Self-contained microfluidic biochip and apparatus
First Claim
12. A method for measuring optical properties of a fluid combining at least two reagents in a biochip system, the method comprising:
- providing the biochip system having a biochip, a releasing actuator, a detector, a moving stage, and a processor, wherein said biochip comprises a plurality of patterned reagent wells with self-contained reagents that are connected to reaction wells via microchannels, the moving stage being mounted at the biochip, the moving stage being sized and configured to accurately position each of said reagent wells under said actuator;
releasing a first self-contained reagent from a first reagent well by positioning and activating the releasing actuator onto a first reagent well and transporting released first reagent to a first reaction well;
releasing a second self-contained reagent from a second reagent well by positioning and activating the releasing actuator onto a second reagent well and transporting released second reagent to the first reaction well;
moving the first reaction well to proximity of the detector using the moving stage;
measuring optical properties of fluid in said first reaction well using the detector; and
processing the optical properties of the fluid using the processor.
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Abstract
A biochip and apparatus is disclosed for performing biological assays in a self-contained microfluidic platform. The disposable biochip for multi-step reactions comprises a body structure with a plurality of reagent cavities and reaction wells connected via microfluidic channels; the reagent cavities with reagent sealing means for storing a plurality of reagents; the reagent sealing means being breakable and allowing a sequence of reagents to be released into microfluidic channel and reaction well; and the reaction well allowing multi-step reactions to occur. The apparatus may further comprise a microactuator, a heating and cooling element, a detector, a moving stage, a magnetic field generator, and a processor operable to perform all necessary functions, such as reagent delivery, magnetic purification, mixing and incubation, heating and cooling, and optical detection on a microfluidic biochip.
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Citations
20 Claims
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12. A method for measuring optical properties of a fluid combining at least two reagents in a biochip system, the method comprising:
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providing the biochip system having a biochip, a releasing actuator, a detector, a moving stage, and a processor, wherein said biochip comprises a plurality of patterned reagent wells with self-contained reagents that are connected to reaction wells via microchannels, the moving stage being mounted at the biochip, the moving stage being sized and configured to accurately position each of said reagent wells under said actuator;
releasing a first self-contained reagent from a first reagent well by positioning and activating the releasing actuator onto a first reagent well and transporting released first reagent to a first reaction well;
releasing a second self-contained reagent from a second reagent well by positioning and activating the releasing actuator onto a second reagent well and transporting released second reagent to the first reaction well;
moving the first reaction well to proximity of the detector using the moving stage;
measuring optical properties of fluid in said first reaction well using the detector; and
processing the optical properties of the fluid using the processor. - View Dependent Claims (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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18-1. The method of claim 17, wherein said heating and cooling element is a Peltier thermal heat pump.
Specification