Microfabricated structure having parallel and orthogonal flow channels controlled by row and column multiplexors
First Claim
1. A microfabricated structure comprising:
- (a) parallel horizontal flow channels;
(b) parallel vertical flow channels that are orthogonal to the horizontal flow channels;
(c) a plurality of individually addressable storage locations, each of which is located where one of the horizontal flow channels crosses one of the vertical flow channels;
(d) a network of compartmentalization control lines forming valves that surround the storage locations so that each storage location can be fluidically isolated;
(e) a row multiplexor containing a plurality of parallel vertical control lines that cross the horizontal flow channels, such that each of the vertical control lines forms valves that control several but not all of the horizontal flow channels, the vertical control lines being configured so that the row multiplexor can allow fluid to flow through any one of the horizontal flow channels while preventing flow through the other horizontal flow channels; and
(f) a column multiplexor containing a plurality of parallel horizontal control lines that cross the vertical flow channels, such that each of the horizontal control lines forms valves that control several but not all of the vertical flow channels, the horizontal control lines being configured so that the column multiplexor can allow fluid to flow through any one of the vertical flow channels while preventing flow through the other vertical flow channels;
wherein the control lines for the row multiplexor are formed in a separate layer of the microfluidic device from the control lines for the column multiplexor such that the row multiplexor and the column multiplexor operate independently.
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Abstract
High-density microfluidic chips contain plumbing networks with thousands of micromechanical valves and hundreds of individually addressable chambers. These fluidic devices are analogous to electronic integrated circuits fabricated using large scale integration (LSI). A component of these networks is the fluidic multiplexor, which is a combinatorial array of binary valve patterns that exponentially increases the processing power of a network by allowing complex fluid manipulations with a minimal number of inputs. These integrated microfluidic networks can be used to construct a variety of highly complex microfluidic devices, for example the microfluidic analog of a comparator array, and a microfluidic memory storage device resembling electronic random access memories.
421 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A microfabricated structure comprising:
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(a) parallel horizontal flow channels; (b) parallel vertical flow channels that are orthogonal to the horizontal flow channels; (c) a plurality of individually addressable storage locations, each of which is located where one of the horizontal flow channels crosses one of the vertical flow channels; (d) a network of compartmentalization control lines forming valves that surround the storage locations so that each storage location can be fluidically isolated; (e) a row multiplexor containing a plurality of parallel vertical control lines that cross the horizontal flow channels, such that each of the vertical control lines forms valves that control several but not all of the horizontal flow channels, the vertical control lines being configured so that the row multiplexor can allow fluid to flow through any one of the horizontal flow channels while preventing flow through the other horizontal flow channels; and (f) a column multiplexor containing a plurality of parallel horizontal control lines that cross the vertical flow channels, such that each of the horizontal control lines forms valves that control several but not all of the vertical flow channels, the horizontal control lines being configured so that the column multiplexor can allow fluid to flow through any one of the vertical flow channels while preventing flow through the other vertical flow channels; wherein the control lines for the row multiplexor are formed in a separate layer of the microfluidic device from the control lines for the column multiplexor such that the row multiplexor and the column multiplexor operate independently. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A microfabricated structure made of an elastomeric material, comprising:
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(a) parallel horizontal flow channels; (b) parallel vertical flow channels that are orthogonal to the horizontal flow channels; (c) multiple individually addressable storage locations, each of which is located where one of the horizontal flow channels crosses one of the vertical flow channels; (d) a network of compartmentalization control lines forming valves that surround a plurality of the storage locations so that each storage location in the plurality can be fluidically isolated; (e) a row multiplexor containing parallel vertical control lines that cross the horizontal flow channels, wherein the number of horizontal flow channels is greater than the number of vertical control lines, and the vertical control lines are configured to control the horizontal flow channels so as to allow fluid to flow through any one of the horizontal flow channels while preventing flow through the other horizontal flow channels; and (f) a column multiplexor containing parallel horizontal control lines that cross the vertical flow channels, wherein the number of vertical flow channels is greater than the number of horizontal control lines, and the horizontal control lines are configured to control the vertical flow channels so as to allow fluid to flow through any one of the vertical flow channels while preventing flow through the other vertical flow channels; and wherein the control lines for the row multiplexor are formed in a separate layer of the microfluidic device from the control lines for the column multiplexor such that the row multiplexor and the column multiplexor operate independently. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A microfabricated structure comprising:
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(a) parallel horizontal flow channels; (b) parallel vertical flow channels that are orthogonal to the horizontal flow channels; (c) a plurality of individually addressable storage locations, each of which is located where one of the horizontal flow channels intersects or crosses one of the vertical flow channels; (d) a network of compartmentalization control lines forming valves that surround the storage locations so that each storage location can be fluidically isolated; (e) a row multiplexor containing a plurality of parallel vertical control lines that cross the horizontal flow channels, such that each of the vertical control lines forms valves that control several but not all of the horizontal flow channels, the vertical control lines being configured so that the row multiplexor can allow fluid to flow through any one of the horizontal flow channels while preventing flow through the other horizontal flow channels; and (f) a column multiplexor containing a plurality of parallel horizontal control lines that cross the vertical flow channels, such that each of the horizontal control lines forms valves that control several but not all of the vertical flow channels, the horizontal control lines being configured so that the column multiplexor can allow fluid to flow through any one of the vertical flow channels while preventing flow through the other vertical flow channels, wherein either or both of the row multiplexor and column multiplexor are configured as a ternary multiplexor such that flow in a number “
n”
of the horizontal or the vertical flow channels can be controlled by 3·
log3(n) control lines of the row or the column multiplexor, respectively.
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Specification