Microfluidic Cartridge Automates Nucleic Acid Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current Lab-On-a-Chip (LOC) systems for nucleic acid analysis require complex preliminary treatments, often performed by skilled personnel, due to the need for samples already treated with DNA/RNA extraction, which complicates the analysis process and limits their use in non-hospital environments for fast, automated, and inexpensive testing.
Innovation Solution
A miniaturized cartridge system that automates the extraction of nucleic acids from biological samples, using a control machine to perform all necessary steps from sample loading to nucleic acid extraction and analysis, leveraging gravity and suction pressure for fluid movement, and incorporating microfluidic valves and reagent containment units for efficient sample preparation and analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If samples are pre-treated with DNA/RNA extraction before analysis, then analysis accuracy is improved, but device complexity and operational difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple sample preparation steps (lysis, DNA/RNA extraction, purification) and analysis steps (amplification, detection) into a single integrated cartridge system. The cartridge contains all necessary reagents, magnetic beads for extraction, and microfluidic channels, eliminating the need for separate pre-treatment procedures and external equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The cartridge is divided into distinct functional zones including a lysis chamber, extraction chamber with magnetic bead retention area, purification chamber, and analysis chamber. Each zone performs a specific function in the sample preparation and analysis workflow, enabling automated sequential processing without manual intervention.
2Reliability
If skilled personnel perform preliminary treatments, then sample quality is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The cartridge system is designed to automatically perform all sample preparation steps without requiring skilled personnel. The system uses magnetic fields to manipulate beads, automated fluidics for reagent delivery and waste removal, and integrated thermal cycling for DNA amplification, making the entire process self-contained and operator-independent.
3Manufacturing precision
If complex pre-treatment procedures are used, then nucleic acid purity is improved, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The cartridge enables continuous automated processing where lysis, extraction, purification, and amplification occur in sequence without interruption or manual handling. Samples are processed continuously through the microfluidic channels, with reagents automatically delivered and waste continuously removed, maximizing throughput while maintaining purification quality.
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
Simplifies the treatment and analysis of samples by automating the extraction and analysis process, reducing the need for skilled personnel and enabling fast, automated, and cost-effective nucleic acid testing in various environments, while improving the efficiency and reliability of nucleic acid detection.
Implementation Method 1
a suction pressure generated by an external pump, which causes a liquid sample to be sucked into the extraction chamber (6)
Implementation Method 2
specific capture of the target molecule to be purified using appropriately functionalized magnetic beads
Data Source
AI summary
A sample treatment and molecule analysis cartridge is configured to be mounted in a treatment machine vertically. The cartridge has a sample inlet opening, a fluidic inlet, and a fluidic outlet. The cartridge houses an extraction chamber extending vertically from the sample inlet opening and connected to the fluidic inlet; a waste chamber extending vertically, alongside the extraction chamber; and a collector extending along the extraction chamber and the waste chamber and having a smaller height than the extraction chamber and the waste chamber. A fluidic circuit connects together the extraction chamber, the waste chamber, the collector, the fluidic inlet, and the fluidic outlet, and is configured to connect the fluidic outlet to vent openings of the extraction chamber, the waste chamber, and the collector, and to connect the bottom end of the extraction chamber to the fluidic inlet, the waste chamber, and the collector.