Electroosmotic Fluid Handling via Patterned Electrodes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for developing pharmaceutical therapies for cancer face challenges in minimizing toxicity while maximizing efficacy, particularly as patients become refractory to targeted therapies due to compensatory pathways becoming active, necessitating the need for efficient in vitro screening of combination therapies.
Innovation Solution
The development of devices utilizing a nanoporous membrane with electrodes to create a localized electric field, facilitating precise and accurate electroosmotic flow for the controlled delivery of fluids to specific regions, enabling the screening of combination therapies with high precision and accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional fluid delivery methods are used, then device complexity is reduced, but manufacturing precision and fluid delivery accuracy deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical pumping systems with electroosmotic flow generated by patterned electrodes. The electrodes create electric fields that drive fluid flow through the nanoporous membrane via electroosmosis, eliminating the need for mechanical pumps and valves while achieving precise fluid delivery control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses patterned electrodes with specific geometries (e.g., interdigitated, linear, circular patterns) that create localized electric fields at specific regions of the nanoporous membrane. This allows selective fluid delivery to defined regions, enabling precise control over where fluid is delivered while keeping the rest of the device simple.
2Manufacturing precision
If high precision fluid delivery is achieved through conventional means, then manufacturing precision improves, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical pumping and metering systems with electroosmotic flow control. By applying controlled voltages to patterned electrodes, the system achieves precise fluid delivery accuracy without mechanical complexity, as electroosmotic flow rate can be precisely controlled by voltage magnitude and duration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent controls fluid delivery precision by changing electrical parameters (voltage magnitude, pulse duration, frequency) rather than mechanical parameters. This allows precise control of fluid volume delivered through the nanoporous membrane by simply adjusting electrical input parameters, avoiding complex mechanical adjustment mechanisms.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
These devices allow for the precise delivery of defined volumes of solutions to biological material, enhancing the efficiency of drug screening and personalized medicine approaches by minimizing toxicity and maximizing therapeutic efficacy.
Implementation Method 1
The electrode or electrodes can provide a localized electric field across the nanoporous membrane, driving electroosmotic flow of a fluid between the fluid source and the fluid delivery region within the region of the electric field
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are devices for the controlled handling and delivery of solutions, as well as methods of making and using thereof. The devices can comprise a nanoporous membrane having a top surface and a bottom surface; a fluid source positioned in fluid contact with the bottom surface of the nanoporous membrane; and an electrode patterned on one or more of the surfaces of the nanoporous. membrane (e.g., on the top surface of the nanoporous membrane, on the bottom surface of the nanoporous membrane, or on both the top surface and the bottom surface of the nanoporous membrane). The electrode or electrodes are patterned so as to define a fluid delivery region in fluid contact with the top surface of the nanoporous membrane.