| 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 |
| 20090305224 | Methods for the Cryopreservation of Mammalian Cells - The present invention features novel methods for the cryopreservation of mammalian cell that combine the advantages of the slow-freezing and vitrification approaches while avoiding their shortcomings. Generally, the methods include the use of a capillary tube made of a thermally conductive wall material and a thin wall such that the ratio of the thermal conductivity of the wall material to the wall thickness is at least 1,000-500,000. The solution is then exposed to temperatures equal to or less than −80° C. and the vitrification solution containing the mammalian cells is cooled at a rate equal to or greater than 30,000-100,000,000° C./minute. The exposure of the capillary tube with a thermally conductive and thin wall allows for vitrification of the solution in the absence of ice formation. Cryoprotectants can also be added to the vitrification solution to further prevent ice formation. | 12-10-2009 |
| 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 |
| 20100055758 | Magnetic Device for Isolation of Cells and Biomolecules in a Microfluidic Environment - The present invention features a new and useful magnetic device and methods of its use for isolation, enrichment, and purification of cells, proteins, DNA, and other molecules. In general the device includes magnetic regions or obstacles to which magnetic particles can bind. The chemical groups, i.e., capture moieties, on the surface of the magnetic particles may then be used to bind particles, e.g., cells, or molecules of interest from complex samples, and the bound species may then be selectively released for downstream collection or further analysis. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100092393 | TUNABLE HYDROGEL MICROPARTICLES - Techniques are provided to produce and use non-spherical colloidal particles with independently tuned size, shape, flexibility, and chemical properties. A pre-polymer mixture for forming hydrogel particles includes a percentage of PEGDA selected to impart a target stiffness to the particles and includes, a percentage of acrylic acid selected to impart an independent target chemical function to the particles. The mixture also includes a percentage of photo-initiator to polymerize PEGDA upon exposure to a light source to impart an independently selected target size or shape or both to the particles. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20100273675 | Methods for detecting fetal abnormality - The invention relates to a method of identifying fetal abnormality from a maternal blood sample by capturing an image of a fetal nucleated red blood cell obtained from the maternal blood sample; inputting probe intensities for a plurality of nucleic acid probes that bind fetal nucleic acids of interest; analyzing the probe intensities; and generating a diagnostic output according to results of the analysis. In some embodiments, the probes are specific to a chromosome. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20110070581 | Separation of Leukocytes - Leukocytes (e.g., neutrophils, monocytes and/or lymphocytes) can be captured and separated from blood by removing platelets using a spiral channel, followed by capturing individual leukocyte types in a series of cell capture channels having leukocyte binding moieties. Accordingly, various microfluidic-based cell affinity chromatography methods can be used to separate leukocytes from whole blood. | 03-24-2011 |
