present invention discloses a method of surface texturing at nano/micro-scale by aluminum-induced rapid crystallization of amorphous silicon for controlling the wettability of a surface, enhancing cell attachment to a surface, and promoting cell growth on a surface. The present invention can be used in a variety of applications, such as producing superhydrophobic or superhydrophilic surfaces for medical devices, microelectromechanical systems, and microfluidic channels.

Methods and apparatus are provided for analysis and correlation of phenotypic and genotypic information for a high throughput sample on a cell by cell basis. Cells are isolated and sequentially analyzed for phenotypic information and genotypic information which is then correlated. Methods for correlating the phenotype-genotype information of a sample population can be performed on a continuous flow sample within a microfluidic channel network or alternatively on a sample preloaded into a nano-well array chip. The methods for performing the phenotype-genotype analysis and correlation are scalable for samples numbering in the hundreds of cells to thousands of cells up to the tens and hundreds of thousand cells.

Disclosed is a method for fabricating 1-dimensional micro-arrays using parallel micro-fluidic channels on chemically-modified metal, carbon, silicon, and/or germanium surfaces; a muL detection volume method that uses 2-dimensional nucleic acid micro-arrays formed by employing the 1-dimensional DNA micro-arrays in conjunction with a second set of parallel micro-fluidic channels for solution delivery, and the 1-dimensional and 2-dimensional arrays used in the methods. The methodology allows the rapid creation of 1- and 2-dimensional arrays for SPR imaging and fluorescence imaging of DNA-DNA, DNA-RNA, DNA-protein, and protein-protein binding events. The invention enables very small volumes necessary for a variety of bioassay applications to be analyzed by SPR. Target solution volumes as small as 200 pL can be analyzed.

A miniaturized, integrated, microfluidic device pulls materials bound to magnetic particles from one laminar flow path to another by applying a local magnetic field gradient. The device removes microbial and mammalian cells from flowing biological fluids without any wash steps. A microfabricated high-gradient magnetic field concentrator (HGMC) is integrated at one side of a microfluidic channel. When magnetic particles are introduced into one flow path, they remain limited to that flow path. When the HGMC is magnetized, the magnetic beads are pulled from the initial flow path into the collection stream, thereby cleansing the fluid. The microdevice allows large numbers of beads and materials to be sorted simultaneously, has no capacity limit, does not lose separation efficiency as particles are removed, and is useful for cell separations from blood and other biological fluids. This on-chip separator allows cell separations to be performed in the field outside of hospitals and laboratories.

A method for preparing microcapsules using a droplet-based microfluidic chip. Monodisperse microcapsules, which are hollow or can be loaded with a desired material, are prepared using a droplet-based microfluidic chip through the movement of a monomer molecule from the inside of droplets to the interface of droplets, the diffusion of a photoinitiator to the interface of droplets, and the suppression of radical activity by oxygen in droplets. The method involves the use of a simple microfluidic channel and selectively photopolymerizing the shell of the droplets without needing the use of a chemically treated microfluidic channel or a complex microfluidic channel.

An active micromixer uses a surface acoustic wave, preferably a Rayleigh wave, propagating on a piezoelectric substrate to induce acoustic streaming in a fluid in a microfluidic channel. The surface acoustic wave can be generated by applying an RF excitation signal to at least one interdigital transducer on the piezoelectric substrate. The active micromixer can rapidly mix quiescent fluids or laminar streams in low Reynolds number flows. The active micromixer has no moving parts (other than the SAW transducer) and is, therefore, more reliable, less damaging to sensitive fluids, and less susceptible to fouling and channel clogging than other types of active and passive micromixers. The active micromixer is adaptable to a wide range of geometries, can be easily fabricated, and can be integrated in a microfluidic system, reducing dead volume. Finally, the active micromixer has on-demand on/off mixing capability and can be operated at low power.

Microfluidic devices with porous membranes for molecular sieving, metering, and separation of analyte fluids. In one aspect, a microfluidic device includes a substrate having input and output microfluidic channel sections separated by a porous membrane formed integral to the substrate. In another aspect, the porous membrane may comprise a thin membrane that is sandwiched between upper and lower substrate members. The microfluidic device may include one or a plurality of porous membranes. In one embodiment, a plurality of porous membranes having increasingly smaller pores are disposed along portions of a microfluidic channel. In another embodiment, a cascading series of upper and lower channels are employed, wherein each upper/lower channel interface is separated by a respective porous membrane. In another aspect, a porous membrane is rotatably coupled to a substrate within a microfluidic channel via a MEMS actuator to enable the porous membrane to be positioned in filtering and pass-through positions.

Disclosed is an apparatus and method for the mixing of two microfluidic channels wherein several wells are oriented diagonally across the width of a mixing channel. The device effectively mixes the confluent streams with electrokinetic flow, and to a lesser degree, with pressure driven flow. The device and method may be further adapted to split a pair of confluent streams into two or more streams of equal or non-equal concentrations of reactants. Further, under electrokinetic flow, the surfaces of said wells may be specially coated so that the differing electroosmotic mobility between the surfaces of the wells and the surfaces of the channel may increase the mixing efficiency. The device and method are applicable to the steady state mixing as well as the dynamic application of mixing a plug of reagent with a confluent stream.

The invention relates to a micro-fluidic chip and a micro-fluidic chip system for single cell analysis and a single cell analyzing method. The micro-fluidic chip for single cell analysis comprises a transparent top cover, a microfluid channel, a substrate with a micropore array and a bottom plate with a cavity body, which are sequentially connected from top to bottom in a sealing manner, wherein the transparent top cover is provided with an inflow hole and an outflow hole which are used for communicating the outside and the microfluid channel, the micropore array of the substrate is arranged below the microfluid channel and is communicated with the microfluid channel, each micropore is internally provided with an electrode, each electrode is provided with a cathode and an anode, each micropore can contain a single cell only, the bottom of each micropore is provided with a channel which is communicated with the cavity body of the bottom plate, and the cross section of the channel is smaller than the size of each single cell. With the adoption of the micro-fluidic chip, the micro-fluidic chip system and the single cell analyzing method, the capturing, identifying and disruption processes of each single cell are integrated on one micro-fluidic chip; as a corresponding operation method is provided, the content of each single cell is rapidly acquired and accurately analyzed.

The present invention describes improved microfluidic systems and procedures for fabricating improved microfluidic systems, which contain one or more levels of microfluidic channels. The methods for fabrication the systems disclosed can provide a convenient route to topologically complex and improved microfluidic systems. The microfluidic systems can include three-dimensionally arrayed networks of fluid flow paths therein including channels that cross over or under other channels of the network without physical intersection at the points of cross over. The microfluidic networks can be fabricated via replica molding processes utilizing mold masters including surfaces having topological features formed by photolithography. The present invention also involves microfluidic systems and methods for fabricating complex patterns of materials, such as biological materials and cells, on surfaces utilizing the microfluidic systems. Specifically, the invention provides microfluidic surface patterning systems and methods for fabricating complex, discontinuous patterns on surfaces that can incorporate or deposit multiple materials onto the surfaces. The present invention also provides improved microfluidic stamps or applicators for microcontact surface patterning, which are able to pattern onto a surface arbitrary two-dimensional patterns, and which are able to pattern multiple substances onto a surface without the need for multiple steps of registration or stamping during patterning and without the need to selectively “ink” different regions of the stamp with different materials.

The present invention relates to a monolithic biomaterial. The monolithic biomaterial has a primary network of convective flow, microfluidic channels that are embedded in a substrate, where the substrate is diffusively permeable to aqueous solutes. The present invention also relates to a method of making the monolithic biomaterial, as well as methods of using the monolithic biomaterial to facilitate healing of a cutaneous wound of a mammalian subject and of regulating cells.

An optical system for acquiring fast spectra from spatially channel arrays includes a light source for producing a light beam that passes through the microfluidic chip or the channel to be monitored, one or more lenses or optical fibers for capturing the light from the light source after interaction with the particles or chemicals in the microfluidic channels, and one or more detectors. The detectors, which may include light amplifying elements, detect each light signal and transducer the light signal into an electronic signal. The electronic signals, each representing the intensity of an optical signal, pass from each detector to an electronic data acquisition system for analysis. The light amplifying element or elements may comprise an array of phototubes, a multianode phototube, or a multichannel plate based image intensifier coupled to an array of photodiode detectors.

A method for fabricating a microfluidic device where first and second substantially flat platens are provided. Multiple substantially planar, substantially metal-free, adhesiveless polymer device layers, the device layers including a first cover layer, second cover layer, and at least one stencil layer defining a microfluidic channel penetrating through the entire thickness of the stencil layer also are provided. Each stencil layer is disposed between other device layers such that the channel is bounded laterally by a stencil layer, and bounded from above and below by surrounding device layers to define an upper channel surface and a lower channel surface. The device layers are stacked between the first platen and the second platen. The stacked device layers are controllably heated according to a heating profile adapted to form a substantially sealed adhesiveless microfluidic device wherein each upper channel surface remains distinct from its corresponding lower channel surface. The resulting microfluidic device has high inter-layer bond strength while preserving the integrity of the channel(s) defined in the stencil layer(s).

Robust microfluidic mixing devices mix multiple fluid streams passively, without the use of moving parts. In one embodiment, these devices contain microfluidic channels that are formed in various layers of a three-dimensional structure. Mixing may be accomplished with various manipulations of fluid flow paths and/or contacts between fluid streams. In various embodiments, structures such as channel overlaps, slits, converging/diverging regions, turns, and/or apertures may be designed into a mixing device. Mixing devices may be rapidly constructed and prototyped using a stencil construction method in which channels are cut through the entire thickness of a material layer, although other construction methods including surface micromachining techniques may be used.

An apparatus and method for analyzing biological cells and other particles using an external laser cavity. Microfluidic channels contain and transport biological cells to be analyzed. A laser diode provides light for cell analysis. An external cavity is provided between one surface of the laser diode and a mirror opposite thereto. A microlens set focuses the light on only one cell as it passes through the external cavity. The presence of the cell in the external cavity gives a weak feedback toward the laser diode. The emission frequency and the output power of the laser are both functions of the length of the external cavity. Therefore, the variation of cavity length can be deduced from these parameters, where the variation is caused by changing the refractive index or size of the cell in the cavity.

Methods and apparatus are provided for mixing fluids. In one embodiment of the invention, a fluid mixer is provided including one or more fluid inlet ports, a curved channel connected to the one or more fluid inlet ports including a first curved channel section and a second curved channel section disposed adjacent the first curved channel section, and an outlet port disposed adjacent the second curved channel section. In another embodiment of the invention, a method is provided for mixing fluids in a channel, including providing a channel having a first curved channel section, and a second curved channel section, providing the two or more parallel fluid streams into the second curved channel section of the channel, mixing the two or more parallel fluid streams in the first curved channel section of the channel, and mixing the two or more parallel fluid streams in the second curved channel section of the channel.

Planar waveguide based grating devices and spectrometers, for species-specific wavelength detection for example, are disclosed. A planar waveguide spectrometer apparatus may have a microfluidic channel or compartment microfabricated integrally with a planar waveguide or hybrid assembled with the planar waveguide and optically coupled thereto. The planar waveguide may also include a thin planar substrate which is made of a transparent waveguiding optical material and has a planar multilayer, one or more input waveguides, a waveguide-based spectrometer, and one or more output waveguides integrally formed thereon. An apparatus which incorporates a planar waveguide, a diffractive construct for diffracting light through the planar waveguide onto a curved image surface, and a plurality of output waveguides emanating from the curved image surface at locations selected to extract predetermined wavelengths or wavelength ranges, is also disclosed.