Nanopore Fluidic Device Stability via Segmented Membrane Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing nanopore devices and systems are not sufficiently robust, reproducible, or sensitive for practical implementation in demanding applications like genome sequencing, requiring improvements in stability and throughput.
Innovation Solution
The development of fluidic devices and nanopore instruments with support structures featuring well-defined apertures and membrane fragments that are temporarily bound over interstitial regions, allowing for enhanced stability during storage and shipping, and enabling reinsertion of nanopores into suspended membranes for operational use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If nanopores are suspended across the aperture of the well, then the device can perform sequencing operations, but the device becomes fragile and unstable during storage and shipping
Solution Approach 1:
The membrane is divided into multiple discrete fragments rather than maintaining a continuous suspended structure. These membrane fragments are distributed across the support structure, with nanopores bound to individual fragments, reducing the fragility associated with continuous membrane suspension while preserving nanopore functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure serves as an intermediary between the membrane fragments and the well aperture. Instead of directly suspending the membrane across the aperture, the support structure provides a stable platform that holds membrane fragments in position, decoupling the membrane from direct mechanical stress during storage and shipping.
2Ease of manufacture
If the device is designed for long-term storage without cold packs, then shipping costs and complexity are reduced, but maintaining functionality becomes more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The nanopores are pre-bound to the membrane fragments during manufacturing, and the membrane fragments are pre-positioned on the support structure in a stable configuration. This preliminary assembly allows the device to be stored in a non-functional but stable state, then activated by simple reconfiguration rather than requiring temperature-controlled storage throughout the supply chain.
Solution Approach 2:
The device transitions from a temperature-sensitive operational state requiring cold storage to a temperature-insensitive storage state through parameter changes in membrane configuration. By storing membrane fragments bound to the support structure rather than suspended membranes, the device becomes tolerant of temperature variations during shipping.
3Stability of the object's composition
If nanopores are temporarily bound to membrane fragments over interstitial regions, then the device becomes more robust during storage, but reassembly and reinsertion are required before use
Solution Approach 1:
The membrane configuration is made dynamic rather than static, allowing transition between a stable storage configuration (fragments bound over interstitial regions) and a functional operational configuration (membrane suspended across aperture with nanopores properly positioned). This dynamic reconfigurability enables the device to optimize for either stability or functionality as needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The nanopores are temporarily associated with membrane fragments during storage, then recovered and reinserted into the suspended membrane configuration for operation. This temporary association protects nanopores during storage while allowing their recovery and reuse in the functional configuration, minimizing permanent damage or degradation.
Data Source
AI summary
An example of a fluidic device includes a support structure, which defines a well and an interstitial region surrounding the well. An electrode is operatively positioned at a bottom of the well. Membrane fragments are bound over the interstitial region, and a nanopore, a nanopore subunit, or a combination thereof is bound over the interstitial region. The fluidic device may be incorporated into a nanopore instrument.