Microfluidic flow cells that are used in, for example, microarray chemical analysis typically have small holes for fluid inlet and outlet. When the microarray area covers a large area, such as in high throughput analysis, the flow becomes localized between the fluid inlet and outlet, which results in high non-uniformity of the analyte across the surface of the microarray. To help alleviate this problem, a higher flow rate for the analyte fluid may be used to exchange the fluid in the flow cell; however, such high flow rates are undesirable because the analyte is often precious and may be present at low concentration.
One embodiment is a microfluidic device that comprises: a) a fluid inlet having a semi-circular groove and b) a flow chamber having an inlet end, wherein the fluid inlet and flow chamber are in communication and wherein the inner wall at the inlet end is curved with a radius similar to the radius of the semi-circular groove. An analyte fluid introduced through the groove flows across the surface of a microarray with high uniformity and does not require high analyte fluid volumes to exchange the fluid in the flow cell. The flow chamber may be in communication with a sample chip. In some embodiments, fluid flows through the flow chamber and is contained between a) the bottom surface adjacent to the fluid inlet and b) the surface of the sample chip. The surface of the sample chip may have an analysis area to which is immobilized, for example, probe molecules such as peptides, proteins, DNA, RNA, etc. In another embodiment the microfluidic device further comprises a fluid outlet end having a fluid outlet, wherein the inner wall of the flow chamber at the outlet end tapers toward the fluid outlet. Another embodiment is an assembly for chemical analysis comprising any of the microfluidic devices as described above and the sample chip having a surface comprising an analysis area, wherein the surface is in communication with the flow chamber.
Another embodiment is a method of chemical analysis comprising: a) introducing an analyte fluid having a flow to the surface of a sample chip through a microfluidic device comprising i) a fluid inlet having a semi-circular groove and ii) a flow chamber having an inlet end, wherein the fluid inlet is in communication with the flow chamber and wherein the inner wall at the inlet end is curved with a radius similar to the radius of the semi-circular groove; b) maintaining the flow of the analyte fluid such that the analyte fluid forms a pattern on the surface of the sample chip, the pattern approximating the semi-circular groove; c) maintaining the flow of the analyte fluid so that a linear fluid front forms on the surface of the sample chip at the inlet end; and d) maintaining the flow so that the linear fluid front moves along the surface of the sample chip.
a illustrates a top down view relative to
b illustrated a cross section of the microfluidic device
One embodiment, referring to
It should be noted that in the
In various embodiments, the microfluidic device may have one or more of the following features. Radius 60 of inner wall 25 is from about 105% to about 107% larger than radius 55 of the semi-circular groove. The width of the groove is from about 350 micron to about 500 micron and radius 55 of the semi-circular groove is from about 3.5 cm to about 4 cm. The depth 71 of fluid inlet 10 is from about 25 microns to about 40 microns. The depth 72 of flow chamber 20 is from about 13 microns to about 20 microns.
In another embodiment, referring to
Another embodiment is an assembly for chemical analysis comprising any of the microfluidic devices as described above and sample chip 35 having surface 45 comprising analysis area 50, wherein surface 45 is in communication with flow chamber 20. Various embodiments may have one or more of the following features. Analysis area 50 is at least 1.5 sq. cm. Analysis area 50 includes a microarray comprising analysis spots. At least one analysis spot of the microarray may comprise a biomolecule. The biomolecule may be a polypeptide or a polynucleotide. The microarray may also comprise a plurality of polypeptides, polynucleotides, or both.
Another embodiment, referring to
Other embodiments are within the following claims.
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