Manipulation of Beads in Droplets and Methods for Splitting Droplets
First Claim
1. A method of circulating magnetically responsive beads within a droplet on a droplet actuator, the method comprising:
- (a) providing a droplet actuator, comprising;
(i) top and bottom substrates;
(ii) a plurality of magnetic fields respectively present proximate the top and bottom substrates, wherein at least one of the magnet fields is selectively alterable; and
(iii) a plurality of droplet operations electrodes positioned along at least one of the top and bottom surfaces;
(b) positioning a droplet between the top and bottom surfaces; and
(c) selectively altering at least one of the magnetic fields.
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Abstract
The invention provides a method of circulating magnetically responsive beads within a droplet in a droplet actuator. The invention also provides methods for splitting droplets. The invention, in one embodiment, makes use of a droplet actuator with top and bottom substrates, a plurality of magnetic fields respectively present proximate the top and bottom substrates, wherein at least one of the magnet fields is selectively alterable, and a plurality of droplet operations electrodes positioned along at least one of the top and bottom surfaces. A droplet is positioned between the top and bottom surfaces and at least one of the magnetic fields is selectively altered.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of circulating magnetically responsive beads within a droplet on a droplet actuator, the method comprising:
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(a) providing a droplet actuator, comprising; (i) top and bottom substrates; (ii) a plurality of magnetic fields respectively present proximate the top and bottom substrates, wherein at least one of the magnet fields is selectively alterable; and (iii) a plurality of droplet operations electrodes positioned along at least one of the top and bottom surfaces; (b) positioning a droplet between the top and bottom surfaces; and (c) selectively altering at least one of the magnetic fields. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of splitting a droplet comprising a magnetically responsive bead in a droplet actuator, the method comprising:
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(a) providing a droplet actuator comprising; (i) a plurality of droplet operations electrodes configured to transport the droplet; and (ii) a magnetic field present at the plurality of droplet operations electrodes; (b) providing a magnetically responsive bead-containing droplet on the droplet actuator; (c) immobilizing the magnetically responsive bead using the magnetic field; and (d) using the plurality of droplet operations electrodes to split the droplet into first and second droplets, wherein the magnetically responsive bead remains substantially immobilized. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of splitting a droplet into two or more sub-droplets, the method comprising:
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(a) providing a droplet actuator comprising; (i) a droplet operations surface comprising droplet operations electrodes, the droplet operations electrodes including one or more intermediate electrodes; (ii) a top substrate separated from the droplet operations surface to form a gap; (iii) a physical barrier extending into the gap and constricting the gap in proximity with the one or more intermediate electrodes; and (iv) a droplet on one or more of the droplet operations electrodes; (b) activating three or more of the droplet operations including one or more of the intermediate electrodes to elongate the droplet; and (c) deactivating one or more of the intermediate electrodes to cause the droplet to split into two sub-droplets. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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Specification