Method and apparatus for maintaining multiple planar fluid flows
First Claim
1. A method for analyzing interactions between reagents and target substances, comprising:
- (a) providing at least three primary fluid flows in substantially the same plane, said primary fluid flows all being adjacent simultaneous substantially parallel fluid flows, wherein said primary fluid flows are contained in a chamber having at least one internal cross-sectional dimension of less than 1000 microns, and wherein at least one of said primary fluid flows comprises a target substance and is flanked on each side by a primary fluid flow, and wherein the primary fluid flows flanking said target-comprising primary fluid flow comprise, respectively, a first reagent and a second reagent capable of reacting with the target substance;
(b) providing one or more secondary fluid flows, said secondary fluid flow(s) located in a plane that is substantially orthogonal to the plane of said primary fluid flows, wherein each of said secondary fluid flows is introduced into one of said primary fluid flows comprising a target substance, and wherein at least one secondary fluid flow comprises a third reagent capable of reacting with the target substance; and
(c) monitoring reactions between reagents and target substances.
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Abstract
The present invention provides a method of performing analyses and assays involving multiple interactions of reagent-containing fluid flows with liquid and solid target substances. The methods of the invention allow the simultaneous manipulation of different fluids on a small planar surface. The invention also provides a flow cell and method of use thereof for analyzing fluid-fluid and fluid-solid interactions in a substantially planar system. The flow cell contains at least one chamber and a plurality of inlets thereto allowing the introduction of a plurality of fluids in fluidic contact. The cell depth is the smallest dimension of the flow cell, and is of a magnitude, from about 50 to about 1000 microns such that any mixing of adjacent fluids in the chamber is substantially limited to mixing by passive diffusion. Interactions between reagents in fluids and target substances maintained in the fluid cell, or interactions between diffusion-mixed reagents in adjacent fluids, may be analyzed by standard analysis methods.
56 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method for analyzing interactions between reagents and target substances, comprising:
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(a) providing at least three primary fluid flows in substantially the same plane, said primary fluid flows all being adjacent simultaneous substantially parallel fluid flows, wherein said primary fluid flows are contained in a chamber having at least one internal cross-sectional dimension of less than 1000 microns, and wherein at least one of said primary fluid flows comprises a target substance and is flanked on each side by a primary fluid flow, and wherein the primary fluid flows flanking said target-comprising primary fluid flow comprise, respectively, a first reagent and a second reagent capable of reacting with the target substance; (b) providing one or more secondary fluid flows, said secondary fluid flow(s) located in a plane that is substantially orthogonal to the plane of said primary fluid flows, wherein each of said secondary fluid flows is introduced into one of said primary fluid flows comprising a target substance, and wherein at least one secondary fluid flow comprises a third reagent capable of reacting with the target substance; and (c) monitoring reactions between reagents and target substances. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for analyzing interactions between reagents and target substances, comprising:
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(a) providing three or more adjacent simultaneous substantially parallel fluid flows in substantially the same plane, wherein said three or more adjacent simultaneous fluid flows are contained in a chamber having at least one internal cross-sectional dimension of less than 1000 microns, at least one of said fluid flows comprising a reagent capable of reacting with a target substance and at least one other of said fluid flows comprising a target substance; (b) adjusting one or more of flow rate, length of the flow path, and internal cross-sectional dimension to thereby control the desired quantity and rate of intermixing by passive diffusion such that said intermixing by passive diffusion creates three flow zones in any middle flow that is between two other adjacent simultaneous flanking fluid flows, a first flow zone containing the middle fluid flow and only one of said flanking fluid flows, a second flow zone containing the middle fluid flow and only the other of said flanking fluid flows, and third flow zone containing the middle fluid flow and both of said flanking fluid flows; and (c) monitoring reactions between reagents and target substances at each of the flow zones.
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21. A method for analyzing interactions between reagents and target substances, comprising:
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(a) providing two or more primary fluid flows in substantially the same plane, said primary fluid flows being adjacent simultaneous substantially parallel fluid flows, wherein said two or more primary fluid flows are contained in a chamber having at least one internal cross-sectional dimension of less than 1000 microns, said chamber having a pair of ports that are capable of providing a secondary fluid flow in a direction nonparallel to that of said adjacent simultaneous fluid flows to thereby induce intermixing of said primary fluid flows, said ports being located on substantially opposite sides of said chamber, and wherein at least one of said primary fluid flows comprises a reagent capable of reacting with a target substance and at least one other of said primary fluid flows comprises the target substance; (b) contacting with a target substance one or more of said primary fluid flows comprising a reagent; and (c) monitoring reactions between reagents and target substances.
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22. A method for analyzing interactions between reagents and target substances comprising:
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(a) providing two or more adjacent simultaneous fluid flows in substantially a single plane wherein said two or more adjacent simultaneous fluid flows are contained in a chamber having at least one internal cross-sectional dimension of less than 1000 microns, said chamber having at least one electrically grounded fluid inlet and a plurality of ports located substantially at the perimeter of the chamber, wherein said ports independently function as either fluid inlets or fluid outlets, wherein there is one fluid inlet for each of said adjacent simultaneous fluid flows and at least one fluid outlet, said chamber additionally having one or more electrodes around its perimeter such that the applying voltage to said electrodes will result in electrophoretically driven fluid flow, and wherein at least one of said fluid flows comprises a reagent; (b) contacting one or more of said adjacent simultaneous fluid flows with a target substance; and (c) monitoring reactions between reagents and target substances. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification