Silicon microchannel optical flow cytometer
First Claim
1. A disposable flow module for use with a flow cytometer optical head, comprising:
- a silicon wafer having a surface, said wafer having formed therein;
(1) a V-groove flow channel having a top with width w in the plane of said surface (thereof) and having first and second walls formed in said wafer;
(2) a fluid inlet port coupled to a first end of said V-groove;
(3) a fluid outlet port coupled to the second end of said V-groove; and
(4) a module alignment means for detachably coupling said flow module with said optical head with reproducible optical alignment of said V-groove with said optical head; and
a transparent cover plate sealed to said surface of said wafer and covering said V-groove, but not covering said alignment means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a flow cytometer made of two components: a flow cytometer optical head and a disposable flow module. The flow module utilizes a V-groove flow channel micromachined in a silicon wafer. The optical head comprises a laser to provide an illuminating beam and small and large angle photodetectors. Anisotropically etched facets of the V-groove reflect the illuminating beam. Small angle scattered light is also reflected by the V-groove wall and is collected by the small angle photodetector. Large angle scattered light and fluorescent light can exit the channel without reflection and are collected by the large angle photodetector. In addition, fluorescent light can be back-reflected by the V-groove, which enhances the collection efficiency.
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Citations
62 Claims
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1. A disposable flow module for use with a flow cytometer optical head, comprising:
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a silicon wafer having a surface, said wafer having formed therein; (1) a V-groove flow channel having a top with width w in the plane of said surface (thereof) and having first and second walls formed in said wafer; (2) a fluid inlet port coupled to a first end of said V-groove; (3) a fluid outlet port coupled to the second end of said V-groove; and (4) a module alignment means for detachably coupling said flow module with said optical head with reproducible optical alignment of said V-groove with said optical head; and a transparent cover plate sealed to said surface of said wafer and covering said V-groove, but not covering said alignment means. - 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, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 50, 52)
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44. A flow cytometer optical head adapted for use with a V-groove flow channel, said V-groove having reflective walls, said V-groove for carrying a flow of particle-containing fluid, said optical head comprising:
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a light source oriented to direct a light beam onto a first wall of the V-groove, the angle of incidence of said light beam on said wall such that, in the absence of scattering by a particle, the non-scattered light beam is reflected at least once by the walls of said V-groove and is reflected out of said V-groove; a small angle photodetector oriented to receive light deviating by a small angle from the propagation direction of said non-scattered light beam; and a large angle photodetector oriented to receive light deviating by a large angle from the propagation direction of said non-scattered light beam. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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Specification