Cell Culture Device Interconnection via Discrete Fluid Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fluidic devices require complex and costly interconnection systems using tubing and valves, which lead to inefficiencies such as dead volume, fluid wastage, and increased complexity as the number of devices increases, and can result in delayed chemical signal transmission and pressure imbalances.
Innovation Solution
A liquid-handling system that uses a robotically controlled fluid collection device to transfer discrete volumes of fluid between cell culture or fluidic devices, eliminating the need for extensive tubing and valves, and allowing for various interconnection configurations and easy modification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If tubing and valves are used to interconnect fluidic devices, then fluid transfer between devices is enabled, but dead volume increases and fluid is wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the intermediate tubing and valve components from the fluid transfer path. Instead of using external tubing to connect devices, the invention integrates fluid transfer functionality directly into the device architecture through stacked microfluidic chambers that share common fluidic pathways, eliminating the need for separate connection elements that create dead volume and waste.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention combines multiple fluidic device functions into a single integrated stack where output chambers from one device directly interface with input chambers of another device in the same stack. This merging eliminates the need for separate tubing connections and reduces the overall fluid pathway length, thereby minimizing dead volume and fluid waste.
2Adaptability or versatility
If tubing is used to connect devices, then interconnection is achieved, but the system becomes complex and requires priming operations
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the fluidic system into discrete stacked devices, each containing multiple chambers. These segmented devices connect through standardized interfaces at their boundaries, allowing complex fluidic networks to be built from simple modular units without requiring complex individual tubing connections for each device pair.
Solution Approach 2:
The stacked device architecture provides universal interconnection capability where the same stack design can accommodate various fluid transfer configurations. The standardized chamber interfaces and shared fluidic pathways allow the system to perform multiple functions (perfusion, sampling, waste removal) without requiring different connection methods for each function.
3Adaptability or versatility
If extensive tubing is used for interconnection, then devices can be connected, but chemical signal transmission is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the long tubing pathways that delay chemical signal transmission. By removing the intermediate tubing and directly connecting output chambers to input chambers through shared fluidic pathways within the stack, chemical signals can propagate rapidly between devices without being delayed by long tubing routes.
4Stress or pressure
If pumps are added between devices to manage pressure, then pressure imbalances are corrected, but system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention combines pressure management functionality into the passive stack architecture itself. Devices within the stack share common fluidic pathways and pressure equilibrate naturally through these shared pathways without requiring active pump intervention between each device, thereby managing pressure balances while maintaining system simplicity.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods interconnect cell culture devices and/or fluidic devices by transferring discrete volumes of fluid between devices. A liquid-handling system collects a volume of fluid from at least one source device and deposits the fluid into at least one destination device. In some embodiments, a liquid-handling robot actuates the movement and operation of a fluid collection device in an automated manner to transfer the fluid between the at least one source device and the at least one destination device. In some cases, the at least one source device and the at least one destination device are cell culture devices. The at least one source device and the at least one destination device may be microfluidic or non-microfluidic devices. In some cases, the cell culture devices may be microfluidic cell culture devices. In further cases, the microfluidic cell culture devices may include organ-chips.