Nucleic acid testing in a portable device
AssigneeThe Penn State Research Foundation
InventorsWeihua Guan, Tianyi Liu, Anthony J. Politza
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A nucleic acid testing device includes a microfluidic cartridge, an analyzer and a processing unit for controlling the analyzer. The microfluidic cartridge includes a binding chamber, a washing chamber and a reaction chamber. The analyzer includes a mechanical module including an electromagnetic coil array and a permanent magnet. The electromagnetic coil array is programmed to generate a programmable pulsed electromagnetic field to actuate the permanent magnet that further controls a paramagnetic bead (PMB) assay in the cartridge to move among the adjacent chambers.
Claims20
A nucleic acid testing device, comprising:
- a microfluidic cartridge having a binding chamber, a washing chamber and a reaction chamber;
- an analyzer having a mechanical module, the mechanical module including an electromagnetic coil array and a permanent magnet, the electromagnetic coil array generating a programmable pulsed electromagnetic field to actuate the permanent magnet that further controls a paramagnetic bead (PMB) assay in the cartridge;
- and
- a processing unit for controlling the analyzer.
A method of nucleic acid testing, comprising the steps of:
- providing a nucleic acid testing device, comprising:
- a microfluidic cartridge having a binding chamber, a washing chamber and a reaction chamber;
- an analyzer having an electromagnetic coil array paired with a permanent magnet;
- providing a paramagnetic bead (PMB) assay bound to nucleic acids forming nucleic acid-bead complexes;
- driving the nucleic acid-bead complexes into the washing chamber using the permanent magnet;
- removing unwanted proteins and salts carried along with the nucleic acids in the washing chamber;
- moving the nucleic acid-bead complexes into the reaction chamber using the permanent magnet for elution where the nucleic acids dissociate from the PMBs;
- and
- moving the PMBs away from the reaction chamber using the permanent magnet, leaving the nucleic acids in the reaction chamber for downstream analysis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.