Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090014360 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PARTICLE FOCUSING IN MICROCHANNELS - Various systems, methods, and devices are provided for focusing particles suspended within a moving fluid into one or more localized stream lines. The system can include a substrate and at least one channel provided on the substrate having an inlet and an outlet. The system can further include a fluid moving along the channel in a laminar flow having suspended particles and a pumping element driving the laminar flow of the fluid. The fluid, the channel, and the pumping element can be configured to cause inertial forces to act on the particles and to focus the particles into one or more stream lines. | 01-15-2009 |
20090221073 | DEVICES AND METHODS FOR CELL MANIPULATION - Devices for fluid control and biological particle manipulation (e.g., cell enrichment and blood sampling) are disclosed. The devices a based on the ability to control the flow of fluids through the use of microfluidic valves. The valves are characterized, for example, by microstructures disposed on a mobile diaphragm. | 09-03-2009 |
20090298067 | DEVICES AND METHODS FOR DETECTING CELLS AND OTHER ANALYTES - The invention features methods, devices, and kits for the isolation of analytes (e.g., a cell). A sample containing a desired analyte is introduced into a microfluidic device containing moieties that bind the desired analyte. A shear stress is applied that is great enough to prevent binding of undesired analytes and low enough to allow binding of the analyte of interest. Once bound, the desired analytes can be analyzed (e.g., counted). The invention also features methods for determining a shear stress for isolating a desired analyte. | 12-03-2009 |
20100021984 | Microfluidic Droplet Encapsulation - Microfluidic devices and methods for the encapsulation of particles within liquid droplets are disclosed. The new methods and devices form 1-100 picoliter-size monodisperse droplets containing the particles, such as single cells, encapsulated in individual liquid droplets. The particles can be encapsulated in droplets of a fluid by passing a fluid containing the particles through a high aspect-ratio microchannel to order the particles in the fluid, followed by forming the fluid into droplets. The resulting fraction of the liquid droplets with a single particle (e.g., a cell) is higher than the corresponding fraction of single-particle liquid droplets predicted by Poisson statistics. | 01-28-2010 |
20110117579 | System and Method for Quantitative Assessment of Biological Migration Behavior - The present invention provides systems and methods for assessing migration behavior of biological particles, such as neutrophils, under the effect of a gradient. The systems can include one or more migration chambers, one or more gradient sources configured to generate particular gradients, e.g., of chemokines or the like across the width of the migration chamber, and a detection arrangement that is configured to determine spatial profiles across the migration chamber that indicate the extent of migration. | 05-19-2011 |
20120003687 | METHODS FOR COUNTING CELLS - The invention features methods of quantifying cells in a sample by lysing the cells followed by the measurement of at least one intracellular component. Methods of the invention are especially useful for quantifying small numbers of cells, e.g., over a large surface area or volume compared to the cell size. In a preferred embodiment, methods of the invention are performed using a microfluidic device. | 01-05-2012 |
20120094325 | Microfluidic Cell Motility Assay - Certain isolated motile cells spontaneously migrate unidirectionally through a mechanically confined space, such as a microcapillary channel, in the absence of an external gradient (e.g., a chemical gradient). Assays and methods for detecting motile cells, and identifying chemical agents that inhibit cell migration, can include detecting the movement of motile cancer cells through a microcapillary channel. | 04-19-2012 |
20120216601 | MICROFLUIDIC DEVICES FOR ANALYZING CELL MOTILITY - Methods, apparatus, and systems for analyzing the motility of motile cells, such as neutrophils, are described. The microfluidic devices described herein generally include a main channel and one or more side channels and can be used for causing migration of cells in response to a biochemical gradient. The main channel has an inlet and an outlet and can be sized to receive the cells. The side channels that branch from the main channel terminate in a closed end and are sized such that the cell migrates into and through the side channel in response to a concentration gradient established between the main channel and the interior of the side channels in which the biochemical stimulus is trapped after priming and loading. | 08-30-2012 |
20120292233 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PARTICLE FOCUSING IN MICROCHANNELS - Various systems, methods, and devices are provided for focusing particles suspended within a moving fluid into one or more localized stream lines. The system can include a substrate and at least one channel provided on the substrate having an inlet and an outlet. The system can further include a fluid moving along the channel in a laminar flow having suspended particles and a pumping element driving the laminar flow of the fluid. The fluid, the channel, and the pumping element can be configured to cause inertial forces to act on the particles and to focus the particles into one or more stream lines. | 11-22-2012 |
20130011210 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PARTICLE FOCUSING IN MICROCHANNELS - Various systems, methods, and devices are provided for focusing particles suspended within a moving fluid into one or more localized stream lines. The system can include a substrate and at least one channel provided on the substrate having an inlet and an outlet. The system can further include a fluid moving along the channel in a laminar flow having suspended particles and a pumping element driving the laminar flow of the fluid. The fluid, the channel, and the pumping element can be configured to cause inertial forces to act on the particles and to focus the particles into one or more stream lines. | 01-10-2013 |