Laminate Fluidic Circuit With Flexible Conduit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fluid cartridge designs require lengthy development cycles for modifications to the fluidic circuit, limiting the ability to quickly implement design changes without extending the development process.
Innovation Solution
A laminate fluidic circuit with a multilayer substrate and flexible conduits that can be deflected to connect channels to fluid reservoirs, allowing for easy modification by adding layers and forming channels, and enabling fluid storage below the substrate, thus eliminating the need for valving and facilitating reagent transport.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a rigid plastic body with injected molding is used to form the cartridge, then the structural integrity and sealing are improved, but the development cycle is extended and design modifications become time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The cartridge is divided into separate functional layers (substrate layer, membrane layer, seal layer) that can be independently manufactured and then assembled. This segmentation allows each layer to be optimized separately and enables rapid modification of individual layers without remanufacturing the entire cartridge, thus reducing the development cycle while maintaining structural integrity through the layered assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The cartridge employs a composite structure combining rigid substrate materials with flexible membrane materials and seal layers. This composite approach provides both the structural integrity needed for cartridge functionality and the flexibility to modify individual layers independently, allowing design changes without extending the overall development cycle.
2Manufacturing precision
If a rigid plastic body with molded grooves is used, then the fluid channel definition is precise, but the flexibility for design changes is reduced and development time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fluid channel system is segmented across multiple layers, with the substrate layer providing precise channel definitions through molded grooves or raised features, while the membrane and seal layers can be independently modified. This allows design changes to be implemented in specific layers without affecting the precision of the channel definitions in other layers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from traditional two-dimensional planar channel definitions to a three-dimensional multi-layer structure. Channels are defined by the interaction of grooves and raised features across multiple layers, enabling complex fluid paths with higher precision while maintaining design flexibility through independent layer modification.
3Device complexity
If traditional molded cartridges are used, then the fluidic elements are integrated, but the ability to quickly implement design changes is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The cartridge is segmented into modular layers that can be independently designed, manufactured, and assembled. This modular architecture maintains the integration of fluidic elements (pumps, valves, channels) within the overall structure while allowing rapid modification of individual layers, significantly reducing the time required to implement design changes compared to traditional fully-molded integrated cartridges.
Solution Approach 2:
The cartridge design incorporates dynamic adaptability through its modular layered structure, where individual layers can be added, removed, or modified based on assay requirements. This dynamic approach allows the fluidic circuit configuration to be quickly adjusted for different applications without requiring complete remanufacturing, thus reducing design change implementation time while maintaining element integration.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus includes a fluid reservoir and a laminate fluidic circuit positioned above the fluid reservoir. The laminate fluidic circuit includes two or more layers laminated together to define a substantially planar substrate and one or more channels defined within the substrate. The laminate fluidic circuit includes a flexible conduit defined by a portion of the substrate encompassing an extent of at least one of the channels that is partially separated or separable from the remainder of the substrate. The flexible conduit is deflectable with respect to the planar substrate toward the fluid reservoir such that the flexible conduit fluidly connects the at least one channel to the fluid reservoir.