Hydrophobic zone device
OwnerXing Yanginventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method is provided for making and using an assay chip having a hydrophilic region bounded by a hydrophobic region. This is desirable because it allows the user to deposit reagents in an aqueous medium on the hydrophilic region while the hydrophobic region prevents the reagents from flowing away from the hydrophilic region. Hence, the reagents can be isolated in the hydrophilic region to minimize any loss or dilution of the reagents. In a preferred embodiment, the chip surface features a plurality of hydrophilic regions bounded by hydrophobic regions allowing the user to conduct a plurality of assays on the same chip without cross-contamination of the samples. This device is of particular interest to the field of genetic analysis in which oligonucleotides are attached to a gold electrode for electrochemical analysis.
Claims29
A method for positioning a plurality of droplets on electrodes, comprising:
- providing a substrate having a plurality of electrodes onto which droplets can be positioned in a plurality of hydrophilic zones, wherein each hydrophilic zone is bounded by a hydrophobic zone;
- and
- applying discrete aqueous droplets into a plurality of said hydrophilic zones.
An assay surface, comprising:
- a plurality of spatially discrete reagent zones, each comprising at least one reagent, wherein the reagent zones are relatively hydrophilic;
- and
- a relatively hydrophobic line surrounding each of the reagent zones.
A method for performing an assay, comprising:
- providing an assay surface comprising a plurality of reagent zones, each reagent zone surrounded by a hydrophobic material, wherein reagent is bound to the assay surface at the reagent zone, and hydrophilic areas are located on said surface both inside of and outside of the hydrophobic material;
- flooding the assay surface with a liquid sample, such that a layer of liquid covers the assay surface;
- and
- detecting an interaction between an analyte, if present, and the reagent in a reagent zone.
An assay device, comprising:
- a substrate having a surface including plurality of reagent-bearing zones thereon, wherein the reagent-bearing zones are relatively hydrophilic and are each bounded by a relatively less hydrophilic zone, wherein the hydrophilic zones are differentiated from the less hydrophilic zones as a result of the texture of the surface in said zones.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.