Method for manufacturing a microfluidic sensor
First Claim
1. A method for manufacturing a microfluidic sensor, comprising:
- providing a thin film substrate configured as an electrically insulating barrier effective to resist fluid and particle travel through uninterrupted portions there-of;
applying electrically conductive ink, by way of a printing process, onto both sides of said substrate to form at least one electrode disposed on each side of said substrate;
forming a first tunnel through said thin film substrate by removing material from a portion of said thin film substrate to permit fluid passage there-through, said first tunnel being sized less than about 0.2 mm in a cross-section length to promote passage there-through of particles of interest in substantially single-file travel; and
providing channel structure configured such that all fluid flowing from a position of contact with a first electrode disposed on a first side of said thin film substrate must pass through said first tunnel before encountering a second electrode disposed on the opposite side of said thin film substrate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method to manufacture microfluidic sensors, typically including componentizing substrate layers One such method includes providing a plurality of layers of material configured to permit their stacking to form at least a first cap layer, a first channel layer, an interrogation layer, and a second channel layer During assembly, ribbon sections of substrate layers are sandwiched to cooperatively align elements through-the-thickness of the sandwich Individual sensors are then removed from the sandwich ribbon A componentizing step includes forming one or more elements for successive sensors spaced along the axial length of a ribbon Certain elements include electrically conductive patterned structures preferably printed onto a substrate using conductive ink and a printing process, sometimes placing material in operable position to conduct electricity through the thickness of at least one nbbon Other elements may include channels, tunnels, and vias that can be machined, stamped, or cut into a ribbon section.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for manufacturing a microfluidic sensor, comprising:
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providing a thin film substrate configured as an electrically insulating barrier effective to resist fluid and particle travel through uninterrupted portions there-of; applying electrically conductive ink, by way of a printing process, onto both sides of said substrate to form at least one electrode disposed on each side of said substrate; forming a first tunnel through said thin film substrate by removing material from a portion of said thin film substrate to permit fluid passage there-through, said first tunnel being sized less than about 0.2 mm in a cross-section length to promote passage there-through of particles of interest in substantially single-file travel; and providing channel structure configured such that all fluid flowing from a position of contact with a first electrode disposed on a first side of said thin film substrate must pass through said first tunnel before encountering a second electrode disposed on the opposite side of said thin film substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for manufacturing a multilayer microfluidic sensor, comprising:
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providing a plurality of layers of material configured to permit their stacking to form at least a first cap layer, a first channel layer, an interrogation layer, and a second channel layer, said interrogation layer comprising a thin film substrate configured as an electrically insulating barrier effective to resist fluid and particle travel through uninterrupted portions there-of; printing electrically conductive ink onto said interrogation layer to form electrodes that are disposed spaced apart along, and on both sides of, said interrogation layer; stacking and cooperatively adhering said layers to form an integrated multilayer sandwich, wherein; said first channel layer carries a plurality of first channel elements disposed spaced apart along a length axis of said first channel layer; said interrogation layer carries a plurality of tunnel elements that are formed by removing material from said interrogation layer and that are sized to promote travel there-through of particles of interest in substantially single-file and are disposed spaced apart along a length axis of said interrogation layer; and said second channel layer carries a plurality of second channel elements disposed spaced apart along a length axis of said second channel layer;
further comprising;separating a plurality of sensors from said sandwich such that each separated sensor includes a lumen adapted to permit fluid flow there-through, said lumen comprising a first channel element disposed in fluid communication, through a tunnel element, with a second channel element, said lumen being arranged such that fluid and particle flow from said first channel element to said second channel element must pass through said tunnel element. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification