Gas-Phase Seal Flow System for Digital Counting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing digital detection techniques face challenges in maintaining microdroplets for extended periods due to rapid evaporation, especially in micro-well and capillary arrays, and chemical seals can lead to sample loss and contamination.
Innovation Solution
A flow system with a gas-phase seal is introduced, using a channel-shaped flow compartment with hydrophilic features on a hydrophobic substrate, where the geometry is designed to minimize evaporation by maintaining a vapor pressure that reduces the evaporation rate of nano-to-attoliter droplets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If micro-well or capillary arrays are used for digital detection, then sample partitioning is achieved, but droplet evaporation occurs rapidly and liquid exchange is slow due to diffusion limitations
Solution Approach 1:
A gas-phase seal acts as an intermediary between the droplet and ambient environment, controlling the vapor pressure environment to reduce evaporation rate without requiring physical contact or chemical interaction with the droplet contents
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the vapor pressure parameter of the surrounding gas phase to match or exceed the droplet's vapor pressure, thereby reducing the evaporation driving force and stabilizing droplet volume over time
2Duration of action of moving object
If chemical seals are used to prevent evaporation, then droplet stability is improved, but sample loss and contamination occur
Solution Approach 1:
The gas-phase seal serves as a non-invasive intermediary that prevents evaporation through vapor pressure control rather than direct chemical interaction, eliminating sample loss and contamination issues associated with chemical seals
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces chemical sealing mechanisms with a gas-phase vapor pressure control system, substituting chemical interactions with a physical gas-phase environment that achieves the same evaporation prevention function without contact with the sample
3Measurement precision
If micro-well arrays are used for sample partitioning, then digital counting is enabled, but reagent exchange is slow due to diffusion limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the liquid phase from the micro-well compartments, replacing it with a gas-phase seal environment that allows rapid reagent exchange while maintaining droplet stability through vapor pressure control
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
This approach effectively reduces droplet evaporation, allowing for stable microdroplets that can be used for digital counting of analytes, preventing sample loss and contamination while enabling easy reagent exchange without the need for physical or chemical seals.
Implementation Method 1
the geometry is designed to minimize evaporation by maintaining a vapor pressure that reduces the evaporation rate of nano-to-attoliter droplets
Implementation Method 2
rapid evaporation, especially in micro-well and capillary arrays
Implementation Method 3
a flow system with a gas-phase seal is introduced, using a channel-shaped flow compartment with hydrophilic features on a hydrophobic substrate
Implementation Method 4
hydrophilic features on a hydrophobic substrate
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to methods and systems for testing for the presence of a material such as one or more analyte types within a sample and more particularly, for improved single enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (sELISA) testing as well as other variants of single-enzyme linked molecular analysis (SELMA).