Microfluidic substrate assembly and method for making same

• US 20070122314A1
• Filed: 07/18/2006
• Published: 05/31/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Protasis Corp.
• Original Assignee: Protasis Corp.
• Inventors: Barrow, David, Strand, David, Myers, Peter, Antocci, Joseph, Cefai, Joseph, Myers, Tim
• Application Number:
  US11/490,411
• Publication Number:
  US 20070122314A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 422/100
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 19/0093 Microreactors, e.g. miniaturised or microfabricated reactors laboratory containers with capillary fluid transport in microfabricated channels or chambers B01L3/5027
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00783 Laminate assemblies, i.e. the reactor comprising a stack of plates
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00833 Plastic
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00952 Sensing operations
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2200/027 for microfluidic devices
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2200/10 Integrating sample preparation and analysis in single entity, e.g. lab-on-a-chip concept
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 3/5027 by integrated microfluidic structures, i.e. dimensions of channels and chambers are such that surface tension forces are important, e.g. lab-on-a-chip B01L3/5023 takes precedence; micromixers B01F33/30; microreactors for synthesis B01J19/0093; microcapillary devices in general B81B1/00
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 3/502707 characterised by the manufacture of the container or its components by shaping or joining plastic parts B29C59/00, B29C65/00; by laminating B32B37/00; manufacture of microstructural devices in general B81C
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 3/502715 characterised by interfacing components, e.g. fluidic, electrical, optical or mechanical interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 3/50273 characterised by the means or forces applied to move the fluids micropumps F04B19/006, of the membrane type F04B43/043
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 3/545 for laboratory containers
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 65/1612 Infrared [IR] radiation, e.g. by infrared lasers
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 65/1616 Near infrared radiation [NIR], e.g. by YAG lasers
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 65/1635 at least passing through one of the parts to be joined, i.e. laser transmission welding
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 65/1677 making use of an absorber or impact modifier
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 65/168 placed at the interface
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 65/1683 coated on the article
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 65/1687 making use of light guides
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 65/1696 making use of masks
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/1122 Single lap to lap joints, i.e. overlap joints B29C66/45, B29C66/472, B29C66/52272 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/54 : Joining several hollow-preforms, e.g. half-shells, to form hollow articles, e.g. for making balls, containers; Joining several hollow-preforms, e.g. half-cylinders, to form tubular articles
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/55 : sealing elements being incorporated into the joints, e.g. gaskets B29C66/52296 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/71 : characterised by the composition of the plastics material of the parts to be joined welding bar compositions B29C65/125
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/73366 : both parts to be joined being transparent or translucent to visible light
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/73771 : the to-be-joined area of at least one of the parts to be joined being amorphous
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/73775 : the to-be-joined area of at least one of the parts to be joined being crystalline
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/7392 : characterised by the material of at least one of the parts being a thermoplastic
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/73921 : characterised by the materials of both parts being thermoplastics
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/91411 : of the parts to be joined, e.g. the joining process taking the temperature of the parts to be joined into account
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2071/00 : Use of polyethers , e.g. PEEK, i.e. polyether-etherketone or PEK, i.e. polyetherketone or derivatives thereof, as moulding material
• CPC Class Codes: B29L 2031/756 : Microarticles, nanoarticles
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2001/021 : Correlating sampling sites with geographical information, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2030/8804 : automated systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2030/8881 : Modular construction, specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/44704 : Details; Accessories
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 30/24 : Automatic injection systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 30/6026 : Fluid seals
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 30/6034 : joining multiple columns
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 30/6091 : Cartridges
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 30/6095 : Micromachined or nanomachined, e.g. micro- or nanosize
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 30/88 : Integrated analysis systems specially adapted therefor, not covered by a single one of the groups G01N30/04 - G01N30/86
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 35/00732 : Identification of carriers, materials or components in automatic analysers
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/65 : stored on portable record carriers, e.g. on smartcards, RFID tags or CD
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/17 : delivered via infusion or injection

Abstract

A novel microfluidic substrate assembly and method for making same are disclosed. The substrate assembly comprises a multi-layer laminated substrate defining at least one fluid inlet port and at least one microscale fluid flow channel within the multi-layer substrate in fluid communication with the inlet port for transport of fluid. The substrate assembly may optionally comprise additional components and elements located within the substrate assembly or attached to the substrate assembly.

Claims

1. A microfluidic substrate assembly comprising:

a multi-layer laminated substrate defining at least one fluid inlet port and at least one microscale fluid flow channel within the multi-layer substrate in fluid communication with the inlet port for transport of fluid; and

at least one operative component mounted aboard the multi-layer laminated substrate in communication with the microscale fluid flow channel.

2. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 1 in which the operative component mounted aboard the multi-layer laminated substrate is in fluid communication with the at least one microscale fluid flow channel.

3. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 2 in which the operative component mounted aboard the multi-layer laminated substrate is operative as a fluid reservoir.

4. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 1 in which the operative component mounted aboard the multi-layer laminated substrate is operative as a light sensor across a microscale fluid flow channel within the multi-layer substrate.

5. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 1 in which the operative component mounted aboard the multi-layer laminated substrate is operative as an ultrasonic actuator or transducer across a microscale fluid flow channel within the multi-layer substrate.

6. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 1 in which the operative component mounted aboard the multi-layer laminated substrate is operative to generate fluid pressure in a microchannel of the substrate.

7. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 6 in which the operative component mounted aboard the multi-layer laminated substrate is a thermal actuator.

8. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 6 in which the operative component is a micromachined pump, diaphragm pump, syringe pump or volume occlusion pump.

9. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 1 in which the operative component mounted aboard the multi-layer laminated substrate is operative to induce flow in a microchannel of the multi-layer laminated substrate endosmotically or by electrochemical evolution of gases.

10. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 1 in which the multi-layer laminated substrate further comprises at least one fluid outlet port in fluid communication with the fluid inlet port within the multi-layer substrate.

11. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 1 in which the operative component mounted aboard the multi-layer laminated substrate is at least one electronic memory unit mounted to the substrate assembly and operatively connected to the microfluidic substrate assembly.

12. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 11 further comprising at least one operative component mounted aboard the multi-layer laminated substrate in communication with the microscale fluid flow channel and operative to generate an electronic signal corresponding to a detected characteristic of fluid in the microscale fluid flow channel, wherein the at least one electronic memory unit is connected to the operative component to receive and record the electronic signal.

13. A microfluidic substrate assembly comprising a generally planar multi-layer laminated substrate defining

at least one fluid inlet port and at least one microscale fluid flow channel at each of more than one level within the multi-layer laminated substrate for transport of fluid, and

at least one microchannel via extending between levels within the multi-layer laminated substrate for fluid communication between microscale fluid flow channels of different levels.

14. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 13 in which the at least one microchannel has a configuration which is straight, curvo-linear, serpentine or spiral.

15. A microfluidic substrate assembly comprising a multi-layer laminated substrate defining at least one fluid inlet port and at least one microscale fluid flow channel in fluid communication with the inlet port for transport of fluid, wherein at least one layer of the multi-layer laminated substrate is formed of plastic and the substrate assembly is operative and fluid tight at fluid pressure in the microscale fluid flow channel in excess of about 100 psi.

16. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 15 in which the multi-layer laminated substrate is operative and fluid tight at fluid pressure in the microscale fluid flow channel in excess of about 1000 psi.

17. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 15 in which the multi-layer laminated substrate further comprises rigid plates sandwiching the plastic layer between them.

18. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 17 in which multiple layers of the multi-layer laminated substrate are formed of plastic and are welded one to another, the rigid plates sandwiching the multiple plastic layer between them.

19. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 18 in which the multiple plastic layers of the multi-layer laminated substrate are selectively welded one to another to form a fluid-tight seal along a channel within the substrate.

20. A microfluidic substrate assembly comprising a multi-layer laminated substrate defining at least one fluid inlet port and at least one microscale fluid flow channel within the multi-layer substrate in fluid communication with the inlet port for transport of fluid, in which at least one layer of the multi-layer laminated substrate is formed of PEEK.

21. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 20 in which the at least one PEEK layer is formed of amorphous PEEK.

22. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 20 in which the at least one PEEK layer is formed of crystalline PEEK.

23. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 20 in which the at least one PEEK layer comprises IR absorbing species in concentration sufficient for IR welding of the PEEK layer.

24. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 23 in which the IR absorbing species is distributed substantially homogeneously throughout the PEEK layer.

25. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 23 in which the IR absorbing species is disposed on the surface of the PEEK layer.

26. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 25 in which the IR absorbing species is selected from dyes, zinc oxide, silicon oxide and metal species.

27. A microfluidic substrate assembly comprising a multi-layer laminated substrate defining at least one fluid inlet port and at least one microscale fluid flow channel within the multi-layer substrate in fluid communication with the inlet port for transport of fluid, wherein at least first and second layers of the multi-layer laminated substrate are selectively welded to each other to form a fluid-tight seal at least along a channel within the multi-layer laminated substrate.

28. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 27 in which the multi-layer laminated substrate further comprises at least one environmentally sensitive structure intolerant to a transition glass temperature of the first and second layers.

29. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 28 in which the environmentally sensitive structure is an architectural feature of the microscale fluid flow channel, a mechanical sensor, a mechanical device, an electrical sensor, an electrical device, a fluid, chromatography reagents and any combination of them.

30. The microfluidic substrate assembly of claim 28 in which the environmentally sensitive structure is disposed in the microscale fluid flow channel.

31. A method of producing a multi-layer laminated substrate, comprising the steps of:

forming a surface-to-surface interface by aligning a surface of a first substrate component against a surface of a second substrate component to form a substrate sub-assembly having an internal fluid channel at the interface; and

exposing the sub-assembly to radiation to heat only one or more selected portions of the interface to a temperature sufficient to weld the substrate components together, to form a fluid-tight seal between the substrate components at the interface along the fluid channel.

32. The method of claim 31 further comprising the steps of coating at least a selected area of the surface of the first substrate component with a radiation absorptive material prior to forming the surface-to-surface interface.

33. The method of claim 32 in which the absorptive material is coated onto only one or more selected portions of the surface of the first substrate component and the sub-assembly is exposed non-selectively to IR radiation.

34. The method of claim 32 in which the absorptive material is coated onto the entire surface of the first substrate component and only one or more selected portions of the interface are exposed to IR radiation.

35. The method of claim 34 in which the sub-assembly is exposed to radiation through a mask having a configuration corresponding to the one or more selected portions of the interface.