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US 7,919,323 B2Granted
Microfluidic flow devices for determining parameters of physical and/or chemical transformations
AssigneeRhodia Operations
InventorsGalder Cristobal, Armand Ajdari, Mathieu Joanicot
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Operation of a microfluidic flow device includes providing a microfluidic flow device including a body and at least one flow microchannel for transferring a mixture (G; T′) of at least two components being formed within the body, in which said mixture (G; T′) of the at least two components is caused to flow in the flow microchannel and the mixture is analyzed in at least one derived branch (B1-B6).
Claims31
A microfluidic flow device for determining parameters of a physical and/or chemical transformation, which comprises
- a body (2),
- at least one flow microchannel (36) for transferring a mixture (G;
- T′) of at least two components, this microchannel being formed within the body (2), the at least one flow microchannel (36) opening out into at least one fork (D1-D6;
- D′1-D′6;
- D″1-D″n;
- d1-dn;
- d′1-d′n) forming a tree structure having a plurality of forks (D1-D6;
- D′1-D′6;
- D″1-D″n;
- d1-dn;
- d′1-d′n), a plurality of derived branches (B1-B6;
- B′1-B′6;
- B″1-B″n;
- b1-bn;
- b′1-b′n), and a plurality of outlets (S1-S5, S′1-S′5;
- S″1-S″n−1;
- s1-sn−1;
- s′1-s′n−1), said plurality of derived branches comprising a plurality of divided branches (B′1(2)-B′6(2)) and a plurality of non-divided branches (B1(1)-B5(1);
- B′1(1)-B′5(1);
- B″1(1)-B″n−1(1);
- b1(1)-bn−1(1);
- b′1(1)-b′n−1(1)),
- the device also comprising introduction means for introducing said components into the at least one flow microchannel and forming means for forming said mixture, the forming means being arranged between the introduction means and the at least one fork, in which the at least one flow microchannel is divided into at least two derived branches of order 1 (B1;
- B′1;
- B″1;
- b1;
- b′1), one of which divides into at least two derived branches of order 2 (B2;
- B′2;
- B″2;
- b2;
- b′2), at least one derived branch of order n−1 being divided into at least two derived branches of order n, and for each order, with the exception of the order furthest downstream, two derived branches are provided, one of which (B1(1)-B5(1);
- B′1(1)-B′5(1);
- B″1(1)-B″n−1(1);
- b1(1)-bn−1(1);
- b′1(1)-b′n−1(1)) is a non-divided branch and is connected directly to an outlet (S1-S5;
- S′1-S′5;
- S″1-S″n−1;
- s1-sn−1;
- s′1-s′n−1), and the other of which (B1(2)-B5(2);
- B′1(2)-B′5(2);
- B″1(2)-B″n−1(2);
- b1(2)-bn−1(2);
- b′1(2)-b′n−1(2)) is a divided branch that is divided into two derived branches of immediately higher order (B2-B6;
- B′2-B′6;
- B″2-B″n;
- b2-bn;
- b′2-b′n).
44 more elements
Operation of the microfluidic flow device comprising:
- providing a microfluidic flow device for determining parameters of a physical and/or chemical transformation, which comprises a body, at least one flow microchannel for transferring a mixture (G;
- T′) of at least two components, this microchannel being formed within the body, the at least one flow microchannel opening out into at least one fork (D1-D6;
- D′1-D′6;
- D″1-D″n;
- d1-dn;
- d′1-d′n) forming a tree structure having a plurality of forks (D1-D6;
- D′1-D′6;
- D″1-D″n;
- d1-dn;
- d′1-d′n), a plurality of derived branches (B1-B6;
- B′1-B′6;
- B″1-B″n;
- b1-bn;
- b′1-b′n), and a plurality of outlets (S1-S5;
- S′1-S′5;
- S″1-S″n−1;
- s1-sn−1;
- s′1-s′n−1), said plurality of derived branches comprising a plurality of divided branches (B′1(2)-B′6(2)) and a plurality of non-divided branches (B1(1)-B5(1);
- B′1(1)-B′5(1);
- B″1(1)-B″n−1(1);
- b1(1)-bn−1(1);
- b′1(1)-b′n−1(1)), the device also comprising introduction means for introducing said components into the at least one flow microchannel and forming means for forming said mixture, the forming means being arranged between the introduction means and the at least one fork, in which the at least one microchannel divides into at least two derived branches of order 1 (B1;
- B′1;
- B″1;
- b1;
- b′1), one of which divides into at least two derived branches of order 2 (B2;
- B′2;
- B″2;
- b2;
- b′2), at least one derived branch of order n−1 being divided into at least two derived branches of order n, and for each order, with the exception of the order furthest downstream, two derived branches are provided, one of which (B1(1)-B5(1);
- B′1(1)-B′5(1);
- B″1(1)-B″n−1(1);
- b1(1)-bn−1(1);
- b′1(1)-b′n−1(1)) is a non-divided branch and is connected directly to an outlet (S1-S5;
- S′1-S′5;
- S″1-S″n−1;
- s1-sn−1;
- s′1-s′n−1), and the other of which (B1(2)-B5(2);
- B′1(2)-B′5(2);
- B″1(2)-B″n−1(2);
- b1(2)-bn−1(2);
- b′1(2)-b′n−1(2)) is a divided branch that is divided into two derived branches of immediately higher order (B2-B6;
- B′2-B′6;
- B″2-B″n;
- b2-bn;
- b′2-b′n);
- introducing the at least two components into the introduction means;
- forming said mixture (G;
- T′) having a composition in the forming means;
- causing said mixture to flow in the flow microchannel (36);
- and
- analyzing said mixture in at least one derived branch (B1-B6).
49 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.