Sample Well Structure for Compact Integrated Sensor Bioassays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing nucleic acid sequencing methods require large, expensive laboratory equipment and trained personnel, and conventional bioassays involve bulk sample detection, making them inaccessible to regions lacking such facilities.
Innovation Solution
Development of compact, high-speed integrated sensor devices with pixelated sensors and pulsed excitation sources that eliminate the need for bulky optical filters, enabling miniaturized, disposable bioanalytical devices for on-site sample analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional bioassays use luminescent markers with laser light sources and detection optics, then detection precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the complex laser light source and luminescent detection optics from the system. Instead, it uses a simple LED excitation source that directly excites fluorescent markers, eliminating the need for complicated optical filters and detection systems while maintaining detection precision through the use of pulsed excitation and time-gated detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/optical complex system (laser sources, optical filters, bulky detection optics) with a simplified electronic control system that uses pulsed LED excitation and time-resolved detection. This substitution dramatically reduces device complexity while maintaining or improving measurement precision through temporal gating of the detection signal.
2Volume of moving object
If integrated sensor devices use compact pixelated sensors with pulsed excitation, then device size is reduced, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the device into modular components: pixelated sensor arrays with individual sample wells, integrated waveguides for light delivery, and separate LED excitation sources. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured and optimized independently, reducing overall device size while managing manufacturing precision requirements through standardized modular fabrication processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a nested structure where sample wells are positioned directly over waveguide outlets, which are integrated into the sensor substrate. The pixelated sensors are nested within the same substrate plane, creating a compact three-dimensional arrangement that minimizes device volume while maintaining precise spatial relationships through co-fabrication processes.
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
Facilitates cost-effective, portable nucleic acid sequencing and bioassays that can be performed anywhere, reducing costs and making advanced diagnostic tests accessible to regions without advanced laboratories.
Implementation Method 1
a waveguide configured to deliver excitation energy to the sample well and collect luminescent light from the sample
Implementation Method 2
a pixelated sensor configured to detect luminescent light emitted by the sample in response to pulsed excitation energy delivered to the sample by the waveguide
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
Methods of forming an integrated device, and in particular forming one or more sample wells in an integrated device, are described. The methods may involve forming a metal stack over a cladding layer, forming an aperture in the metal stack, forming first spacer material within the aperture, and forming a sample well by removing some of the cladding layer to extend a depth of the aperture into the cladding layer. In the resulting sample well, at least one portion of the first spacer material is in contact with at least one layer of the metal stack.