Microfluidic free interface diffusion techniques
First Claim
1. A method of performing a chemotaxis assay on a microfluidic device, comprising:
- providing a microfluidic device;
establishing a microfluidic free interface in the microfluidic device between a first static fluid having a motile cell and a second static fluid having a chemical, wherein establishing the microfluidic free interface includes exposing the motile cell to a concentration gradient of the chemical in the microfluidic device; and
detecting an activity of the motile cell.
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Abstract
A static fluid and a second fluid are placed into contact along a microfluidic free interface and allowed to mix by diffusion without convective flow across the interface. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the fluids are static and initially positioned on either side of a closed valve structure in a microfluidic channel having a width that is tightly constrained in at least one dimension. The valve is then opened, and no-slip layers at the sides of the microfluidic channel suppress convective mixing between the two fluids along the resulting interface. Applications for microfluidic free interfaces in accordance with embodiments of the present invention include, but are not limited to, protein crystallization studies, protein solubility studies, determination of properties of fluidics systems, and a variety of biological assays such as diffusive immunoassays, substrate turnover assays, and competitive binding assays.
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10 Claims
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1. A method of performing a chemotaxis assay on a microfluidic device, comprising:
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providing a microfluidic device; establishing a microfluidic free interface in the microfluidic device between a first static fluid having a motile cell and a second static fluid having a chemical, wherein establishing the microfluidic free interface includes exposing the motile cell to a concentration gradient of the chemical in the microfluidic device; and detecting an activity of the motile cell. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification