Gas control in a reactor
First Claim
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a chemical, biological, or biochemical reactor chip comprising a reaction site container having a volume of less than about 2 mL, the reaction site container including a detection region and a region, different from the detection region, for holding a first substance;
an impediment positioned in the reaction site container, the impediment constructed and arranged to limit the presence of the first substance, in the presence of a different, immiscible substance, within the detection region.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Chemical, biological, and/or biochemical reaction systems, including chips or reactors, may be configured so as to restrain immiscible materials such as gas bubbles from interfering with the determination of environmental factors associated with the chip according to one aspect of the invention. In another aspect, a chip or other reaction system may be configured to maintain a gas headspace in the chip or other reaction system. In certain embodiments, impediments such as physical barriers may be used to contain gas bubbles within a gas containing region, or otherwise away from a detection region. In other embodiments, surface tension properties may be used to control the location of gas bubbles. The chip or other reaction systems may include reaction site containers that can be very small, for example, having a volume of less than about 2 ml. In certain embodiments, chips or other reaction systems of the invention include one or more reaction sites, which, in some cases, may be defined by reaction site containers. According to another aspect of the invention, a reaction site container may be shaped to limit the formation of gas bubbles during the filling of the reaction site container with liquid by providing reaction site container shapes that do not include sharp angles or abrupt changes in reaction site container width.
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Citations
63 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
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a chemical, biological, or biochemical reactor chip comprising a reaction site container having a volume of less than about 2 mL, the reaction site container including a detection region and a region, different from the detection region, for holding a first substance;
an impediment positioned in the reaction site container, the impediment constructed and arranged to limit the presence of the first substance, in the presence of a different, immiscible substance, within the detection region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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- 24. An apparatus as in claim wherein the chip further comprises an inlet port and an outlet port in fluid communication with the reaction site container.
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36. An apparatus, comprising:
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a chemical, biological, or biochemical reactor chip comprising a reaction site container having a volume of less than about 2 mL, the reaction site container including a gas bubble containing region; and
an impediment positioned in the reaction site container, the impediment constructed and arranged to contain a gas bubble in the gas bubble containing region. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method, comprising:
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adding a liquid sample to a chemical, biological, or biochemical reactor chip, the chip comprising a predetermined gas containing region in fluid communication with a reaction site container having a volume of less than about 2 mL, the chip further comprising a detection region in fluid communication with the reaction site container;
placing the chip in a first orientation to move a gas bubble away from the detection region;
capturing of the gas bubble in the predetermined gas containing region;
detecting a property of the liquid sample present in the detection region; and
moving the gas bubble into the detection region by changing the orientation of the chip to a second, different orientation. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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60. An apparatus, comprising:
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a chemical, biological, or biochemical reactor chip comprising a fluid channel in fluid communication with an elongate container having a volume of less than about 2 mL;
whereinthe container has an interior perimeter surface, a first end, a length, and a maximum width; and
the interior perimeter surface has a radius of curvature greater than or equal to 93 percent of the maximum container width along the portions of the interior perimeter surface that are;
(a) spaced longitudinally from the first container end at a distance of at least 5% of the container length; and
(b) spaced longitudinally no further from the first container end than the nearest maximum container width is spaced longitudinally from the first container end. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62)
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63. An apparatus, comprising:
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a chemical, biological, or biochemical reactor chip comprising a fluid channel in fluid communication with a predetermined reaction site having a volume of less than about 2 milliliters;
whereinthe predetermined reaction site has an interior perimeter surface that has at least one concave portion and at least one convex portion.
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Specification