Accurate Integrated Low-Cost Electrode Chips for Point-Of-Need Analysis and A Method of Utilization in Hot Electron-Induced Electrochemiluminescent Systems

• US 20130206611A1
• Filed: 06/10/2011
• Published: 08/15/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Biometro Co. Ltd
• Original Assignee: Labmaster Oy
• Inventors: Kulmala, Sakari, Franssila, Samuli, Niskanen, Antti, Ylinen-Hinkka, Tiina
• Granted Patent: US 9,377,433 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 205/780.5
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/66 electrically excited, e.g. electroluminescence
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/76 Chemiluminescence; Bioluminescence
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/327 Biochemical electrodes , e.g. electrical or mechanical details for in vitro measurements
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/3276 being a hybridisation with immobilised receptors using a FET type sensor G01N27/4145; concerning the hybridisation C12Q1/68

Abstract

The invention relates to integrated electronic chip (lEChip) cartridge devices which are used in hot electron-induced electrochemiluminescence methods and to instrumentation based on the electrical excitation of label molecules with subsequent measurement of luminescence in order to quantitate analyte concentrations especially in bioaffinity assays, especially outside of central laboratories.

Claims

1. An electrochemiluminescent analytical device to determine an amount of an analyte, said device comprising:

an electrode chip inside of a shell or a cartridge and a luminescence measuring instrument;

a working electrode and a counter electrode integrated on the chip;

the working electrode being a conductor or strongly doped semiconductor, said conductor or semiconductor being covered by a 0.2 nm-90 nm thick electrical insulator layer, and said working electrode serving as a cathode;

the counter electrode being made of metal by sputtering or vacuum evaporation and said counter electrode serving as an anode;

said chip being made of an insulating material or partially of a conducting and partially of an insulating material in a way that the conducting material provides an electronic contact either to the anode or to the cathode and the insulating material prevents a galvanic contact between the electrodes;

said working electrode and said counter electrode having contact strips to appropriate parts of the chip, such as an end of the electrode chip or corners of the chip, through which the electrodes can be connected to the excitation electronics of the luminescence measurement instrument;

wherein the chip will produce luminescence signal when electrical pulses are fed in the chip, and wherein the luminescence signals produced during or after the pulses is proportional to the amount of the analyte.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the working electrode is made of silicon or aluminum and its surface contains a 0.2-nm 90-nm thick oxide layer and intended anode areas of the chip are fabricated by first adding at least 90-nm thick insulating film onto the intended anode areas of the chip and successively coatinged with a conductive film by vacuum evaporating or sputtering an additional metal film upon the anode areas.

3. The device according to claim 10, wherein:

the cathode and the anode differ topographically at least by 0.2 μ

m,

a porous film having a thickness less than 100 μ

m is brought onto the electrode chip,

the porous film being capable of receiving a sample to be analyzed and other reagents reacting with the sample, and

the sample is capable to give a luminescence signal proportional to the amount of analyte during or after the pulses.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein

the electrode chip containing the cathode and the anode is located in a polymer cartridge, said cartridge having an entrance inlet and a multitude of cavities, where the cavities of the cartridge are capable to be filled either by capillary forces, pressure or suction, and wherein a space between the cartridge and surface of the electrode is less than 3.0 mm of thickness;

and wherein while the sample or diluted sample is filling the cavities it dissolves all the necessary reagents from the entrance inlet,

for the bioaffinity- and electrochemical reactions to take place in the space between the electrode surface and the cartridge.

5. The device according to claim 4, wherein

the cavities are capable of being washed once with a measuring buffer prior to excitation.

6. A method for a bioaffinity assay wherein an analytical sample is brought onto a device of claim 1, allowed to react with reagents, and thereafter excited by electrical pulses to generate luminescence.

7. The method according to claim 6 wherein the assay is carried out on the integrated electrode chips so that the integrated electrode chip is located in a cartridge of claim 4 having free space for electrolyte of thickness less than 3.0 mm.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein a bioaffinity assay, is carried out on an integrated electrode chip in a hydrofobically confined cell area.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein a porous film or membrane capable for receiving reagents or sample or both for removing blood cells and/or speeding up the bioaffinity reaction is integrated as a functional part of the cartridge.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the working electrode and the counter electrode have different topography.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the bioaffinity assay is a nucleic acid probing assay or immunoassay.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the assay is carried out with aid of a porous film/membrane upon the electrodes for addition of reagents or sample or both for removing blood cells or speeding up the bioaffinity reaction.