Microfluidic particle-analysis systems
First Claim
1. A method for treating a particle comprising the steps of:
- (i) providing a microfluidic device comprising;
an input mechanism for introducing a fluid sample containing a particle;
a microfluidic passage in fluid communication with said input mechanism;
a positioning mechanism using a reduced-velocity flow stream in fluid communication with said microfluidic passage, said positioning mechanism for positioning said particle in said microfluidic passage while contained in said fluid sample;
a flow-assisted retention mechanism for retaining said particle upon being positioned by said positioning means;
a treatment mechanism in communication with said retention mechanism for selectively treating said particle to produce a treatment response while being retained within said retention mechanism; and
,a measurement mechanism for measuring said treatment response, if any, of said particle,(ii) introducing said sample fluid containing said particle into said input mechanism;
(iii) positioning said particle with said positioning mechanism using a reduced-velocity flow stream so that said particle is retainable by said flow-assisted etention mechanism;
(iv) retaining said particle with said flow-assisted retention mechanism;
(v) exposing said particle to said treatment by said treatment mechanism;
(vi) measuring said treatment response caused directly or indirectly by said particle upon exposure to said treatment.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides systems, including apparatus, methods, and kits, for the microfluidic manipulation and/or detection of particles, such as cells and/or beads. The invention provides systems, including apparatus, methods, and kits, for the microfluidic manipulation and/or analysis of particles, such as cells, viruses, organelles, beads, and/or vesicles. The invention also provides microfluidic mechanisms for carrying out these manipulations and analyses. These mechanisms may enable controlled input, movement/positioning, retention/localization, treatment, measurement, release, and/or output of particles. Furthermore, these mechanisms may be combined in any suitable order and/or employed for any suitable number of times within a system. Accordingly, these combinations may allow particles to be sorted, cultured, mixed, treated, and/or assayed, among others, as single particles, mixed groups of particles, arrays of particles, heterogeneous particle sets, and/or homogeneous particle sets, among others, in series and/or in parallel. In addition, these combinations may enable microfluidic systems to be reused. Furthermore, these combinations may allow the response of particles to treatment to be measured on a shorter time scale than was previously possible. Therefore, systems of the invention may allow a broad range of cell and particle assays, such as drug screens, cell characterizations, research studies, and/or clinical analyses, among others, to be scaled down to microfluidic size. Such scaled-down assays may use less sample and reagent, may be less labor intensive, and/or may be more informative than comparable macrofluidic assays.
375 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for treating a particle comprising the steps of:
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(i) providing a microfluidic device comprising; an input mechanism for introducing a fluid sample containing a particle; a microfluidic passage in fluid communication with said input mechanism; a positioning mechanism using a reduced-velocity flow stream in fluid communication with said microfluidic passage, said positioning mechanism for positioning said particle in said microfluidic passage while contained in said fluid sample; a flow-assisted retention mechanism for retaining said particle upon being positioned by said positioning means; a treatment mechanism in communication with said retention mechanism for selectively treating said particle to produce a treatment response while being retained within said retention mechanism; and
,a measurement mechanism for measuring said treatment response, if any, of said particle, (ii) introducing said sample fluid containing said particle into said input mechanism; (iii) positioning said particle with said positioning mechanism using a reduced-velocity flow stream so that said particle is retainable by said flow-assisted etention mechanism; (iv) retaining said particle with said flow-assisted retention mechanism; (v) exposing said particle to said treatment by said treatment mechanism; (vi) measuring said treatment response caused directly or indirectly by said particle upon exposure to said treatment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification