Claims
- 1. A device for fabricating a high density microarray, comprising:
a droplet focusing element having an inlet and an outlet, the inlet being operatively coupled to a droplet charging element; a droplet de-charging element operatively coupled to the outlet of the focusing element; and, an X-Y mounting stage operatively coupled to the outlet of the focusing element, wherein, the X-Y mounting stage is continuously, controllably movable in relation to the outlet of the focusing element.
- 2. A device for fabricating a high density microarray, comprising:
a means for a means for altering the size of a droplet located between a means for generating said droplet and a means for mounting said droplet.
- 3. The device of claim 1, further comprising a droplet generator.
- 4. The device of claim 1, wherein the X-Y mounting stage comprises an X-direction motor and a Y-direction motor.
- 5. The device of claim 4, wherein the X-direction motor and the Y-direction motor are operatively coupled to a directional controller.
- 6. The device of claim 1, further comprising a droplet detecting element operatively coupled to the focusing element between the inlet of the focusing element and the grounding element.
- 7. The device of claim 1, further comprising a droplet selecting element operatively coupled to the focusing element between the detecting element and the grounding element.
- 8. The device of claim 7, wherein the droplet selecting element comprises an electrode having a charge opposite that of the droplet.
- 9. A method of forming a high density microarray, comprising:
generating a plurality of droplets of a substrate-containing liquid, one at a time; releasing the droplets, one at a time such that each falls under the influence of gravity and through a means to control the size of said droplet and depositing said de-charged droplet on a planar surface of a workpiece that is removably coupled to an X-Y mounting stage such that the workpiece surface is perpendicular to the path of the falling droplets.
- 10. The method of claim 9, wherein said liquid comprises two or more liquids of differing volatilities.
- 11. The method of claim 9, wherein depositing each focused droplet on a workpiece surface comprises moving the X-Y stage such that a pre-selected location on the workpiece surface is placed in the path of each falling droplet.
- 12. A method of forming a high density microarray comprising depositing a plurality of droplets onto a mounting device using the device of claim 2.
- 13. A microarray produced by the method of claims 9 or 12.
- 14. The microarray of claim 13, wherein each of said deposited droplet is of a uniform size and has a diameter of less than 100 μm.
- 15. The microarray of claim 13, wherein each of said deposited droplets are less than 100 μm apart, edge to edge.
- 16. The microarray of claim 14, wherein the plurality of deposited droplets are less than 100 μm apart, edge to edge.
- 17. A method for the detection of an agent, comprising:
dissolving one or more first substrate(s) that reacts with said agent under suitable conditions to produce a reaction product, in a first solvent or first combination of solvents; dissolving one or more second substrate(s) suspected of containing said agent in a second solvent or second combination of solvents that may be the same as, or different from, the first solvent or combination of solvents; generating a plurality of first droplets, one at a time, of each first substrate-containing solvent; generating a plurality of second droplets, one at a time, of each second substrate-containing solvent; altering the size of said first droplets and said second droplets before each is deposited at a plurality of locations, one said first droplet and one said second droplet per location, on the workpiece surface under conditions favorable for the formation of said reaction product; and, detecting a reaction product at each location.
- 18. The method of claim 17, wherein said agent is selected from the group consisting of a polynucleotide, a small molecule, a peptide, a protein and a ligand.
- 19. The method of claim 18, wherein said contact comprises releasing a first-substrate droplet and a second-substrate droplet such that they collide in mid-air to form a combined droplet that falls under the influence of gravity.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is related to and claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/327,073, filed Oct. 3, 2001, which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60327073 |
Oct 2001 |
US |