CHIP AND CARTRIDGE DESIGN CONFIGURATION FOR PERFORMING MICRO-FLUIDIC ASSAYS

• US 20080056948A1
• Filed: 09/05/2007
• Published: 03/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon USA, Inc. (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon USA, Inc. (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: KNIGHT, Ivor T., DALE, Gregory A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,278,321 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 422/68.1
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 25/42 in which the mixing is affected by moving the components jointly in changing directions, e.g. in tubes provided with baffles or obstructions
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 25/4331 Mixers with bended, curved, coiled, wounded mixing tubes or comprising elements for bending the flow
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 33/30 Micromixers
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2200/027 for microfluidic devices
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2200/04 Exchange or ejection of cartridges, containers or reservoirs
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2200/0668 Trapping microscopic beads
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2200/16 Reagents, handling or storing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2300/0829 Multi-well plates; Microtitration plates
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2300/0867 Multiple inlets and one sample wells, e.g. mixing, dilution
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2300/087 Multiple sequential chambers
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2400/049 vacuum
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 3/502715 characterised by interfacing components, e.g. fluidic, electrical, optical or mechanical interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 7/52 with provision for submitting samples to a predetermined sequence of different temperatures, e.g. for treating nucleic acid samples amplification or hybridisation processes per se C12Q1/68; controlling sequential reactions for synthesis B01J19/0046

Abstract

An assembly for performing micro-fluidic assays includes a micro-fluidic chip with access ports and micro-channels in communication with the access ports and a fluid cartridge having internal, fluid-containable chambers and a nozzle associated with each internal chamber that is configured to be coupled with an access port. Reaction fluids, such as sample material, buffer, and/or reagent, contained within the cartridge are dispensed from the cartridge into the access ports and micro-channels of the micro-fluidic chip. Embodiments of the invention include a cartridge which includes a waste compartment for receiving used DNA and other reaction fluids from the micro-channel at the conclusion of the assay.

Claims

1. An assembly for performing micro-fluidic assays comprising:

a micro-fluidic chip having a top side and a bottom side and including;

one or more access ports formed in said top side; and

at least one micro-channel extending from an associated access port through at least a portion of said micro-fluidic chip, whereby each access port communicates with an associated micro-channel, such that fluid dispensed into said access port will flow into the associated micro-channel; and

a fluid cartridge having one or more internal chambers for containing fluids and a fluid nozzle associated with each internal chamber for dispensing fluid from the associated chamber or transmitting fluid into the associated internal chamber, each fluid nozzle being configured to be coupled to an access port of said micro-fluidic chip to thereby dispense fluid from the associated internal chamber into the access port with which the nozzle is coupled or to transmit fluid from the access port with which the nozzle is coupled into the associated internal chamber.

2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the cartridge includes three internal chambers and three nozzles.

3. The assembly of claim 1, wherein at least one of the nozzle and the access port are configured with a one-way locking connection, so that after the nozzle is coupled with the access port of the micro-fluidic chip, the nozzle cannot thereafter be separated from the access port.

4. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said cartridge is injection molded.

5. The assembly of claim 4, wherein said cartridge is injection molded from a material selected from the group consisting of polypropylene, polycarbonate, and polystyrene.

6. The assembly of claim 1, wherein at least one internal chamber within said cartridge contains a reaction fluid.

7. The assembly of claim 6, wherein the reaction fluid is a fluid selected from the group of fluids consisting of DNA sample material, buffer solution, reagent or a mixture of two or more of said fluids.

8. The assembly of claim 7, wherein said reagent comprises PCR primer.

9. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the micro-fluidic chip includes a plurality of access ports arranged in three rows.

10. The assembly of claim 9, wherein said cartridge includes three nozzles configured so as to cooperate with a column of three aligned access ports of the three rows of access ports.

11. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said micro-fluidic chip includes one or more sipper tubes extending from the bottom side of said micro-fluidic chip, each of the sipper tubes being in communication with at least one micro-channel.

12. The assembly of claim 11, wherein said micro-fluidic chip includes two or more sipper tubes.

13. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said micro-fluidic chip includes one or more vacuum ports, each vacuum port being in communication with at least one micro-channel.

14. The assembly of claim 1, wherein each micro-channel extends from an access port and is configured to terminate at a different access port.

15. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said cartridge includes a vacuum port in communication with a nozzle.

16. The assembly of claim 1, wherein at least one internal chamber within said cartridge is a waste container which is configured to contain reaction fluid from said at least one micro-channel.

17. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said micro-channel in said micro-fluidic chip has a substantially U-shaped configuration.

18. A cartridge device configured to interface with a micro-fluidic chip comprising:

a delivery chamber in fluid communication with a delivery port, wherein said delivery chamber is configured to contain a reaction fluid and said delivery port is configured to interface with a micro-fluidic chip; and

a recovery chamber in fluid communication with a recovery port, wherein said recovery chamber is configured to receive waste materials from said micro-fluidic chip and said recovery port is configured to interface with said micro-fluidic chip.

19. The cartridge device of claim 18, wherein the cartridge is disposable.

20. The cartridge device of claim 18, wherein the micro-fluidic chip incorporates a sipper tube to aspirate reagents into the chip.

21. A cartridge device configured to interface to a micro-fluidic chip comprising:

a reagent delivery chamber, wherein the reagent delivery chamber is connected to a reagent delivery port;

a buffer delivery chamber, wherein the buffer delivery chamber is connected to a buffer delivery port;

a sample delivery chamber, wherein the sample delivery chamber is connected to a sample delivery port;

a waste recovery chamber, wherein the waste recovery chamber is connected to a waste recovery port; and

wherein said reagent delivery port, said buffer delivery port, said sample delivery port and said waste recovery port are configured to interface with the micro-fluidic chip.

22. The cartridge device of claim 21, wherein the cartridge is disposable.

23. The cartridge device of claim 21, wherein the micro-fluidic chip incorporates a sipper tube to aspirate reagents into the chip.

24. The cartridge device of claim 21, wherein the micro-fluidic chip comprises one or more micro-channels through which one or more of a reagent, buffer and/or sample flows from said reagent delivery chamber, buffer delivery chamber and/or sample delivery chamber and into said waste recovery chamber.

25. A micro-fluidic chip for DNA analysis applications whereby via negative pressure control, DNA samples are introduced via a cartridge and PCR reagents are introduced through a sipper tube that connects to a micro well plate.