Method, apparatus and article for microfluidic control via electrowetting, for chemical, biochemical and biological assays and the like
First Claim
1. A microfluidic platform for moving microfluidic bodies having a lateral dimension, comprising:
- a plurality of drive electrodes having a dimension less than the lateral dimension of the microfluidic bodies;
a dielectric layer overlying at least a portion of the plurality of electrodes;
a plurality of thin film transistors coupled to the drive electrodes to control a respective potential to respective portions of the dielectric layer to move the fluidic bodies from a portion of the dielectric layer overlying one drive electrode to a portion of the dielectric layer overlying another drive electrode;
at least one ground line overlying at least a portion of the dielectric layer to provide a ground potential to at least one microfluidic body; and
a port providing fluid communications between an interior and an exterior of the microfluidic platform when the microfluidic platform is in use.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An active matrix microfluidic platform employs thin film transistor active (“TFT”) matrix liquid crystal display technology to manipulate small samples of fluid for chemical, biochemical, or biological assays without moving parts, for example, using a two-dimensional matrix array of drive electrodes. The active matrix microfluidic platform may employ existing active matrix addressing schemes and/or commercial “off-the-shelf” animation software to program assay protocols. A feedback subsystem may determine an actual location of a fluid in the microfluidic structure, and provides location information to for display, for example, on an active matrix display, and/or to control movement of one or more fluid bodies in the microfluidic structure.
320 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A microfluidic platform for moving microfluidic bodies having a lateral dimension, comprising:
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a plurality of drive electrodes having a dimension less than the lateral dimension of the microfluidic bodies; a dielectric layer overlying at least a portion of the plurality of electrodes; a plurality of thin film transistors coupled to the drive electrodes to control a respective potential to respective portions of the dielectric layer to move the fluidic bodies from a portion of the dielectric layer overlying one drive electrode to a portion of the dielectric layer overlying another drive electrode; at least one ground line overlying at least a portion of the dielectric layer to provide a ground potential to at least one microfluidic body; and a port providing fluid communications between an interior and an exterior of the microfluidic platform when the microfluidic platform is in use. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A microfluidic system to move at least one fluid body, comprising:
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a substrate; an array of thin film transistors; an array of drive electrodes carried by the substrate; a dielectric carried by the substrate, overlying at least a portion of the array of drive electrodes; a fluid compatibility layer overlying the drive electrodes; and at least one ground line carried by the substrate, overlying at least a portion of the dielectric to provide a ground potential to at least one fluidic body. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of forming a microfluidic structure for manipulating at least one fluid body, the method comprising:
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forming a substrate; forming a dielectric carried by the substrate; providing a first plate; forming an array of drive electrodes overlying at least a portion of the first plate, the drive electrodes having a dimension less than a lateral dimension of the at least one fluid body; forming an array of transistors overlying at least a portion of the first plate, the transistors electrically coupled to control the drive electrodes; and forming a fluid compatibility layer overlying the drive electrodes; and forming at least one ground line carried by the substrate and positioned to provide a ground potential to the at least one fluid body wherein the at least one ground line overlies at least a portion of the dielectric. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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Specification