Method and apparatus for use in temperature controlled processing of microfluidic samples
First Claim
1. An apparatus for use with a microfluidic device, the apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of thermal elements, each of the plurality of thermal elements being temperature controlled;
a thermal element tray operable to mount the plurality of thermal elements, the plurality of thermal elements being mounted parallel to each other;
a drive operable to move the microfluidic device laterally relative to the thermal element tray and align one of the plurality of thermal elements with a heating area of the microfluidic device; and
a lift operable to move the aligned one of the plurality of thermal elements tangentially relative to the microfluidic device to contact the heating area.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the invention comprise microfluidic devices, instrumentation interfacing with those devices, processes for fabricating that device, and methods of employing that device to perform PCR amplification. Embodiments of the invention are also compatible with quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (“qPCR”) processes. Microfluidic devices in accordance with the invention may contain a plurality of parallel processing channels. Fully independent reactions can take place in each of the plurality of parallel processing channels. The availability of independent processing channels allows a microfluidic device in accordance with the invention to be used in a number of ways. For example, separate samples could be processed in each of the independent processing channels. Alternatively, different loci on a single sample could be processed in multiple processing channels.
-
Citations
16 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for use with a microfluidic device, the apparatus comprising:
-
a plurality of thermal elements, each of the plurality of thermal elements being temperature controlled; a thermal element tray operable to mount the plurality of thermal elements, the plurality of thermal elements being mounted parallel to each other; a drive operable to move the microfluidic device laterally relative to the thermal element tray and align one of the plurality of thermal elements with a heating area of the microfluidic device; and a lift operable to move the aligned one of the plurality of thermal elements tangentially relative to the microfluidic device to contact the heating area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
Specification