Near-field and far-field encoding and shaping of microbeads for bioassays
OwnerDaniel B. Roitman, Annette Grotinventors
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Abstract
An encoded patterned microbead of polymeric material, with an associated geometry, capable of linking to a ligand molecule, processes for fabricating shaped and patterned microbeads, a reader to read the patterned microbead, and methods to produce and read the shaped and patterned microbead are disclosed. A unique identifier is written to the encoded patterned microbead and the encoded patterned microbead is given an identifying shape according to one of several well-known techniques. A reader of the present invention, as well as conventional readers, read the shaped, encoded, patterned microbeads.
Claims33
A microbead particle system for bioassay comprising:
- at least one microbead particle made of polymeric material;
- a pattern encoded on at least one portion of said at least one microbead particle;
- a selected geometry effectively associated with said at least one microbead particle, said geometry capable, alone or with other artifacts, of identifying said at least one microbead particle;
- and
- means effectively associated with said at least one microbead particle for enabling or enhancing chemical conjugation between said at least one microbead particle and a ligand.
A method for fabricating at least one polymeric microbead comprising the steps of:
- creating a patterned master substrate having at least one pattern and at least one shape, the at least one pattern having at least one level of pattern depth, the at least one shape enabling identification and proper seating in a receiving substrate;
- applying polymeric material to the patterned master substrate to form at least one patterned polymeric microbead or at least one patterned microbead precursor;
- partitioning the polymeric material to form the at least one polymeric microbead;
- and
- releasing the polymeric material from the master substrate.
A reader for identifying at least one microbead comprising:
- a receiving substrate, said receiving substrate including at least one receptor having at least one geometric shape, said at least one receptor capable of receiving at least one microbead with a portion having a geometry corresponding to said substrate receptor geometry;
- a magnifier capable of enlarging an optical, electrical, pressure, sonic or magnetic image of the received at least one microbead or a portion thereof;
- and
- a recorder capable of storing an enlarged image of the received at least one microbead or portion.
A method for identifying at least one microbead comprising:
- initially etching a receiving substrate through a first patterned mask, said step of initially etching forming a shaped opening, the shaped opening having a pre-selected geometry;
- subsequently etching the receiving substrate through a second patterned mask, said step of subsequently etching enlarging the shaped opening;
- creating a master substrate having at least one pattern, the master substrate having the pre-selected geometry, the at least one pattern having at least one level of pattern depth;
- applying polymeric material to the master substrate to form the at least one microbead;
- partitioning the polymeric material to release the at least one microbead;
- releasing the polymeric material from the master substrate;
- providing the at least one microbead to the shaped opening;
- and
- viewing the at least one microbead to read the at least one pattern.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.