Fluid pumping and temperature regulation
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsJoshua M. Yu, Matthew David Smith, Shameed Sait M A, Manish Giri
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Fluid may be pumped within a microfluidic channel across a cell/particle sensor using a microscopic resistor. The microscopic resistor may be selectively actuated so as to heat the fluid within the microfluidic channel to a temperature below a nucleation energy of the fluid so as to regulate a temperature of the fluid for at least when the cell/particle sensor is sensing the fluid.
Claims15
An apparatus comprising:
- a microfluidic channel to receive a fluid;
- an analyte sensor within the microfluidic channel;
- a microscopic resistor in the microfluidic channel;
- and
- a controller to:
- actuate the microscopic resistor to a fluid pumping state in which fluid adjacent the microscopic resistor is heated to a temperature above a nucleation energy of the fluid to pump the fluid across the cell/particle sensor;
- and
- selectively actuate the microscopic resistor to a temperature regulating state in which fluid adjacent the microscopic resistor is heated to a temperature below the nucleation energy of the fluid, wherein the controller is to selectively actuate the microscopic resistor to the temperature regulating state to regulate a temperature of the fluid for at least when the analyte sensor is sensing the fluid.
The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a temperature sensor to output temperature signals indicative of a temperature of the fluid, wherein the controller is to selectively actuate the microscopic resistor to the temperature regulating state based upon the temperature signals.
A method comprising:
- pumping fluid within the microfluidic channel across an analyte sensor using a microscopic resistor;
- selectively actuating the microscopic resistor so as to heat the fluid within the microfluidic channel to a temperature below a nucleation energy of the fluid so as to regulate a temperature of the fluid for at least when the analyte sensor is sensing the fluid.
An apparatus comprising:
- a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions to direct a processor to:
- receive a signal indicating a temperature of a fluid within the microfluidic channel;
- output a first control signal based upon the temperature of the fluid within the microfluidic channel, the first control signal causing a microfluidic resistor to heat the fluid within the microfluidic channel to a temperature above a nucleation energy of the fluid to pump fluid within the microfluidic channel;
- and
- output a second control signal based upon the temperature the fluid within the microfluidic channel, the second control signal causing the microfluidic resistor to heat the fluid within the microfluidic channel to a temperature below the nucleation energy of the fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.