Electropipettor and compensation means for electrophoretic bias
First Claim
1. A microfluidic system, comprising:
- a substrate having at least a first channel and at least a second channel disposed in said substrate, said at least second channel intersecting said first channel, wherein said first channel is deeper than said second channel and comprises an aspect ratio (width;
depth) greater than about 5; and
an electroosmotic fluid direction system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides for techniques for transporting materials using electrokinetic forces through the channels of a microfluidic system. The subject materials are transported in regions of high ionic concentration, next to spacer material regions of high ionic concentration, which are separated by spacer material regions of low ionic concentration. Such arrangements allow the materials to remain localized for the transport transit time to avoid mixing of the materials. Using these techniques, an electropipettor which is compatible with the microfluidic system is created so that materials can be easily introduced into the microfluidic system. The present invention also compensates for electrophoretic bias as materials are transported through the channels of the microfluidic system by splitting a channel into portions with positive and negative surface charges and a third electrode between the two portions, or by diffusion of the electrophoresing materials after transport along a channel.
424 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A microfluidic system, comprising:
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a substrate having at least a first channel and at least a second channel disposed in said substrate, said at least second channel intersecting said first channel, wherein said first channel is deeper than said second channel and comprises an aspect ratio (width;
depth) greater than about 5; andan electroosmotic fluid direction system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A microfluidic device having at least first and second intersecting fluid channels disposed therein, said first channel having an aspect ratio (width:
- depth) that is greater than about 5, and wherein the first and second channels comprise different depths.
- View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A microfluidic system comprising:
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a body structure; at least first and second microscale channels disposed in the body structure, the first and second channels being in fluid communication at a first intersection, the first channel being at least twice as deep as the second channel, and wherein the first channel comprises an aspect ratio (width;
depth) of greater than about 5; andan electrokinetic material transport system for moving materials through the first and second microscale channels. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A microfluidic system comprising:
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a body structure; at least first and second microscale channels disposed in the body structure, the first and second channels being in fluid communication at a first intersection, the first channel being at least twice as deep as the second channel wherein the first channel comprises first and second material regions disposed therein, the first material region having an ionic concentration different from the second material region; and an electrokinetic material transport system for moving materials through the first and second microscale channels. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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22. A microfluidic system comprising:
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a body structure having at least first and second microscale channels disposed therein, wherein; the first channel communicates with the second channel at a first intersection; the first channel comprises at least two different material regions flowing therethrough, the two different material regions having different ionic concentrations; and the first channel is at least twice as deep as the second channel; and an electrokinetic material transport system for moving materials through the first and second microscale channels.
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23. A method of electrokinetically transporting a material stream through a first microscale channel, wherein the first channel is intersected by a second channel and the material stream comprises at least first and second material regions of differing ionic concentrations, comprising:
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providing the first microscale channel with a depth that is at least twice a depth of the second channel; introducing the at least first and second material regions into the first channel; and applying an electrical field across a length of the first microscale channel to electrokinetically move the at least first and second material regions through the first channel. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification