System for microfluidic flow control
AssigneeCanon U.S. Life Sciences, Inc.
InventorsShulin Zeng, Gregory A. Dale
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method for controlling fluid flow within a microchannel includes a fluid circuit comprising a fluid outlet well and one or more fluid inlet wells, all in communication with a microchannel. A negative pressure differential is applied to the outlet well and fluid flow from an inlet well into the microchannel is controlled by opening or closing the inlet well to atmospheric pressure. To stop fluid flow from the inlet well, a negative pressure differential may be applied to the inlet well to equalize pressure between the inlet and outlet wells. By sequentially opening and closing different inlet wells to atmosphere, controlled amounts of different reagents can be serially introduced into the microchannel.
Claims14
A system for controlling microfluidic flow comprising:
- a. microfluidic circuit comprising at least two inlet ports through which fluid is introduced into said circuit, at least one microchannel for microfluidic flow in fluid communication with said inlet port, and an outlet port in fluid communication with said microchannel through which fluid from said microchannel is collected;
- and
- b. at least first and second pressure sources in selective communication with said outlet port and each of said at least two inlet ports to initiate and stop fluid flow from any of said at least two inlets to the outlet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.