Microfluidic devices for electrophoretic analysis of materials

• US 6,337,740 B1
• Filed: 08/19/1999
• Issued: 01/08/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Caliper Life Sciences Incorporated (Revvity, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Caliper Holdings Incorporated
• Inventors: Parce, J. Wallace
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Robert H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): STAFIRA, MICHAEL PATRICK
• Application Number:
  US09/378,169
• Time in Patent Office: 873 Days
• Field of Search: 356/344, 356/314, 204/299.R, 204/182.8, 204/180.1, 250/288, 250/288.A, 250/281, 250/282, 210/198.2, 210/198.3, 210/658, 210/656, 73/615.3, 73/233, 73/614.8, 436/180, 436/52, 436/53, 422/56, 422/58, 422/61, 422/68.1, 422/100, 422/102, 422/81, 422/82, 435/287.3, 435/288.6, 435/288.7
• US Class Current: 356/344
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/44721 by optical means
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/44791 Microapparatus sample containers with integrated microfluidic structures B01L3/5027
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 366/02 Micromixers: segmented laminar flow with boundary mixing orthogonal to the direction of fluid propagation with or without geometry influences from the pathway

Abstract

The present invention provides a microfluidic system for fast, accurate and low cost electrophoretic analysis or materials in the fields of chemistry, biochemistry, biotechnology, molecular biology and numerous other fields. Light from periodically spaced regions along a channel in the microfluidic system are received by a photodetector. The intensity of light received by the photodetector is modulated by the movement of species bands through the channel under electrophoretic forces. By Fourier analysis, the velocity of each species band is determined and the identification of the species is made by its electrophoretic mobility in the channel.

Claims

1. A method of separating components of a subject material in a microfluidic system, the method comprising:

flowing a first fluid comprising the subject material through a first microchannel to a separation channel by applying pressure to the fluid wherein the pressure is applied to the fluid by a pressure source external to the first microchannel; and

applying an electrophoretic force to the first fluid comprising the subject material in the separation channel, thereby separating the subject material into sample components.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first microchannel is present in a body structure, wherein the pressure is applied to the fluid by a micropump present in the body structure.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the subject material comprises one or more of:

a nucleic acid, a chemical compound, a mixture of chemical compounds, a polysaccharide, a peptide, a protein, and a biological extract.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the subject material is separated into one or more component in the separation channel by the application of an electrophoretic force.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the subject material comprises one or more fluorescent labeled species.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting the sample components.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the detecting is performed with a detector mounted proximal to the separation channel.

8. The method of claim 7, the detector comprising one or more of:

a light source, a lens, an optical filter, a band pass filter, and a photoreceptor.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising analyzing signal frequency from the detector.

10. A device for separating components of a fluid, the device comprising:

a microfluidic device comprising a body structure comprising at least first and second intersecting microchannels fabricated therein;

a pressure source fluidly coupled to the first microchannel; and

,

a voltage or current controller operably coupled to the second microchannel.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the pressure source is external to the body structure.

12. The device of claim 10, wherein the pressure source is a micropump in the body structure.

13. The device of claim 10, wherein the voltage or current controller is coupled to the second microchannel via electrodes positioned in one or more reservoir, which reservoir is fluidly coupled to the second microchannel.

14. The device of claim 10, wherein the voltage or current controller comprises a voltage controller that provides selectable voltage levels.

15. The device of claim 10, wherein the device comprises reservoirs at termini of each of the at least two channels.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the voltage or current controller comprises a voltage controller that provides selectable voltage levels to more than one of the reservoirs.

17. The device of claim 10, wherein the second microchannel comprises reservoirs at termini of the second microchannel.

18. The device of claim 17, comprising one or more electrodes in one or more of the reservoirs.

19. The device of claim 10, further comprising a detector mounted proximal to the second microchannel.

20. The device of claim 19, comprising one or more of:

a light source, a lens, an optical filter, a band pass filter, and a photoreceptor.

21. The device of claim 19, further comprising a frequency analyzer coupled to the detector.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein the frequency analyzer breaks the electrical signals into their component frequencies.