US 2026/0218112 A1 · PRESSURIZED AIR-ASSISTED CELL DISPENSING SYSTEM

Abstract

The present embodiments relate to a pressurized air-assisted dispenser. The present embodiments generally can provide a microfluidic approach to achieve high precision single cell dispensing for various omic analyses. Omics includes, for example, proteomics, transcriptomics, genomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, and epigenomics, which correspond to global analyses of proteins, RNA, genes, metabolites, lipids, and methylated DNA or modified histone proteins in chromosomes, respectively. Particularly, in comparison to other single particle and cell dispensing systems, the present devices and methods introduce compressed air to reduce the dispensing droplet size and control the uniformity and timing of the droplet generation and dispensing. Furthermore, imaging methods can be used to determine the droplets with targeted particles or cells and assist the dispense of the droplets into the selected particle or cell collecting containers.

Claims47

Dependent claims

A pressurized air-assisted dispenser comprising:

a channel comprising a first end and a second end, the first end comprising an inlet to obtain a fluid containing particles or cells, and the second end comprising an outlet configured to form a droplet comprising a single target particle or cell and output the droplet;
and
at least one air channel disposed along a portion of the pressurized air-assisted dispenser adjacent to the channel, wherein the at least one air channel comprises an air channel inlet configured to obtain a flow of pressurized air and at least one air channel outlet adjacent to the outlet of the channel, wherein the output of the flow of pressurized air at the air channel outlet is configured to cause a breakup and removal of the droplet from the outlet of the channel.

A method comprising:

obtaining, at an inlet of a channel of a pressurized air-assisted dispenser, a fluid containing at least one particle or cell, wherein the fluid containing the at least one particle or cell is configured to travel along the channel to an outlet;
emitting, by a laser light source, a laser light into the channel to highlight a holographic pattern and/or a fluorescent pattern of the particle or cell in the channel;
capturing, by an image sensor, an image of the holographic pattern and/or the fluorescent pattern of the particle or cell;
processing, by a computing node, the image to determine a particle or cell type based on the holographic pattern of the particle or cell depicted in the image;
and
responsive to determining that the particle or cell type is a target particle or cell type, causing an air compressor connected to an air channel inlet of at least one air channel in the pressurized air-assisted dispenser to direct a flow of pressurized air to the air channel outlet disposed adjacent to the outlet of the channel to cause breakup and removal of a droplet including the target particle or cell from the outlet of the channel.

3 more elements

A system comprising:

a single particle or cell dispenser that includes:
a channel comprising a first end and a second end, the first end comprising an inlet to obtain a fluid containing target particle or cells, and the second end comprising an outlet configured to form a droplet comprising a single target particle or cell and output the droplet;
and
two air channels disposed along a portion of the single particle or cell dispenser adjacent to the channel, wherein the two air channels are configured to obtain a flow of pressurized air at an air channel inlet common to the two air channels and output the flow of pressurized air an air channel outlet for each of the two air channels, wherein the output of the flow of pressurized air at each air channel outlet is configured to cause a breakup and removal of the droplet from the outlet of the channel;
and
an imaging system comprising:
a laser light source configured to emit a laser light into the channel to highlight a holographic and/or fluorescent pattern of the particle or cells in the channel;
and
at least one image sensor configured to capture an image of the holographic and/or fluorescent pattern of the particle or cells.

6 more elements

A pressurized air-assisted particle dispensing system comprising:

a microfluidic device comprising one or more sample inlets for introducing a fluid sample, a waste outlet, a target particle or cell outlet, and a particle or cell imaging area, and a channel or tube connected to the target cell or particle outlet and to a first end of a dispenser channel;
the dispenser channel comprising a first end and a second end comprising an outlet configured to form a droplet comprising a target cell or target particle and output the droplet;
two air channels disposed along a portion of the dispenser channel adjacent to the dispenser channel, wherein the two air channels are configured to obtain a flow of pressurized air at an air channel inlet common to the two air channels and output the flow of pressurized air to an air channel outlet for each of the two air channels, wherein the output of the flow of pressurized air at each air channel outlet is configured to cause a breakup and removal of the droplet from the outlet of the dispenser channel.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Pressurized air-assisted cell dispensing system

Life of this patent

Pressurized air-assisted cell dispensing system

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims47