Fluid Transfer from Digital Microfluidic Device
AssigneeDH Technologies Development Pte. Ltd.
InventorsJohn Lawrence CAMPBELL, Kihwan CHOI, Yves LEBLANC, Chang LIU, Aaron WHEELER
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Abstract
Methods and systems for processing fluids utilizing a digital microfluidic device and transferring droplets from the digital microfluidic device to a downstream analyzer are described herein. Methods and systems in accordance with the present teachings can allow for the withdrawal of fluid from a digital microfluidic device, and can in some aspects enable the integration of a digital microfluidic device as a direct, in-line sample processing platform from which a droplet can be transferred to a downstream analyzer.
Claims20
A method of processing a sample comprising:
- disposing a sample droplet between a top plate and a bottom plate of a digital microfluidic device, and
- removing at least a portion of the droplet from the digital microfluidic device via a sampling hole extending through the plate.
A system for processing a sample, the system comprising:
- a digital microfluidic device, comprising:
- opposed top and bottom plates defining a space therebetween for containing a sample droplet, the plate having a sampling hole, and
- a fluid handling system configured to extract at least a portion of the droplet from the digital microfluidic device via the sampling hole.
A method of processing a fluid comprising:
- disposing a sample droplet between a top plate and a bottom plate,
- extending a sampling needle into a sampling hole extending through one of the top and bottom plate in a position opposed to an electrode associated to the other of the top and bottom plate,
- applying an electric potential to at least one of the sampling needle and the electrode so as to generate an electric field in the space between the top and bottom plates in the position;
- removing at least a portion of the merged droplet from the sampling hole,
- aspirating the sample droplet while applying the electric potential, and biasing the sampling needle relative to the electrode so as to attract the sample droplet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.