Assay device and method of use thereof

An assay device comprising:

• a planar substrate having a top surface and a bottom surface;
• a flow channel disposed within the planar substrate and extending along a dimension of the planar substrate between the top surface and the bottom surface and the flow channel having a volume of between about 30 to 90 microliters;
• an inlet fluidly coupled to the flow channel;
• a vent fluidly coupled to the flow channel and operable to facilitate flow of a liquid sample through the flow channel, wherein the flow channel is configured to receive a liquid sample from the inlet and allow flow of the liquid sample within the flow channel whereby analytes of the liquid sample are distributed within the flow channel as a monolayer and the flow channel is configured to generate a substantially uniform distribution of red blood cells within an imaging area of the flow channel;
• and further comprising one or more additional flow channels disposed within the planar substrate wherein each of the one more additional flow channels is fluidly coupled to the inlet wherein a first flow channel of the one more additional flow channels has a first depth, a second flow channel of the one more additional flow channels has a second depth wherein the first depth and second depth are different wherein the first flow channel comprises a first imaging area and the second flow channel comprises a second imaging area and the first flow channel and the second flow channel are configured for detection of the analytes within the first imaging area and second imaging area.

An assay device comprising:

• a planar substrate having a top surface and a bottom surface;
• a flow channel disposed within the planar substrate and extending along a dimension of the planar substrate between the top surface and the bottom surface and the flow channel having a volume of between about 30 to 90 microliters wherein the flow channel comprises a first sidewall portion and second sidewall portion, wherein the first sidewall portion extends from the inlet to the second sidewall portion, and wherein the first sidewall portion and the second sidewall portion are joined at an angle of between about 30° and 60°;
• an inlet fluidly coupled to the flow channel;
• a vent fluidly coupled to the flow channel and operable to facilitate flow of a liquid sample through the flow channel, wherein the flow channel is configured to receive a liquid sample from the inlet and allow flow of the liquid sample within the flow channel whereby analytes of the liquid sample are distributed within the flow channel as a monolayer and the flow channel is configured to generate a substantially uniform distribution of red blood cells within an imaging area of the flow channel;
• and
• an upper surface disposed over the flow channel having a thickness of between about 0.05 to 0.5 millimeters.