Electropipettor and compensation means for electrophoretic bias
First Claim
1. A microfluidic system with compensation for electrophoretic bias, comprising a capillary channel having sides, a first end and a second end, said capillary channel further divided into first and second portions, said sides of said first and second portions having surface charges of opposite polarities;
- and a first electrode at said first end;
a second electrode between said first and second portions of said capillary channel; and
a third electrode at said second end, said first, second and third electrodes set at voltages such that a fluid is electroosmotically pumped through said first and second portions from said first end to said second end, and electrophoretic movement in said second portion is opposite to electrophoretic movement in said first portion.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A channel (140) is divised into portions (142, 144). The sidewalls of each channel portion (142, 144) have surface charges of opposite polarity. The two channel portions (142, 144) are physically connected together by a salt bridge (133), such as a glass frit or gel layer. The salt bridge (133) separates the fluids in channel (140) from an ionic fluid reservoir (135). To impart electroosmotic and electrophoretic forces along the channel (140) between parts A and B, respectively. Additionally, a third electrode (137) is placed in the reservoir (135).
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Citations
69 Claims
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1. A microfluidic system with compensation for electrophoretic bias, comprising
a capillary channel having sides, a first end and a second end, said capillary channel further divided into first and second portions, said sides of said first and second portions having surface charges of opposite polarities; - and
a first electrode at said first end;
a second electrode between said first and second portions of said capillary channel; and
a third electrode at said second end, said first, second and third electrodes set at voltages such that a fluid is electroosmotically pumped through said first and second portions from said first end to said second end, and electrophoretic movement in said second portion is opposite to electrophoretic movement in said first portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A microfluidic system with compensation for electrophoretic bias, comprising
a first capillary channel; -
a second capillary channel intersecting said first capillary channel; and
a chamber at said intersection of said first and second capillary channels shaped such that a region containing subject material moving from said first capillary channel to said second capillary channel is mixed to compensate for electrophoretic bias in moving along said first capillary channel. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An electropipettor for introducing materials into a microfluidic system, said electropipettor fluidly connected to said microfluidic system, said electropipettor comprising
a capillary channel having an end for contacting at least one source of said materials; - and
a voltage source for applying a voltage between said one source of said materials and a second electrode in said microfluidic system when said capillary channel end contacts said one source of said materials such that material from said one source is electrokinetically introduced into said electropipettor toward said microfluidic system. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. An electropipettor for introducing subject materials into a microfluidic system, said electropipettor fluidly connected to said microfluidic system, said electropipettor comprising
a first capillary channel having a first end for contacting at least one source of said subject materials and a second end terminating in said microfluidic system; -
a second capillary channel having a first end terminating near said first end of said first capillary channel and a second end terminating in a source of first spacer material;
a voltage source for applying voltages between said at least one subject material source and said microfluidic system, and between said first spacer material source and said microfluidic system such that subject material from said one subject material source and spacer material from said first spacer material source are electrokinetically introduced into said electropipettor toward said microfluidic system. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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20. A method of introducing materials from a plurality of sources into a microfluidic system, said microfluidic system having a capillary channel having an end, a voltage source for applying a voltage potential to an electrode in said microfluidic system, said method comprising
contacting said capillary channel end to a subject material source; -
applying a voltage to said subject material source with respect to said electrode such that subject material from said source is electrokinetically introduced into said capillary channel toward said microfluidic system;
selecting a source of spacer material, said spacer material having a predetermined ionic concentration;
contacting said capillary channel end into said source of spacer material;
applying a voltage to said spacer material source with respect to said electrode such that said spacer material is electrokinetically introduced into said capillary channel next to said subject material; and
repeating the steps above with different material sources so that a plurality of different materials separated by spacer material is electrokinetically introduced into said capillary channel and transported toward said microfluidic system without intermixing said different materials. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A microfluidic system for moving a plurality of subject materials from a first location to a second location along a channel, said microfluidic system comprising:
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a source for creating a voltage difference across said first location and said second location;
a plurality of subject material regions in said channel, said subject material regions separated by first spacer regions of high ionic strength; and
at least one second spacer region of low ionic concentration.
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30. A microfluidic system for transporting a plurality of subject material regions from a first point to a second point on a channel, said microfluidic system comprising:
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a pair of first spacer regions on either side of each subject material region, said first spacer regions having high ionic concentrations;
at least one second spacer region, said second spacer region having a low ionic concentration. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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33. A microfluidic system, comprising:
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a substrate having at least a first channel and at least a second channel disposed in said substrate, said at least second channel intersecting said first channel, wherein said first channel is deeper than said second channel; and
an electroosmotic fluid direction system. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36)
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37. In an electroosmotic fluid direction system, a method of controllably delivering a fluid stream along a first channel, wherein said first channel is intersected by at least a second channel, and wherein said fluid stream comprises at least two fluid regions having different ionic strengths, the method comprising, providing said first channel with a greater depth than said second channel.
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38. A method of transporting fluid samples within a microfluidic channel, comprising:
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introducing at least a plug of a first fluid material having a first ionic strength into said channel;
introducing at least a first sample fluid plug into said channel;
introducing at least a second fluid material plug having said first ionic strength into said channel;
introducing at least a third fluid material plug having a second ionic strength, said second ionic strength being lower than said first ionic strength; and
applying a voltage across said channel. - View Dependent Claims (39)
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- 47. The use of a substrate having a channel, in transporting at least a first subject material from at least a first location to a second location along said channel, utilising at least one region of low ionic concentration which is transported along said channel due to an applied voltage.
- 50. The use of a substrate having a channel along which at least a first subject material may be transported, in electrophoretic bias compensation, said channel being divided into a first and a second portion, in which the wall or walls of said channel are oppositely charged, such that electrophoretic bias on said at least first subject material due to transportation in said first portion is substantially compensated for by electrophoretic bias due to transport in said second portion.
- 56. The use of a microfluidic system having at least a first and a second fluid channel which intersect, in optimising flow conditions, the channels having different depths.
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58. The use of a microfluidic system having a first channel and a second channel intersecting the first channel, in electrophoretic compensation, the intersection between said channels being shaped such that a fluid being transported along said first channel towards said second channel is mixed at said intersection and any electrophoretic bias in the fluid is dissipated.
- 59. A microfluidic system comprising a substrate having a channel, in which at least a first subject material is transported from at least a first location to a second location along said channel, utilizing at least one region of low ionic concentration which is transported along said channel due to an applied voltage.
- 62. A substrate having a channel along which at least a first subject material may be transported, in electrophoretic bias compensation, said channel being divided into a first and a second portion, in which the wall or walls of said channel are oppositely charged, such that electrophoretic bias on said at least first subject material due to transportation in said first portion is substantially compensated for by electrophoretic bias due to transport in said second portion.
- 67. A microfluidic system having at least a first and a second fluid channel which intersect, said channels having different depths, in order to optimize flow conditions.
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69. A microfluidic system having a first channel and a second channel intersecting said first channel, the intersection between said channels being shaped such that a fluid being transported along said first channel towards said second channel is mixed at said intersection and any electrophoretic bias in said fluid is dissipated.
Specification