# US 2008/0176216 A1 · Multifunctional Encoded Particles for High-Throughput Analysis > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2008/0176216 A1 - Document ID: US20080176216A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 11/867,217 - Filed: 2007-10-04 - Published: 2008-07-24 - Earliest claimed: 2006-10-05 - Assignees: Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Inventors: Patrick S. Doyle; Daniel C. Pregnibon - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20080176216A1 ## CPC - G01N 33/54366: {Apparatus specially adapted for solid-phase testing} - G01N 33/54313: {the carrier being characterised by its particulate form} - G01N 33/582: {with fluorescent label} - B01J 2219/005: Beads - B01J 2219/00545: Colours - B01J 2219/00549: 2-dimensional - B01J 2219/00576: fluorophore - B01J 2219/00596: Solid-phase processes - B01J 2219/00722: Nucleotides - B01J 2219/00725: Peptides - B01J 2219/0074: Biological products - B01J 2219/00743: Cells - B01L 3/5027: {by integrated microfluidic structures, i.e. dimensions of channels and chambers are such that surface tension forces are important, e.g. lab-on-a-chip} - Y10S 977/704: Nucleic acids, e.g. DNA or RNA - Y10S 977/712: formed from plural layers of nanosized material, e.g. stacked structures - Y10S 977/733: Nanodiaphragm - Y10S 977/795: Composed of biological material - G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q) - B01J: CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS - B01L: CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE - Y10S: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS ## Abstract Method for making multifunctional particles. The method includes flowing a first monomer stream loaded with a fluorescent entity along a microfluidic channel and flowing a second monomer stream loaded with a probe adjacent to the first monomer stream along the microfluidic channel. The monomer streams are polymerized to synthesize particles having a fluorescent, graphically encoded region and a probe-loaded region. ## Claims ### Claim 1 Method for making multifunctional particles comprising: flowing a first monomer stream loaded with a fluorescent entity along a microfluidic channel; flowing a second monomer stream loaded with a probe adjacent to the first monomer stream along the microfluidic channel; and polymerizing the monomer streams to synthesize particles having a fluorescent, graphically encoded region and a probe-loaded region. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the probe includes DNA or RNA. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the probe includes protein. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the probe includes cells. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the probe includes viruses. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the probe includes carbon nanotubes. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the probe includes organelles. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the probe includes an inert species to serve as a negative control. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the polymerizing step includes exposing the monomer streams to ultraviolet light transmitted through a photomask to create a particle with an encoded region. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the encoded region includes a plurality of open and closed coding elements. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 wherein the encoding elements are arranged in a two-dimensional grid. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11 wherein the grid includes 20 coding elements. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 further including at least one orientation indicator. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 wherein the encoding elements have non-uniform shapes or sizes. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the polymerizing step produces more than one probe-loaded region. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the polymerizing step produces more than one encoding region. ### Claim 17 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9 wherein the ultraviolet light is focused by a microscope objective. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second monomer streams contain poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18 wherein the first and second monomer streams include a photoinitiator. ### Claim 20 Multifunctional particle comprising: at least one graphically encoded region that is covalently linked to at least one region loaded with a probe. ### Claim 21 High-throughput screening system comprising: multifunctional particles having a graphically encoded region and a probe-loaded region; and a flow-focusing microfluidic device adapted to align and read the particles. ### Claim 22 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further including increasing probe accessibility. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22 wherein probe accessibility is increased by increasing surface area in the probe-loaded region of the particle. ### Claim 24 (depends on 23) The method of claim 23 wherein surface area is increased by forming ridges or dimples in the probe-loaded region of the particle. ### Claim 25 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22 wherein probe accessibility is increased by increasing pore size in the probe-loaded region of the particle.