U.S. patent application number 14/374499 was filed with the patent office on 2014-12-25 for patterning device.
This patent application is currently assigned to KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT EUVEN. The applicant listed for this patent is KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN. Invention is credited to Jeroen Lammertyn, Daan Witters.
Application Number | 20140378339 14/374499 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 48874016 |
Filed Date | 2014-12-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140378339 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lammertyn; Jeroen ; et
al. |
December 25, 2014 |
PATTERNING DEVICE
Abstract
A novel miniaturized and highly automated method for the
controlled printing of large arrays of nano- to femtoliter droplets
is presented by actively transporting mother droplets over
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropatches. The proposed technology
consists of single plate or double-plate devices where mother
droplets can be actuated and hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic
micropatches on one or both plates of the device where nano- to
femtoliter droplets are printed. Due to the selective wettability
of the more wettable hydrophilic micropatches in a hydrophobic
matrix, large nano- to femtoliter droplet arrays are created when
mother droplets are transported over these arrays. The parent
droplets can be moved by different droplet actuation principles,
for example, by using the principle of electrowetting-on-dielectric
droplet actuation. We propose another method that uses two plates
that are placed on top of each other while being separated by a
spacer. One plate is dedicated to confirming and guiding of parent
droplets by using hydrophilic patches in a hydrophobic matrix,
while the other plate contains hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic arrays
dedicated to the printing of nano- to femtoliter droplets. When the
plate dedicated to parent droplet guiding is rotated over the plate
dedicated to printing of nano- to femtoliter droplets, nano- to
femtoliter droplets are dispensed inside the
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic array due to their selective
wettability. All these proposed methods allow the parent droplets
to be moved over the hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic arrays many times,
providing unique advantages for performing bio-assays or
miniaturized materials synthesis in nano- to femtoliter sized
droplets. Upon the controlled evaporation of the dispensed droplets
of solution, large arrays of the printed material can be generated
on an automated way in seconds of time on a very flexible way. The
method disclosed herein provides a distinct nano- to femtoliter
droplet printing technique for a wide variety of applications such
as protein- or cell-based bio-assays or printing of crystalline
structures, suspensions of nanoparticles or components for
microelectronics.
Inventors: |
Lammertyn; Jeroen;
(Neerijse, BE) ; Witters; Daan; (Geetbets,
BE) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN |
Leuven |
|
BE |
|
|
Assignee: |
KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT
EUVEN
Leuven
BE
|
Family ID: |
48874016 |
Appl. No.: |
14/374499 |
Filed: |
January 24, 2013 |
PCT Filed: |
January 24, 2013 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/BE2013/000004 |
371 Date: |
July 24, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61592399 |
Jan 30, 2012 |
|
|
|
61725268 |
Nov 12, 2012 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
506/9 ;
506/29 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B01L 2400/043 20130101;
B01J 19/0046 20130101; B01L 2200/0673 20130101; B01L 2400/0427
20130101; B01L 3/502792 20130101; B01L 2300/0816 20130101; B01J
2219/0065 20130101; B01L 2200/142 20130101; B01L 2300/0636
20130101; B01L 2200/0668 20130101; B01L 2300/161 20130101; B01L
3/502707 20130101; B01J 2219/00382 20130101; B82Y 30/00 20130101;
B01J 2219/00387 20130101; B01J 2219/00619 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
506/9 ;
506/29 |
International
Class: |
B01J 19/00 20060101
B01J019/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 24, 2012 |
JP |
1201277.9 |
Oct 23, 2012 |
JP |
1218994.0 |
Oct 23, 2012 |
JP |
1218995.7 |
Claims
1. A method of printing a pattern or an array of nano- to
femtoliter volume liquid droplets, characterized in that the method
comprises moving or transporting a micro- or mililiter-sized parent
droplet over a hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic pattern forming an array
of hydrophilic elements in or onto a hydrophobic surface so that
the parent droplet is divided into nano- to femtoliter droplets by
releasing a divisional nano- to femtoliter droplet per hydrophilic
element which the parent droplet touches so creating a printed
nano- or femtoliter droplet array or pattern.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the parent droplet is
electrostatically transported with electrowetting-on-dielectric
actuation over an array of conductive elements covered with a
hydrophobic insulator.
3. The method according to claim 2, wherein activation/deactivation
of the conductive elements leads to transport of the parent droplet
to the activated/deactivated conductive elements.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the distance between
the separate hydrophilic elements of the created array is minimally
the length of one element of these features or wherein the distance
between the hydrophilic elements is at least the length or diameter
of one said hydrophilic element to prevent pinning of the mother
droplet to the surface of the device.
5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising moving or
transporting parent droplets sandwiched between two, by a spacer
separated, plates of which one of these plates contains hydrophilic
guidance patches or wells in a hydrophobic matrix for guiding a
parent droplet over an hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic pattern to
capture or deposit nano- to femtoliter droplets from the parent
droplet and wherein the one plate is mechanically or manually
rotated over the other plate.
6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method is a
high-throughput method of printing wherein several parent droplets
are moved or transported in parallel over several regions
containing hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropatterns.
7. The method according to claim 1, wherein >1000 parent
droplets are moved or transported over a pattern of
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropatterns in different sequences
printing components or solutions from the parent droplets inside
the hydrophilic elements of the array.
8. The method according to claim 1, wherein a larger parent droplet
is transported over a hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropattern by
means of electrowetting-on-dielectric based droplet actuation.
9. The method according to claim 1, wherein suspended particles or
elements from a divisional droplet released from the parent droplet
are printed inside the hydrophilic elements of the
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic pattern.
10. The method according to claim 9, wherein suspended particles or
elements are captured and bound inside the hydrophilic elements of
the hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic array and wherein the parent droplet
that contains the suspended particles or elements is moved or
transported over the hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic pattern at least 1
time to fill all hydrophilic elements with one or multiple
particles from the parent droplet.
11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the hydrophilic
element comprises a microwell, i.e. a well with diameter or length
and depth of 1 .mu.m-1000 .mu.m, or a micropatch with a depth of
maximal 1 .mu.m and a maximal length or diameter of 1000 .mu.m.
12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the suspended
particles in the parent droplet are micro- or nanoparticles with a
diameter of 1 nm to 1000 .mu.m that are deposited inside the
hydrophilic elements.
13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the suspended micro-
and nanoparticles are magnetic and their movement towards and
inside of the hydrophilic elements is facilitated by placing a
magnet underneath the hydrophilic elements and thereby accelerates
trapping of magnetic particles in the hydrophilic elements and
facilitating trapping of the magnetic particles in the hydrophilic
elements.
14. The method according to claim 1, wherein all movement of parent
droplets of deposition of nano- to femtoliter droplets is executed
in an oil instead of an air environment such that the evaporation
of parent droplets and the deposited nano- to femtoliter droplets
is prevented.
15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the hydrophilic
element is a microwell, a slide, a chip or a membrane.
16. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fluid comprises
biomolecules or other materials for the printing of solid-state
materials.
17. The method according to claim 1, wherein the larger parent
droplet has a microliter volume.
18. The method according to claim 1, wherein the larger parent
droplet is divided into smaller nanoliter divisional droplets.
19. The method according to claim 1, wherein the larger parent
droplet is divided into smaller pico- or femtoliter divisional
droplets.
20. The method according to claim 1, wherein the liquid is an
aqueous solution.
21. The method according to claim 1, wherein the liquid is an
organic solvent.
22. The method according to claim 1, wherein the liquid is a
solution comprising organic and inorganic building blocks.
23. The method according to claim 1, wherein the liquid is a
suspension of micro- or nanoparticles and biological samples.
24. The method according to claim 1, wherein the shape and size of
the printed divisional droplet is defined by the shape and size of
the hydrophilic element.
25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the hydrophilic
element is a microwell.
26. The method according to claim 9, wherein the loading efficiency
of single or multiple particles are maximized to 98% or more by
moving a droplet of particle suspension multiple times over the
array until all hydrophilic elements comprise particles or until
all microwells are filled with particles.
27. The method according to claim 7, wherein droplets of particle
suspensions are transported over the array of
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic microwells in an oil matrix, thereby
preventing evaporation of the printed femtoliter droplets and the
liquid surrounding the beads when being patterned in the
microwells.
28. The method according to claim 1, wherein a parent droplet
comprising a solute is divided into divisional nano- to femtoliter
droplets and whereby the nano- to femtoliter droplet solutes are
crystallized to their respective hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic
elements and results in deposited single or multiple crystals
originating from the solution in the parent droplet.
29. The method according to claim 14, wherein a bio-assay is
performed in the printed nano- to femtoliter droplets in which
fluorophores are generated in the bio-assay and confined to the
nano- to femtoliter droplets when the droplet printing was
performed in oil and wherein the generated fluorescent signal is
detectable with fluorescence microscopy.
30. The method according to claim 28, wherein this is so as to
perform an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or polymerase chain
reaction inside the printed nano- to femtoliter droplets.
31. The method according to claim 29, wherein the bio-assays are
performed on a printed particle from a parent droplet suspension or
a parent droplet solute.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a national phase entry under 35 U.S.C.
.sctn.371 of International Patent Application PCT/BE2013/000004,
filed Jan. 24, 2013, designating the United States of America and
published in English as International Patent Publication
WO2013/110146 A2 on Aug. 1, 2013, which claims the benefit under
Article 8 of the Patent Cooperation Treaty to Great Britain
Application Serial No. 1201277.9, filed Jan. 24, 2012, U.S.
Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/592,399, filed Jan. 30, 2012,
Great Britain Application Serial No. 1218994.0, filed Oct. 23,
2012, Great Britain Application Serial No. 1218995.7, filed Oct.
23, 2012, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/725,268,
filed Nov. 12, 2012, the disclosure of each of which is hereby
incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] A. Field of the Disclosure
[0003] The disclosure relates generally to a patterning device for
printing arrays of nano- to femtoliter droplets that can lead to
deposition of crystals, micro- and nanoparticles and solid-state
materials and on chip detection or analysis of the crystals,
nanoparticles and solid-state materials or of their activities in a
reaction. More particularly, the disclosure involves a flexible
high-throughput method for the printing of crystals (e.g., crystals
of salts, crystalline structures or mesoporous structures and
carbon nanotubes) and printing of biomolecules such as proteins and
polynucleotides (e.g., DNA) that can be linked to micro- or
nanoparticles, by a system of depositing small liquid volumes in
the form of arrays of nano- to femtoliter droplets by moving parent
droplets over hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropatches or microwells
such that the parents droplets release nano- to femtoliter droplets
on each such micropatch or microwell it contacts. This method can
be applied to high-throughput printing of the above materials.
Single crystals or micro- and nanoparticles can be formed or
deposited as a single particle or a single crystal can be deposited
per micropatch or microwell in an array of micropatches or
microwells. In particular more specific embodiments of the
disclosure concern a system and method for crystal and nanoparticle
patterning by a specific microfluidic synthesis and a digital
microfluidic apparatus.
[0004] Several documents are cited throughout the text of this
specification. Each of the documents herein (including any
manufacturer's specifications, instructions, etc.) are hereby
incorporated by reference; however, there is no admission that any
document cited is indeed prior art of the disclosure.
[0005] B. Description of the Related Art
[0006] For a wide variety of applications, it is of high interest
to dispose of a method that can generate large arrays of very small
volumes of samples and reagents in a high-throughput context. This
is not only true for situations involving expensive substances such
as proteins, but also for applications that are in need of a method
that can print very low liquid volumes for miniaturization purposes
of certain components or increasing the sensitivity of analytical
techniques. Moreover, it is desirable to dispose of efficient
methods that are able to print large amounts of small liquid
droplets on planar or curved surfaces or inside microwells, slides,
chips or membranes.
[0007] More specifically, for performing analysis of biomolecules
in nano- to femtoliter volumes is beneficial for detection of the
molecules, as bio-assays that generate fluorophores in nano- to
femtoliter volumes confine the generated fluorophores when these
nano- to femtoliter volumes are sealed in oil.
[0008] For different applications, it is desirable to tune the
distance between the different elements of the created array.
Densely packed arrays (microarrays), for instance, permit many
reactions to be monitored in parallel, which is beneficial for
miniaturization, saving time, volume and increasing
cost-effectiveness of the used method. These reactions can be
binding events of target molecules to capture molecules such as,
but not limited to, DNA-DNA interactions, DNA-protein interactions,
enzymatic reactions, and immunological assays or for performing
digital enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (digital ELISA) or
digital polymerase chain reaction (digital PCR).
[0009] For several applications, it is desirable to print droplets
on planar or curved surfaces exhibiting different contact angles
with the surface onto which the droplets are printed. Therefore,
the nature of the surface is tuned in order to print arrays of
droplets with the desired size or volume.
[0010] The shape and size of the printed liquid volume is of
interest as well. Therefore, it is highly desirable to dispose of a
method that cannot only determine the size of the different
droplets that are to be printed, but also the shape in which the
different small liquid volumes are deposited.
[0011] Typical methods for printing large arrays of small liquid
volumes make use of inkjet printing devices or multichannel
micropipette-devices that print several small droplets at the same
time. Usually, these methods are restricted in minimum amount of
volume that they are able to dispense and the throughput that is
achieved. Moreover, inkjet systems are usually expensive and the
printing of very large arrays is time-consuming.
[0012] Considering the above, there is a need in the art to dispose
of a method that can generate very small liquid volumes in the
nano- to femtoliter range with very high-throughput and on a fast
and cost-effective way. Preferably, the apparatus should be easy to
use, flexible and able to print many different substances as nano-
to femtoliter arrays with liquid volumes assuming the desired shape
and size.
[0013] On application of the device of the disclosure, to print
substances as nano- to femtoliter arrays is the printing of
complementary strands in an array structure on a chip surface. The
complementary strands can be positioned in an array on the digital
microfluidic chip via the printer apparatus of the disclosure. The
complementary strands form hybridization probes to bind libraries
of pre-designed oligonucleotide libraries in an array structure on
a digital microfluidic chip. Consequently, on-chip amplification of
the library is carried out, for instance, using rolling-circle
amplification and hereafter on-chip target binding is obtained
after exposure of the amplified oligonucleotide to possible binding
targets. In an embodiment of the disclosure these processes are
automated.
[0014] The disclosure provides methods and apparatus for efficient
selecting of certain aptamers as binders for defined targets.
Aptamers are short single stranded DNA or RNA oligonucleotides that
fold into well-defined three-dimensional structures allowing the
binding of target molecules. They possess the molecular recognition
properties of monoclonal antibodies in terms of high affinity and
specificity. Thanks to these properties, the use of aptamers in
different fields has become extremely dynamic in the past few
years. Functional aptamers have been widely integrated as target
recognition molecules into different nanomaterials, providing a new
type of biosensors, known as "aptasensors." Furthermore, because of
their limited size, which is typically up to 80 nucleotides,
aptamers have low immunogenicity and toxicity. This property has
been useful in the field of therapeutics. At the present, the
vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-directed RNA aptamer
(Siddiqui MA & Keating GM (2005). Pegaptanib: in exudative
age-related macular degeneration. Drugs 65, 1571-1577; discussion
1578-1579) is the only therapeutic aptamer that has been approved
for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration. Several
anticoagulant and antithrombotic aptamers are currently in clinical
trials (Bunka et al., Curr Opin Pharmacol. 2010 Oct. 10 (5):557-62.
Epub 2010 July 17). Aptamers are also being explored in targeted
drug delivery or for long-life treatment when selected against
intracellular targets and stably expressed within a cell (Bunka
& Stockley, 2006). The relatively fast selection process of the
specific aptamers and the inexpensive synthesis makes the aptamer
useful alternatives for monoclonal antibodies. These nucleic acids
can be easily synthesized, readily manipulated, and can be stored
for over a long time. These benefits make nucleic acids more
attractive biotechnology tools than their counterpart of proteins,
antibodies.
[0015] Aptamers are generally selected using in vitro selection
method, termed SELEX (Gold et al., "Diversity of Oligonucleotide
Functions," Annu. Rev. Biochem., 64:763-97.1995; Bacher &
Ellington, "Nucleic Acid Selection as a Tool for Drug Discovery,"
Drug Discovery Today, 3(6):265-273, 1998). SELEX is based on
iterative cycles of collecting, from a synthetic random library,
candidate aptamers with the best binding affinity towards the
target molecule. After incubation of the target molecule with the
library, free nucleic acids strands are separated by the bound ones
typically by capillary electrophoresis. Despite SELEX has been
largely used to identify novel aptamers, the isolation process
remains non-trivial. The classical selection procedure is still
lengthy, with weeks to months needed to generate a new aptamer and
requiring multiple rounds of selection. Furthermore, kinetic biases
are known limitations of the system because the single
representation of a given aptamer sequence among the billions of
available sequences not only requires cyclic enrichment to isolate
that particular single copy but also increases the probability that
a certain aptamers molecule will never enter in contact with the
target molecule. Moreover, although a synthetic library
theoretically contains 1016 random single stranded DNA/RNA
sequences, practically they are never all analyzed because of the
limited amount of aptamers-target mixture that can be loaded on
capillary electrophoresis. Finally, the amount of target molecule
needed to perform all the selection cycles is rather high,
rendering difficult the isolation of aptamers against expensive
molecules (e.g., human growth factors) or targets that are
available in limited amounts (recombinant proteins). The disclosure
described here relates to a new method for semi-automatic,
consistent and rapid single-step aptamer selection and isolation
based on a digital microfluidic chip. In an embodiment this new
method involves the use of the printing device of the disclosure
for efficiently creating an array of fixed nucleotides.
DISCLOSURE
[0016] Some embodiments of the method disclosure are set forth in
claim format directly below:
[0017] 1. A method of printing a pattern or an array of nano- to
femtoliter volume liquid droplets, characterized in that the method
comprises moving or transporting a micro- or mililiter-sized parent
droplet over a hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic pattern forming an array
of hydrophilic elements in or onto a hydrophobic surface so that
the parent droplet is divided into nano- to femtoliter droplets by
releasing a divisional nano- to femtoliter droplet per hydrophilic
element, which the parent droplet touches so creating a printed
nano- or femtoliter droplet array or pattern.
[0018] 2. The method of transporting or moving a parent droplet,
according to embodiment 1, whereby the parent droplet is
electrostatically transported with electrowetting-on-dielectric
actuation over an array of conductive elements covered with a
hydrophobic insulator.
[0019] 3. The method of embodiment 2, whereby
activation/deactivation of the conductive elements leads to
transport of the parent droplet to the activated/deactivated
conductive elements.
[0020] 4. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 1 to
3, whereby the distance between the separate hydrophilic elements
of the created array is minimally the length of one element of
these features.
[0021] 5. The method of transporting a parent droplet, according to
any one of the previous embodiments, comprising moving or
transporting parent droplets sandwiched between two, by a spacer
separated, plates of which one of these plates contains hydrophilic
guidance patches or wells in a hydrophobic matrix for guiding a
parent droplet over an hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic pattern to
capture or deposit nano- to femtoliter droplets from the parent
droplet and whereby the one plate is mechanically or manually
rotated over the other plate.
[0022] 6. The method of printing of arrays of nano- or femtoliter
volume liquid droplets, according to any one of the embodiments 1
to 5, whereby the method is a high-throughput method of printing
whereby several parent droplets are moved or transported in
parallel over several regions containing hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic
micropatterns.
[0023] 7. The method of printing nano- to femtoliter-sized
droplets, according to any one of the previous embodiments 1 to 6,
whereby several (i.e., >1000) parent droplets are moved or
transported over a pattern of hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic
micropatterns in different sequences printing components or
solutions from the parent droplets inside the hydrophilic elements
of the array.
[0024] 8. The method of printing of arrays of nano- or femtoliter
volume liquid droplets, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 1 to 6, whereby a larger parent droplet is transported
over a hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropattern by means of
electrowetting-on-dielectric based droplet actuation.
[0025] 9. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 1 to
8, whereby suspended particles or elements from a divisional
droplet released from the parent droplet are printed inside the
hydrophilic elements of the hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic pattern.
[0026] 10. The method, according to embodiment 9, whereby suspended
particles or elements are captured and bound inside the hydrophilic
elements of the hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic array and whereby the
parent droplet that contains the suspended particles or elements is
moved or transported over the hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic pattern at
least one time to fill all hydrophilic elements with one or
multiple particles from the parent droplet.
[0027] 11. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 9 to
10, whereby the hydrophilic element comprises a microwell, i.e., a
well with diameter or length and depth of 1-1000 .mu.m, or a
micropatch with a depth of maximal 1 .mu.m and a length or diameter
of maximal 1000 .mu.m.
[0028] 12. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 1 to
11, whereby the suspended particles in the parent droplet are
micro- or nanoparticles with a diameter of 1 nm to 1000 .mu.m that
are deposited inside the hydrophilic elements.
[0029] 13. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 1 to
11, whereby the suspended micro- and nanoparticles are magnetic and
their movement towards and inside of the hydrophilic elements is
facilitated by placing a magnet underneath the hydrophilic elements
and thereby accelerates trapping of magnetic particles in the
hydrophilic elements and facilitating trapping of the magnetic
particles in the hydrophilic elements.
[0030] 14. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 1 to
13, whereby all movement of parent droplets of deposition of nano-
to femtoliter droplets is executed in an oil instead of an air
environment such that the evaporation of parent droplets and the
deposited nano- to femtoliter droplets is prevented.
[0031] 15. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 1 to
14, whereby the hydrophilic element is a microwell, a slide, a chip
or a membrane.
[0032] 16. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 1 to
15, whereby the fluid comprises biomolecules such as proteins or
other materials for the printing of solid-state materials.
[0033] 17. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 1 to
16, whereby the larger parent droplet has a microliter volume.
[0034] 18. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 1 to
16, whereby the larger parent droplet is divided into smaller
nanoliter divisional droplets.
[0035] 19. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 1 to
16, whereby the lager parent droplet is divided into smaller pico-
or femtoliter divisional droplets.
[0036] 20. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 1 to
19, whereby the liquid is an aqueous solution.
[0037] 21. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 1 to
19, whereby the liquid is an organic solvent.
[0038] 22. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 1 to
19, whereby the liquid is a solution comprising organic and
inorganic building blocks.
[0039] 23. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 1 to
19, whereby the liquid is a suspension of micro- or nanoparticles
and biological samples.
[0040] 24. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 1 to
23, whereby the shape and size of the printed divisional droplet is
defined by the shape and size of the hydrophilic element.
[0041] 25. The method, according to embodiment 24, whereby the
hydrophilic element is a microwell.
[0042] 26. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 9 to
10, whereby the loading efficiency of single or multiple particles
are maximized to 98%, preferably 99% and more preferably 100% by
moving a droplet of particle suspension multiple times over the
array until all hydrophilic elements comprise particles or until
all microwells are filled with particles.
[0043] 27. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 7 to
26, whereby droplets of particle suspensions are transported over
the array of hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic microwells in an oil
matrix, thereby preventing evaporation of the printed femtoliter
droplets and the liquid surrounding the beads when being patterned
in the microwells.
[0044] 28. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 1 to
27, whereby a parent droplet comprising a solute is divided into
divisional nano- to femtoliter droplets and whereby the nano- to
femtoliter droplet solutes are crystallized to their respective
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic elements and results in deposited single
or multiple crystals originating from the solution in the parent
droplet.
[0045] 29. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 1 to
28, whereby a bio-assay is performed in the printed nano- to
femtoliter droplets in which fluorophores are generated in the
bio-assay and confined to the nano- to femtoliter droplets when the
droplet printing was performed in oil as in embodiment 14 and
whereby the generated fluorescent signal is detectable with
fluorescence microscopy.
[0046] 30. The method, according to embodiment 28, whereby this is
applied to performing enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or
polymerase chain reaction inside the printed nano- to femtoliter
droplets.
[0047] 31. The method, according to any one of the embodiments 29
or 30, whereby the bio-assays are performed on a printed particle
from a parent droplet suspension or a parent droplet solute.
[0048] Some embodiments of the apparatus disclosure are set forth
in embodiment format directly below:
[0049] 1. An apparatus for generating arrays of nano- to femtoliter
liquid samples on an open surface comprising a droplet actuation
mechanism to move a parent fluid droplet along the path or on at
least one zone of the path and comprises an array of hydrophilic
elements on or in a hydrophobic layer or an array of hydrophilic
elements comprised in hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic patterns
characterized in that the apparatus is adapted to divide the larger
parent droplet into smaller nano- or femtoliter droplets by
multiple hydrophilic element that each sample a nano- or
femtodroplet of the parent droplet that contacts the hydrophilic
element.
[0050] 2. The apparatus, according embodiment 1, whereby the
distance between the separate hydrophilic elements of the created
array is minimally the length of one element of these features
adapted to divide the larger parent droplet into smaller nano- or
femtoliter droplets by separate hydrophilic elements in contact
with the parent droplet.
[0051] 3. The apparatus, according to embodiment 1, whereby the
distance between the hydrophilic elements is at least the length or
diameter of one said hydrophilic element to prevent pinning of the
mother droplet to the surface of the device.
[0052] 4. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 1 to 3, whereby the droplet actuating mechanism for
transporting parent droplets is an electrowetting-on-dielectric
based system that contains conductive structures or electrodes
being covered by hydrophobic or superhydrophobic insulating layer
adapted to transport single or multiple parent droplets of the same
or different solutions on a path towards sites that contain the
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropatterns.
[0053] 5. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 1 to 4, characterized in that it is a double-plate
device whereby the parent droplet when on its path is sandwiched
between two plates.
[0054] 6. The apparatus, according to embodiment 5, whereby the
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic patterns are placed on either or both of
the plates of the device.
[0055] 7. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 1 to 4, whereby the apparatus comprises a first and a
second plates for sandwiching a parent droplet between the plates
whereby the first and the second plate are separated by a spacer
and whereby one of the plates contains large guidance hydrophilic
patches in a hydrophobic matrix to guide the parent droplet and
whereby the apparatus further comprises a mechanism to rotate the
first plate over the second plate that contains the
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic pattern for deposition of nano- to
femtoliter droplets from the parent droplet.
[0056] 8. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 1 to 9, whereby the distance between both plates of the
device is of a distance in a range between 1 micron and several
hundreds of micrometers (e.g., 1 .mu.m to 1000 .mu.m).
[0057] 9. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 4 to 8, whereby the droplet actuation system further
comprises a system adapted to selectively activate and deactivate
the conductive structures or electrodes by selectively activating
or deactivating by applying a voltage to the conductive structures
or electrodes and thereby generating and/or moving parent droplets
on the surface.
[0058] 10. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 1 to 9, whereby parent droplets are moved/transported
by using electrowetting-on-dielectric actuation and are
moved/transported over hydrophilic elements.
[0059] 11. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 1 to 4, whereby droplets are moved on a single plate
device whereby conductive elements are contained within this single
plate or on double plate devices whereby droplets are sandwiched
between a plate containing conductive elements and a second plate
containing a hydrophobic layer and/or a reference electrode for
electrowetting-on-dielectric actuation.
[0060] 12. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 1 to 4, whereby there are no channel structures present
and only open surfaces for droplet transport are used.
[0061] 13. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 1 and 11, whereby when operational parent droplets are
generated with electrowetting-on-dielectric actuation from on-chip
fluid reservoirs whereby parent droplets are extracted by using the
electrowetting-on-dielectric actuation or whereby parent droplets
are generated by rotating patches dedicated to containing parent
droplets away from a fluid reservoir.
[0062] 14. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments, the apparatus being characterized in that along the
path or on at least one zone of the path it comprises an array
hydrophilic elements on a hydrophobic layer or an array of
hydrophilic elements comprised in hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic
micropatterns adapted to divide a lager parent droplet into smaller
nano- or femtoliter droplets or each hydrophilic element being
adapted to sample a nano- or femtodroplet of the parent droplet
while parent droplets are transported over the arrays many
times.
[0063] 15. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments, whereby when operational a parent droplet moving over
its path and contacting with hydrophilic elements of a
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic array releases nano or femtoliter
droplet on the hydrophilic elements.
[0064] 16. The apparatus according to any one of the previous
embodiments, whereby the parent droplet has a volume of milli- to
nanoliter.
[0065] 17. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments, whereby the hydrophilic element is a microwell inside
the hydrophobic layer, a microline inside the hydrophobic layer, a
nanoline inside the hydrophobic layer a chip or a membrane.
[0066] 18. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 1 to 16, whereby the hydrophobic element forms planar
or curved surfaces.
[0067] 19. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 1 to 16, whereby the hydrophobic element on or in the
hydrophobic layer has anyone of the following forms square, circle,
rectangle, star or polygons.
[0068] 20. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 1 to 16, whereby the hydrophobic element is a well or
slit into the surface of the hydrophobic layer and has a
geometrical form of a cube, a cylinder, a half sphere or a
patch.
[0069] 21. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments, whereby the hydrophobic layer comprises fluoropolymers
(such TEFLON-AF.RTM. or CYTOP.RTM.).
[0070] 22. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 1 to 20, whereby the hydrophobic layer is composed of
fluoropolymers (such TEFLON-AF.RTM. or CYTOP.RTM.).
[0071] 23. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments, whereby the hydrophobic layer comprises
polydimethylsiloxane.
[0072] 24. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 1 to 20, whereby the hydrophobic layer is composed of
polydimethylsiloxane.
[0073] 25. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments, whereby the hydrophobic layer comprises gold modified
with self-assembled monolayers exhibiting hydrophobic surface
properties.
[0074] 26. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 1 to 20, whereby the hydrophobic layer is composed of
gold modified with self-assembled monolayers exhibiting hydrophobic
surface properties.
[0075] 27. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 1 to 3, whereby the parent droplet path is adapted to
transport the parent droplet by opto-electrowetting.
[0076] 28. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments, further comprising a heating element in the plate of
the device where the small droplets are printed (e.g., a Peltier
element underneath the droplet printing sites, or the use of other
heating elements underneath the printed droplets).
[0077] 29. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments, whereby the size of the hydrophilic elements (patches)
is in the low micrometer (e.g., from 2 micron to 100 nm) to higher
nanometer range (e.g., from 50 .mu.m to 100 nm) to deposit droplet
volumes in the attolitre range.
[0078] 30. The apparatus, according to any one of the previous
embodiments 1 to 29, characterized in that when operational they
move parent fluid droplets which comprise nanoparticle or
microparticles.
[0079] 31. The apparatus, according to embodiment 1-30,
characterized in that when operational parent fluid droplets are
transported in an oil matrix instead of air, thereby preventing
evaporation of the printed nano- to femtoliter droplets.
[0080] 32. The apparatus, according to any one of the embodiments 1
to 33, whereby the hydrophilic element is a microwell so that
single or multiple nano- and microparticles are patterned by
transporting droplets of suspended particles over the array
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic microwells so that the particles are
deposited in the microwells.
[0081] 33. The apparatus, according to any one of the embodiment 1
to 32, whereby the apparatus further comprises a magnet or an
assembly of magnets underneath the hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic
micropatterns for attracting suspended magnetic particles.
[0082] Further scope of applicability of the disclosure will become
apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However,
it should be understood that the detailed description and specific
examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the disclosure,
are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and
modifications within the spirit and scope of the disclosure will
become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed
description. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general
description and the following detailed description are exemplary
and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure, as
claimed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0083] The following detailed description of the disclosure refers
to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in
different drawings identify the same or similar elements. Also, the
following detailed description does not limit the disclosure.
Instead, the scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended
claims and equivalents thereof.
[0084] The following detailed description of the disclosure refers
to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in
different drawings identify the same or similar elements. Also, the
following detailed description does not limit the disclosure.
Instead, the scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended
claims and equivalents thereof.
[0085] Several documents are cited throughout the text of this
specification. Each of the documents herein (including any
manufacturer's specifications, instructions, etc.) are hereby
incorporated by reference; however, there is no admission that any
document cited is indeed prior art of the disclosure.
[0086] The disclosure will be described with respect to particular
embodiments and with reference to certain drawings but the
disclosure is not limited thereto but only by the claims. The
drawings described are only schematic and are non-limiting. In the
drawings, the size of some of the elements may be exaggerated and
not drawn to scale for illustrative purposes. The dimensions and
the relative dimensions do not correspond to actual reductions to
practice of the disclosure.
[0087] Furthermore, the terms first, second, third and the like in
the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing
between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a
sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the
terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances
and that the embodiments of the disclosure described herein are
capable of operation in other sequences than described or
illustrated herein.
[0088] Moreover, the teems top, bottom, over, under and the like in
the description and the claims are used for descriptive purposes
and not necessarily for describing relative positions. It is to be
understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under
appropriate circumstances and that the embodiments of the
disclosure described herein are capable of operation in other
orientations than described or illustrated herein.
[0089] It is to be noticed that the term "comprising," used in the
claims, should not be interpreted as being restricted to the means
listed thereafter; it does not exclude other elements or steps. It
is, thus, to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the
stated features, integers, steps or components as referred to, but
does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other
features, integers, steps or components, or groups thereof. Thus,
the scope of the expression "a device comprising means A and B"
should not be limited to the devices consisting only of components
A and B. It means that with respect to the disclosure, the only
relevant components of the device are A and B.
[0090] Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment"
or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or
characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is
included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Thus,
appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an
embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not
necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but may.
Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics
may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one
of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more
embodiments.
[0091] Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the description
of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, various features of the
disclosure are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment,
figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the
disclosure and aiding the understanding of one or more of the
various inventive aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is
not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed
disclosure requires more features than are expressly recited in
each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive
aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing
disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the detailed
description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed
description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate
embodiment of this disclosure.
[0092] Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include
some but not other features included in other embodiments,
combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be
within the scope of the disclosure, and form different embodiments,
as would be understood by those in the art. For example, in the
following claims, any of the claimed embodiments are used in any
combination.
[0093] In the description provided herein, numerous specific
details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments
of the disclosure may be practiced without these specific details.
In other instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques
have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an
understanding of this description.
[0094] In present application an array is a regular order or
regular arrangement. In the present application this may be an
array of very small volumes (print arrays of droplets), or of
hydrophilic elements, or of samples and reagents. It can be an
array of nano- to femtoliter droplets, a nanoliter array or a
femtoliter array. Or it can be a printed dot array (e.g., a
nano-dot array or a femto-dot array). These arrays can be densely
packed, for instance, in the form of a microarray such as a
microarray of nanodots or as a microarray of femtodots or as a
microarray of nanodroplets or of femtodroplets. These droplets can
comprise a liquid, a sample-reagent combination, a solute or a
liquid-suspension material combination.
[0095] One aspect of the disclosure concerns an apparatus that is
capable of generating arrays of nano- to femtoliter liquid samples
for a wide variety of liquids, including aqueous solutions, organic
solvents, solutions consisting of organic and inorganic building
blocks, suspensions of micro- or nanoparticles and biological
samples, or organic solutions required for the printing of
(organic) microelectronics. The apparatus includes a droplet
actuation mechanism, which is active or passive, and an array of
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropatches, of which every hydrophilic
micro- to nanopatch can contain a liquid sample.
[0096] The printing method of the disclosure concerns using mother
droplets of the solution that is to be printed. These are actuated
on a single planar or curved surface, or are sandwiched between two
plates. On either or both of these plates,
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropatterns are present for the
generation of nano- to femtoliter droplet arrays. The path that the
mother droplet of solution follows, determines the pattern in which
the nano- to femtoliter droplets will be printed on the surface of
the apparatus.
[0097] In one embodiment of the disclosure, the droplet actuation
mechanism is based on electrowetting-on-di electric based digital
microfluidics. In this case, mother droplets are directly dispensed
on the chip surface or are generated from an on-chip fluid
reservoir from which smaller mother droplets are extracted by
active dispensing. Subsequently, single or multiple mother droplets
of the same or different solutions are transported towards sites
that contain the hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropatterns. For
single-plate chips this is on the plate in which the actuation
electrodes are embedded, for double-plate devices, the patterns are
placed on either or both of the plates of the device. In case of a
double-plate device, the distance between both plates is usually of
a distance in a range between 1 micron to several hundreds of
micrometers (e.g., 1 .mu.m to 1000 .mu.m). In the case of
electrowetting-on-dielectric based transport of mother droplets,
electrical signals (alternating current or direct current) are
applied to a series of actuation electrodes, which can transport
the droplets of a desired path in a sequential fashion.
[0098] In another embodiment, the movement of parent droplets is
accomplished by sandwiching the parent droplet between 2 plates, of
which one plate is dedicated to the confinement of parent droplets,
while the other contains the hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic
micropatches that are dedicated to the printing of nano-femtoliter
droplets (FIGS. 2 and 3). Parent droplets can be manually or
automatically (with a pipetting robot) pipetted on the plate
dedicated to confinement of parent droplets. Subsequently, both
plates are placed and aligned on top of each other. When the one
plate is rotated with respect to the other plate, parent droplets
can be guided to move over the arrays of hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic
elements on the other plate for the generation of nano-femtoliter
droplets in the latter array. Parent droplets can as such be
transported over the same array many times by rotating back and
forth. Oil can also be pipetted between both plates in order to
prevent evaporation of the parent droplets and the printed nano- to
femtoliter droplets while still permitting the rotational movement
of one of the plates. One of the plates can be moved mechanically
by attaching it to an actuator, but the plate that is to be rotated
can also be moved manually by the user of the device. In this
latter case, the printing of nano- to femtoliter droplets occurs
completely manually without linking the printing device to any
moving part or energy-requiring system.
[0099] Other possible droplet actuation mechanisms comprises
opto-electrowetting, in which droplets are routed with the help of
light as an actuation force, the tilting of the device or apparatus
in order to let the droplet roll in a desired direction, the use of
pressure to move the droplet in a desired direction, or the use of
surface tension or capillary forces that force mother droplets in a
certain direction by guiding mother droplets along a path of
preferential wettability.
[0100] The hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropatterns are generated
in the hydrophobic surface of the presented device on several ways.
One way to generate these micropatches is by using standard
photolithographic techniques and microfabrication techniques. Other
possibilities comprise depositing a Parylene-C membrane on top of
the hydrophobic chip surface, and subsequently patterning the
Parylene-C membrane and the underlying hydrophobic layer by using
photolithography and microfabrication techniques. Other
microfabrication techniques such as soft lithography can also be
used for generating hydrophilic patches on top of the hydrophobic
coating.
[0101] The patches onto which nano- to femtoliter sized droplets
are dispensed are micro- to nanowells fabricated inside the
hydrophobic layer such as mentioned above, or are local surface
modification of the hydrophobic layer such that the wettability of
the treated regions is modified. This is due to chemical
modification of the surface or physical modification such as a
modification of the surface roughness.
[0102] The contact angle of the hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic
micropatches can be altered by changing the nature of the surface
onto which the hydrophobic coating is placed and patterned.
Otherwise, the nature of the hydrophilic patches can also be
altered after the micropatterns are fabricated. One example is the
modification of the gold micropatches by submerging the patterned
substrates in different solutions of self-assembling
monolayers.
[0103] The shape of the patterned features can assume different
forms, including but not limited to, circles, squares, rectangles,
stars or polygons. Moreover, the apparatus is applied for the
printing of lines and wires, if the intended application needs such
features. In this case, single or multiple lines and wires of
liquid are patterned be transporting the mother droplets over these
different features.
[0104] The hydrophobic coating into which the
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropatterns are fabricated can be of
different nature, including hydrophobic fluoropolymers such
TEFLON-AF.RTM. or CYTOP.RTM., or are composed of other hydrophobic
materials such as PDMS or gold modified with self-assembled
monolayers exhibiting hydrophobic surface properties.
[0105] The proposed apparatus can also be used for
post-modification of the different printed substances on the device
surface. Because the inherent nature of the micropatterned surfaces
to confine liquid nano- to femtoliter droplets to the hydrophilic
micropatches, other mother droplets are transported over these
micropatches after the initial solution has been printed. This
makes post-modification of the printed substances easy as no extra
alignment is necessary. As such, multiple layers of printed
substances are applied in a very high-throughput manner. There is
no need for special alignment techniques as the liquid is always
strictly confined to the more wettable (hydrophilic) patches.
[0106] The form of the printed arrays can subsequently be
determined by choosing the appropriate path for the mother droplet.
As such, the pattern of nano- to femtoliter droplets is generated
on a flexible way, and enables the fast generation very large
arrays of nano- to femtoliter droplets in very short time
notice.
[0107] The distance between the different features of the
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropatterns are chosen to a certain
extent. The minimum distance between different elements of these
arrays should be minimally the length of one element of these
features to prevent pinning of the mother droplet to the surface of
the device. The maximum distance between the different features can
be chosen freely.
[0108] When certain parts of the patterned
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropatches are not to be filled with
nano- to femtoliter droplets, different approaches are applied in
order to prevent liquid printing in these areas when they are on
the path to be addressed by the mother droplets. As such,
deviations of the path of the mother droplet are applied in order
to leave these micropatterns free of liquid. In double-plate
devices, the plate containing the hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic
micropatches are temporarily lifted from the other plate and
replaced on the device for continuing the patterning process.
[0109] Although the evaporation of printed femtoliter droplets is
very fast as such, incorporating a heating element in the plate of
the device where the small droplets are printed can accelerate it.
This is achieved on several ways, including the use of a Peltier
element underneath the droplet printing sites, or the use of other
heating elements underneath the printed droplets. When the size of
the hydrophilic patches is chosen small enough, i.e., in the low
micrometer (e.g., from 2 micron to 100 nm) to higher nanometer
range, even smaller liquid volumes are deposited. The deposited
volumes are then in the attoliter range, although this is still
dependent on the depth of the hydrophilic micropatches and the
contact angle of the bottom of the hydrophilic micropatches. By
designing the hydrophilic micropatches such that their depth is in
the nanometer range, and the size in the lower micro- to higher
nanometer range, attoliter droplet dispensing becomes possible.
[0110] The disclosure provides also embodiments of producing arrays
of crystalline materials that can be deposited as single or
multiple crystals inside hydrophilic patches or hydrophilic
microwells. For example, we demonstrate the first microfluidic
method for accurately depositing monodisperse individual crystals
that can be of many different natures, for example, metal-organic
framework crystals, thereby enabling unprecedented high-throughput,
yet flexible single crystal patterning.
[0111] Existing techniques for crystal printing exhibit several
restrictions such as limited throughput and patterning area, high
equipment costs, long processing times, or limited flexibility. A
technique that can print large arrays of monodisperse crystals with
high-throughput, high flexibility, and low cost in a short time
period is, therefore, of high interest.
[0112] Due to our double-plate chip design, the top plate of the
device can easily be removed and separated from the bottom plate
after printing, allowing post-treatments with the optimal
conditions required for crystal formation, such as high temperature
treatments. Initial evaluation experiments with a 5 M aqueous
sodium chloride (NaCl) solution demonstrate the proof-of-principle
of on-chip crystal printing. The top plate of the chip consisted of
a glass wafer with a thin layer of indium tin oxide (ITO), onto
which a hydrophobic TEFLON.RTM. amorphous fluoropolymer
(TEFLON-AF.RTM.) layer was coated and patterned by microfabrication
techniques to form the hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropatches.
First, a 400 nL mother droplet of NaCl was dispensed on-chip from a
fluid reservoir and subsequently transported over an array of 20
.mu.m.times.20 .mu.m hydrophilic micropatches on top of a linear
array of 4 actuation electrodes (1.4 mm.times.1.4 mm each). As
such, 6400 femtoliter droplets were printed before removing the top
plate of the device and allowing these droplets to evaporate in
atmospheric conditions. Single NaCl crystal arrays were observed,
as can be seen from scanning electron microscope (SEM) images in
FIG. 4, showing a very high single-crystal per micropatch
resolution.
[0113] Due to our modular approach, the electronics in the bottom
plate required for actuation of mother droplets are separated from
the plate onto which femtoliter droplets are printed for crystal
fabrication, allowing the more expensive bottom plate to be reused
for many printing runs. The top plate is cheap, and is easily
followed by other top plates that should exhibit exactly the same
pattern, but also by plates that need completely different crystal
patterns, depending on the intended application. This clearly
demonstrates the flexibility of our technique for crystal printing
in general compared to other reported techniques that require
fabrication of new stamps (W. Cheng, N. Park, M. T. Walter, M. R.
Hartman, D. Luo, Nature Nanotech. 2008, 3, 682) or micropillars (B.
Su, S. Wang, J. Ma, Y. Song, L. Jiang, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2011, 21,
3297) for obtaining different high-resolution crystal patterns.
[0114] The disclosure also relates to microbeads containing
molecules that are printed inside microwells by transporting a
mother or parent droplets containing suspended microbeads over
tailored hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic microwells. Suspensions of
micro- to nanoparticles can then be transported over the array of
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic microwells many times, until virtually
all microwells contain a single or multiple particles. This can be
of high interest when these particles are used for capturing
biomolecules. When very low concentrations of biomolecules are
present in a sample, the ratio of biomolecules to particles used
for capturing these biomolecules will be very low. In this case,
Poisson statistics apply which means that maximum one biomolecule
can be captured per particle. When these particles, that captured
the biomolecules, are loaded inside the microwells, they can be
printed inside a nano- to femtoliter volume. Moreover, when this is
done in an oil environment, as described above, the particles are
sealed in a femtoliter droplet and their evaporation is prevented.
When the particles that contain the biomolecules are then printed
and sealed in the oil, reaction products of these biomolecules can
be confined to the hydrophilic element (well or patch). This is of
high interest when enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) is
performed in this format, also called digital ELISA, as the
fluorescent product of the ELISA test is confined to the printed
nano- to femtoliter volume where it accumulates. As such, the
signal intensity will be higher and can be detected with standard
fluorescence microscopy and allows lower protein concentrations to
be detected.
[0115] In the case of nucleic acids, polymerase chain reaction
(PCR) is the most prominent method for detecting these nucleic
acids. The same reasoning applies here, where low concentrations of
nucleic acids (DNA or RNA) can be captured with particles, which
can then be loaded inside the microwells. When performing
quantitative PCR on nucleic acids captured on these particles, the
fluorophores generated by this reaction can then also be confined
inside the wells or patches. This then also leads to a more
sensitive detection of said nucleic acids.
[0116] When the particles used for these assays are magnetic, the
patterning time needed for printing these particles in the
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic arrays can be shortened by placing a
magnet underneath the hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic arrays. As such,
the magnetic particles are attracted towards the array while the
receding droplet meniscus removes all particles that are between
the hydrophilic elements. Our proposed apparatus presents the
following advantages for printing and sealing magnetic particles
(i) droplets containing suspended particles can be transported back
and forth over the array of hydrophilic microwells to fill the
microwells with single or multiple particles, (ii) the use of
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic patterns permits the use of a magnet to
speed up the particle transfer process to the wells while the
receding droplet meniscus removes excess beads off the chip surface
and thereby shortens the bead patterning time, and (iii) reagents
can be transported over the printed beads multiple times while
capillary forces and a magnet hold the printed beads into
place.
EXAMPLES
Example 1
On Single Crystal Array Formation
[0117] An aqueous NaCl solution (5 M) or was transported 20 times
over an array of hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropatches, resulting
in an array of single NaCl crystals (FIG. 4).
Example 2
Fabrication of an Array for Printing of Oligonucleotides and
Aptamer Selection
[0118] Digital microfluidic chips are fabricated as follows: glass
wafers are cleaned in acetone and isopropyl alcohol for 5 minutes.
A thin layer of chromium (100 nm) is then deposited by magnetron
sputtering (Balzers BAE 370, Pfaffikon, Switzerland). The chromium
layer is patterned by standard photolithographic processes using
51818 positive photoresist, chrome-on-glass photomasks, and wet
etching using Cyantec CR-7 chromium etchant. Next, chips are
cleaned in 02-plasma (150 mtorr, 100 W) and primed with silane A174
before being coated with a layer of Parylene-C (3 .mu.m) which was
deposited using chemical vapor deposition (AL 200, Plasma Parylene
Coating Services, Rosenheim, Germany). A thin layer of
TEFLON-AF.RTM. (.about.200 nm thickness, 3% w/w in Fluorinert
FC-40) is subsequently spincoated (1200 rpm) on top of the
Parylene-C layer, and baked for 5 minutes at 110.degree. C., and 5
minutes at 200.degree. C. Crenellated actuation electrodes of 1.4
mm.times.1.4 mm are used for actuation of individual droplets. The
upper plate of the digital microfluidic device is fabricated by
spincoating TEFLON-AF.RTM. (as above) on top of indium tin
oxide-coated glass slides (Delta technologies Ltd., Stillwater,
Minn., USA). Tape of 100 .mu.m thickness is applied on the bottom
plate of the chip as a spacer before closing the 2 plates in order
to assemble the microfluidic device.
[0119] To immobilize hybrization probes, a Parylene-C mask is used
for the micropatterning process. In order to establish good
adhesion of the TEFLON-AF.RTM. layer to the underlying Parylene-C
dielectric layer, the latter is first treated with a short
02-plasma treatment (60 W, 100 mtorr) before spincoating
TEFLON-AF.RTM. on top. A mask of Parylene-C (about 1 mm) is
subsequently deposited on top of the TEFLON-AF.RTM. layer via
chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Next, a layer of thick protective
SPR220-7 positive photoresist is spincoated (3000 rpm) on top of
the Parylene-C mask, and baked for 5 minutes at 115.degree. C. The
layer of photoresist is then patterned by standard
photolithography. The unprotected zones of the Parylene-C mask and
the underlying TEFLON-AF.RTM. layer are selectively etched away
with reactive ion etching using 02-plasma (100 W, 150 mtorr), while
minimally affecting the Parylene-C dielectric layer underneath. The
sacrificial photoresist is removed by rinsing the chips with
acetone, isopropyl alcohol, and deionized water.
[0120] After deposition of the DNA hybridization probes, the
Parylene-C mask is mechanically removed. Subsequently, a droplet
containing the library is transported on the patch and
hybridization is allowed for 2 hours.
[0121] Droplet actuation on the chip is controlled by Labview
program.
[0122] Preparation of circular padlock probes containing the
aptamer library: A solution of the phosphorylated linear library is
treated with a solution of the ligation template in the Quick
Ligation Kit buffer (New England Biolabs) at 25.degree. C. for 30
minutes. The synthesis is completed with the Quick Ligation Kit,
using the manufacturer-supplied protocol. The enzymes are denatured
by heating at 65.degree. C. for 10 minutes. The ligated circular
library is then treated for 30 minutes at 37.degree. C. with
exonuclease I to degrade excess single-stranded primers that has
not hybridized with the phosphorylated linear DNA. The enzymes are
denatured by heating at 80.degree. C. for 20 minutes. DNA template
is isolated using a Centricon filtration device (30000 Da
cutoff).
[0123] Library amplification by RCA: Ligated circular library is
transported on the microfluidic chip and let hybridize for two
hours. Then a droplet containing phi29DNA polymerase and dNTPs is
transported on the patches. The RCA reaction is carried out for one
hour at 30.degree. C. The phi29 DNA polymerase is then denatured by
heating at 65.degree. C. for 10 minutes.
[0124] Following a washing step, a droplet containing IgE is
transported on the amplified library patch and incubated for two
hours at 37.degree. C. Following another washing step, binding
events are detected by labeling IgE with Alexa488-anti IgE
antibodies in PBS for two hours at room temperature.
[0125] After three more washing steps, local fluorescence is
detected and quantified. The spots with highest fluorescence
intensity are targeted with the laser to cause local release of the
RCA products.
[0126] The droplet containing a few aptamers is manually collected
and used for restriction digestion to release individual aptamers.
Digestion (EcoRI) is performed at 37.degree. C. overnight.
[0127] DNA is purified from the restriction enzyme and the IgE by
phenol-chlorophorm purification, then precipitated with Na
acetate/ethanol and resuspended in TE buffer pH8.
[0128] According to one embodiment, the disclosure relates to a
system for fast and semi-automatic isolation and selection of
functional nucleic acids comprising pre-designed oligonucleotide
libraries; a digital microfluidic chip; on-chip immobilization of
the library via photo-cleavable linkers; on-chip amplification of
the library using rolling-circle amplification; on-chip target
binding; microscope assisted detection of binding events on the
patches and laser-assisted release of oligonucleotide strands that
have bound the target. The nucleotides can be positioned in an
array on the digital microfluidic chip via the printer apparatus of
the disclosure.
[0129] Conventional random libraries used for in vitro selection of
functional nucleic acids contain only one or few copies of each
sequence, which makes the binding for a target molecule (e.g., a
protein or small chemical compounds) a completely random event. In
addition, there is no control over the quality of these sequences.
This disclosure uses in silico pre-designed library that have
higher chances to yield nucleic acids that can bind target of
interest because they contain a limited set of oligonucleotide
sequences, which are selected for their ability to form highly
stable 2D/3D structures. In addition, the library is immobilized
and amplified hundreds of times on a digital microfluidic chip
facilitating the binding between a give nucleic acid strand and the
target. The nucleotide members of the members can be positioned for
immobilization in an array structure by the flexible
high-throughput method of the disclosure for the printing of
solid-state materials (e.g., biomolecules such as proteins and
polynucleotide (e.g., DNA) or nanoparticles). The system of the
disclosure is adapted to deposit small liquid volume in the form of
arrays of nano- to femtoliter droplet comprising the nucleotide to
be attached by actively routing droplets over
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropatches and to a digital
microfluidic high-throughput nano- to femtoliter droplets printer
and allowing the solutes the materials to deposit and
immobilize.
[0130] The target molecule for the selected aptamers can be a
protein of interest, a biomarker, a pathogen, an environmental
component or pollutant, an allergen, a small inorganic or organic
compound.
[0131] Most manufacturers of nucleic acids can provide sequences
adhering to in silico specifications. One such specification is by
means of sequence templates. In such a template, for each position
either a specific nucleotide is given, or a wildcard, meaning that
any nucleotide is allowed in this position. A manufacturer
synthesizes a large number of sequences for such a template, which
will constitute the library used in vitro. The problem with in
silico analysis of sequences is the too high number of possible
nucleotide combinations. Therefore, the in silico analysis
described in this disclosure is performed such that it delivers
only a small number of templates (e.g., ten).
[0132] The key assumption is that templates comprises subsequences
of specified nucleotides. To build promising templates, we first
identify subsequences of nucleotides that have desirable
properties. To find such sequences, we initially implement a
procedure consisting of several key steps.
[0133] In the pre-designing method of the oligonucleotide
libraries, firstly we generate a number of sequences. This is done
suing sampling mechanisms as described in earlier work (Chushak and
Stone, 2009) and in the disclosure we filter such sequences on
properties that are assumed not to be present in sequences of
interest. Second, we fold these sequences and score the resulting
secondary structure using tools, such as mfold (Zuker, 2003), as an
extension, we use docking algorithms to measure the binding
affinity. Third, we use pattern mining tools to identify
statistical relationships between highly scored sequences and
subsequences present in these sequences.
[0134] Finally, we use constraint programming to define a subset of
subsequences that is sufficiently diverse to ensure a desired range
of secondary and 3D structures in the synthesized oligonucleotides
and originate about 1*10.sup.6 different high quality
sequences.
[0135] The library will be attached to the chip surface indirectly
through binding to their complementary strands, here referred to as
hybridization probes. Local functionalization or micropatterning of
the chip surface with hybridization probes can be achieved in
different ways.
[0136] To allow the immobilization of hybridization probes, it's
vital to have micropatterns of a material that is more wettable
(hydrophilic) than the matrix surrounding the micropatterns. This
means that the contact angle of the material inside the patches has
a lower contact angle. Another crucial factor is to preserve the
hydrophobicity of the chip surface outside the micropatches.
[0137] Examples of materials suitable for micropatterning are
glass, gold, indium tin oxide (ITO) in a background matrix of
fluoropolymer material such as TEFLON.RTM., CYTOP.RTM., or
FLUOROPEL.RTM..
[0138] In the creation of micropatterns it is very important to
create micropatches in high enough number to allow the positioning
of a single nucleic acid sequence per patch and at the same time
sufficiently spatially resolved to allow local release of only the
desired nucleic acids strands.
[0139] For creating the micropatterns there are several
possibilities.
[0140] A photolithographic method can be used where the hydrophobic
material is locally etched away by means of standard
microfabrication processes. Photoresist can be spincoated and
patterned on top of the hydrophobic surface, and serve as an
etching mask for the local removal of hydrophobic coating
underneath (using dry etching such as oxygen-plasma etching).
[0141] A dry lift-off method as described in Witters et al.,
"Biofunctionalization of electrowetting-on-dielectric digital
microfluidic chips for miniaturized cell-based applications," LAB
ON A CHIP Vol: 11 No: 16, 2011, pp: 2790-2794. Here essentially a
flexible mask (Parylene-C or PDMS) is deposited on top of the
hydrophobic layer. This flexible mask protects the hydrophobicity
of the film and enables an easy biofunctionalization of the patches
because this method performs a mechanical lift-off, and doesn't
make use any organic solutions or high temperature steps.
[0142] Hybridization probes are immobilized on a micropatterned
chip surface with a photo-cleavable linker extension that allows
laser assisted, site-specific release of the oligonucleotide
strands.
[0143] Photocleavable linker can be a 2-nitrobenzyl group (Bai, X.
et al., "Photocleavage of a 2-nitrobenzyl linker bridging a
fluorophore to the 5' end of DNA." Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2003,
vol. 100(2). p. 409-13) or a phosphoramidite group.
[0144] For immobilization of the hybridization probes on the
micropatterns there are several possibilities.
[0145] The most conventional format is using gold as a material for
micropatches, and functionalizing these patches with appropriate
self-assembled monolayers, e.g., COOH-SAMs that can couple amine
modified hybridization probes. This method assures the directional
immobilization of the probes.
[0146] An alternative format uses patches of poly-L-lysine, as it
is used in DNA microarrays. Hybridization probes are adsorbed via
electrostatic interaction with the amino groups of lysine. In this
case there is no control over the direction in which the probes are
immobilized.
[0147] An alternative format uses high positively charged
aminosilane-coated glass or ITO surfaces for the attachment of
COOH-modified probes. Most commonly aminopropyl silane is used.
This method also assures the directional immobilization of the
probes.
[0148] The disclosure describes the use of a nucleic acids library
which is amplified on a micropatterned digital microfluidic chip.
Library amplification can be achieved in multiple ways.
[0149] Pre-designed library is integrated into padlock probes,
which are circular nucleic acid sequences, which contain a sequence
complementary to the one of the hybridization probes. Padlock
probes are amplified through a well-established technique named
rolling circle amplification (RCA). Padlock probes serve as a
template in RCA to create long, single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) chain
containing thousands periodic repeats of the sequence coded for by
the padlock probe (Liu D. et al., J Am Chem Soc. 1996; 118(7):
1587-1594). This results in numerous amplification (and thus
over-representation) of the same sequence within the library.
Previous work has demonstrated that RCA can be used to create a DNA
scaffold containing aptamer repeats, which retain their structure
and the capability to bind their target (Cheglakov Z. et al., Angew
Chem Int Ed Engl. 2008; 47(1):126-30).
[0150] In detecting the target binding to the amplified library it
is crucial that signal is generated only in presence of the bound
target and only in certain spots in which target-specific nucleic
acids are immobilized. This can be achieved by several
fluorescence-based methods, e.g., fluorescent antibodies against
the target molecule, nucleic acid staining with intercalating dyes
(SYBRGREEN.RTM.), fluorophore-quencher coupling.
[0151] The fluorescence measurement can be performed with a number
of different instruments, including standard fluorescence
spectrophotometers, or in a small volume using a high-intensity
source, such a laser, high-efficiency light collection optics, such
as a high-numeric aperture microscope objective, and a
high-efficiency low-noise detector, such as photo-multiplier tube,
a photodiode, a cooled CCD camera or single-photon-counting
detector.
[0152] Light ray necessary to cleave the photocleavable group is
generated by a laser. Laser can be, e.g., an argon-ion laser that
emits at nine discreet spectral lines between 458 nm and 530 nm, a
helium neon laser that emits at 633 nm, or a diode laser that emits
at 635 nm. Alternatively, ray can be another form of
electromagnetic radiation generated by a source other than laser.
For example, ray can be infrared, ultraviolet, or microwave.
[0153] Long RCA products, once released from the chip surface, will
be collected for further characterization. Individual aptamers will
be recovered from these long ssDNA sequences by endonuclease enzyme
treatment and further tested for their binding specificity as well
as for their binding affinity using techniques like capillary
electrophoresis, fiber optic surface plasmon resonance and
fluorescence anisotropy.
[0154] An embodiment of the disclosure relates to a platform for
fast and semi-automatic isolation and selection of aptamers
comprising the use of pre-designed oligonucleotide libraries,
digital microfluidic chip, on-chip immobilization of the library
via photo-cleavable linkers, on-chip amplification of the library
using rolling-circle amplification, on-chip target binding and
laser-assisted release of oligonucleotide strands that have bound
the target.
[0155] Conventional random libraries are replaced by a limited pool
of oligonucleotides designed and tested in silico for their ability
to form highly stable 2D/3D structures. To find such a set of
sequences, two types of methods are employed. First, a few
promising sets of fragments in a large set of generated sequences
are identified through pattern mining. Second, by the use of
constraint satisfaction tools, a subset is selected that is
sufficiently diverse to ensure a desired range of secondary and 3D
structures in the synthesized oligonucleotides.
[0156] The digital microfluidic chip is micro-fabricated starting
from an inverse master pattern designed using computer aided design
(CAD) software. Based on this master pattern, the chip is produced
by means of standard lithography techniques known in the art.
[0157] The library will be attached to the chip surface indirectly
through binding to their complementary strands, here referred to as
hybridization probes. Local functionalization of the chip surface
with hybridization probes is performed by means of Parylene-C
stencils with a dry lift-off method (Witters et al., 2011). The
droplet manipulations across the chip surface, required to perform
all the steps of the selection procedure, will be controlled by a
Labview software program.
[0158] Hybridization probes are immobilized on a chip surface
through a photo-cleavable linker extension that allows laser
assisted, site-specific release of the oligonucleotide strands.
[0159] Photocleavable linker can be a 2-nitrobenzyl group (Bai, X.
et al., "Photocleavage of a 2-nitrobenzyl linker bridging a
fluorophore to the 5' end of DNA." Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2003,
vol. 100(2). p. 409-13) or a phosphoramidite group.
[0160] Light ray is generated by laser. Laser can be, e.g., an
argon-ion laser that emits at nine discreet spectral lines between
458 nm and 530 nm, a helium neon laser that emits at 633 nm, or a
diode laser that emits at 635 nm. Alternatively, ray can be another
form of electromagnetic radiation generated by a source other than
laser. For example, ray can be infrared, ultraviolet, or
microwave.
[0161] Pre-designed library is integrated into padlock probes and
amplified through isothermal amplification reaction, known as
rolling circle amplification (RCA). Padlock probe is a circular
oligonucleotide sequence which serves as a template in RCA to
create long, single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) chain containing thousands
periodic repeats of the sequence coded for by the padlock probe
(Liu D. et al., J Am Chem Soc. 1996; 1 18(7): 1587-1594). This
results in numerous amplification (and, thus, over-representation)
of the same sequence within the library. Previous work has
demonstrated that RCA can be used to create a DNA scaffold
containing aptamer repeats, which retain their structure and the
capability to bind their target (Cheglakov Z. et al., Angew Chem
Int Ed Engl. 2008; 47(1):126-30).
[0162] Binding of the target molecule will be detected by several
fluorescence-based methods, e.g., fluorescent antibodies against
the target protein, nucleic acid staining with intercalating dyes
(SYBRGREEN.RTM.), fluorophore-quencher coupling.
[0163] The fluorescence measurement can be performed with a number
of different instruments, including standard fluorescence
spectrophotometers, or in a small volume using a high-intensity
source, such a laser, high-efficiency light collection optics, such
as a high-numeric aperture microscope objective, and a
high-efficiency low-noise detector, such as photo-multiplier tube,
a photodiode, a cooled CCD camera or single-photon-counting
detector.
[0164] Following the identification of these binding events by
fluorescence microscopy, candidate DNA strands will be released
from the microfluidic chip in laser-assisted site specific manner
through the photo-cleavable linker. Here, by setting a threshold in
the fluorescence readout we will select for, e.g., one thousand of
the best potential candidate sequences. Those will be submitted to
next generation sequencing (NGS) to obtain the first insight into
which sequences from predesigned library have been preferred by the
real target binding. This information will be used for the
development of learning algorithms and for further improvement of
in silico library design.
[0165] Long RCA products, once released from the chip surface, will
be collected for further characterization. Individual aptamers will
be recovered from these long ssDNA sequences by endonuclease enzyme
treatment and further tested for their binding specificity as well
as for their binding affinity using techniques like capillary
electrophoresis, fiber optic surface plasmon resonance and
fluorescence anisotropy.
[0166] Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to
those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification
and practice of the disclosure disclosed herein. It is intended
that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary
only. Each and every claim is incorporated into the specification
as an embodiment of the disclosure. Thus, the claims are part of
the description and are a further description and are in addition
to the preferred embodiments of the disclosure. Each of the claims
set out a particular embodiment of the disclosure.
Example 3
Hydrophilic-in-Hydrophobic Microwells
[0167] Hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic microwells were fabricated as
follows. Glass slides were coated with TEFLON-AF.RTM. to a
thickness of 3.25 .mu.m. Next, a thin Parylene-C membrane (500 nm)
was deposited on top of the TEFLON-AF.RTM. surface by using
chemical vapor deposition. Subsequently, an aluminum hard mask (50
nm thickness) was deposited on top of the polymeric stack by
thermal evaporation. This aluminum hard mask was patterned by
standard photolithography and wet etching to obtain an array of
circular features having 4 .mu.m diameter. The exposed areas of the
protective Parylene-C mask and TEFLON-AF.RTM. were then etched with
reactive ion etching using 02-plasma before the protective
Parylene-C mask was removed by mechanical peeling.
[0168] The glass slide containing these hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic
micropatterns was subsequently used as a top plate of a
double-plate digital microfluidic chip based on
electrowetting-on-dielectric (FIG. 8).
[0169] For demonstrating the principle of printing microbeads in
femtoliter volumes, 2.7 .mu.m sized paramagnetic beads were
functionalized with green fluorescent protein (GFP) to be able to
visualize them on a fluorescence microscope. First, a mother
droplet of a suspension of these particles was transported over the
capture array with hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic microwells without
any magnet attraction. This resulted in poor filling of the
microwells, even after 10 seeding cycles (FIG. 9a). However, when a
suspension of these functionalized particles was transported 2, 5
and 10 times over an array while a magnet was placed on top of the
digital microfluidics, the beads were attracted inside the
microwells on a very efficient way. After 10 seeding cycles,
virtually all microwells were filled with a single paramagnetic
microbead (FIG. 9b). A SEM image demonstrating the high single bead
per microwell resolution and high loading efficiency of beads in
microwells is shown in FIG. 10. The printed beads in femtoliter
volumes could effectively be sealed by performing all droplet
manipulations in a silicon oil matrix. This is a crucial feature
because when performing immunoassays, the printed femtoliter
volumes should not evaporate in order to perform successful
analysis.
[0170] The following terms are provided solely to aid in the
understanding of the disclosure.
DEFINITIONS
[0171] A microfluidic chip used in the disclosure, is typically a
device comprising structural or functional features dimensioned on
the order of mm-scale or less. The term "digital microfluidic
chip," "digital microfluidic system," or "digital microfluidic
device" as, for instance, used herein generally refers to a chip,
system, or device which can incorporate a plurality of electrodes
through which liquid droplets can be transported to execute one or
more preparative or analytical manipulations. Droplet
transportation on the chip can, for instance, by electrowetting on
Dielectrics (EWOD)-based devices. Such devices are, for instance,
fabricated by the microfabrication techniques of the art.
Generally, a EWOD-based device comprises a layer of conductive
material patterned in the form of electrodes that is covered by
layers of dielectric (e.g., silicon dioxide, silicon nitride,
parylene) and hydrophobic (e.g., TEFLON.RTM., CYTOP.RTM.)
materials. By controlling the voltage at each respective electrode,
the surface tension (surface energy) can be reversibly manipulated,
causing fluid to move in the energetically favorable direction. For
example, droplets can be created, merged, moved, cut, etc., in a
reprogrammable fashion using the appropriate actuation sequence.
EWOD-based devices are able to create, transport, cut and merge
droplets in a microfluidic environment. For example, the
fundamental operations and structures used in EWOD-based devices is
described in Cho et al., "Creating, Transporting, Cutting, and
Merging Liquid Droplets by Electrowetting-Based Actuation for
Digital Microfluidic Circuits," Journal of Microelectromechanical
Systems, Vol. 12, No. 1, February 2003, pp. 70-80. The
aforementioned reference describes common configurations for EWOD
although other EWOD configurations may also be used (e.g., coplanar
EWOD, EWOD with ground wire, etc.).
[0172] The digital microfluidic chip is micro-fabricated starting
from an inverse master pattern designed using computer aided design
(CAD) software. Based on this master pattern, the chip is produced
by means of standard lithography techniques known in the art.
[0173] Where "flexible high-throughput method for the printing" is
mentioned, the term "Flexibility" refers to the transport of mother
droplets, which can easily be controlled and reconfigured by
applying the proper software-controlled actuation sequence to the
actuation electrodes when using electrowetting-on-dielectric.
[0174] Where "to print large amounts of small liquid droplets" is
mentioned the printing of droplets can go from printing of 100
picoliter droplets per second, till the printing of 12800
femtoliter droplets per second when actuation electrodes of 2.8
mm.times.2.8 mm and square hydrophilic micropatches of 5
.mu.m.times.5 .mu.m are used.
[0175] Where "generate large arrays of very small volumes" is
mentioned we have to note that the exact amount of droplets that is
printed per second depends on the size of the mother droplet and
the dimensions of the hydrophilic micropatches that are used (cfr.
Previous comment). Where "exhibiting several contact angles" is
mentioned, it is noted that the contact angle of the micropatches
can be changed by altering the material or structure of the
material inside the hydrophilic micropatches.
[0176] Where "hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropatches" has to be
mentioned, some of the hydrophilic materials display a contact
angle <90.degree., such as glass, indium tin oxide, or most
metallic materials. On the other hand, some hydrophilic materials
can exhibit a contact angle equal to or higher than 90.degree.,
such as Parylene-C, gold, or plastic materials.
[0177] Where "micro- to nanowells fabricated inside the hydrophobic
layer," this means that the hydrophilic micropatches can have a
thickness ranging from <5 nm (such as different self-assembled
monolayers) or up to 100 .mu.m, depending on the type and
application method of the coating. An example of a thick coating
can be a spincoated hydrophobic polymer layer such as
TEFLON-AF.RTM..
[0178] Where "droplet actuation mechanism, which are active or
passive" is has to be noted that an active droplet actuation
mechanism uses external energy to move the mother droplet, such as,
but not excluded to, electrical forces. A passive droplet actuation
mechanism does not rely on external energy and can, for instance,
be based on droplet guidance by means of surface tension
forces.
[0179] Particular and preferred aspects of the disclosure are set
out in the accompanying independent and dependent claims. Features
from the dependent claims may be combined with features of the
independent claims and with features of other dependent claims as
appropriate and not merely as explicitly set out in the claims.
[0180] Thus, the claims following the detailed description are
hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with
each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this
disclosure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0181] The disclosure will become more fully understood from the
detailed description given herein below and the accompanying
drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and, thus,
are not limitative of the disclosure, and wherein:
[0182] FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the
disclosure; a) Top view (scale bar=700 .mu.m) and b) side view of a
digital microfluidic chip designed for printing of nano- to
femtoliter droplets. By transporting mother droplets over arrays of
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic micropatches, large arrays of nano- to
femtoliter droplets are printed due to the selective wettability of
the hydrophilic micropatches.
[0183] FIG. 2 represents a device where nano- to femtoliter
droplets are printed by rotating two plates over each other. The
plate on the left side contains many arrays which are
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic arrays dedicated to the printing of
nano- to femtoliter droplets. The right plate contains large
hydrophilic patches in a hydrophobic matrix dedicated to the
positioning, confining and guiding of mili- to microliter sized
parent droplets.
[0184] FIG. 3 is related to FIG. 2, and illustrates the case when
both plates are placed on top of each other. A spacer separates
both plates from each other, and the plate containing the parent
droplets can be rotated over the other plate such that the parent
droplets are guided over the array of hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic
arrays in the other plate. The right-hand panel represents a side
view when the parent droplet is placed on top of the array of
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic elements.
[0185] FIG. 4 represents a photograph of printed single NaCl
crystals inside of an array of hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic
elements.
[0186] FIGS. 5 through 7 provide photographs that displays the
deposition of single microparticles deposited in an array of
hydrophilic microwells in a hydrophobic TEFLON.RTM. layer. The
microwells capture and hold single microparticles and arrays of
such micropatches can be used to separate microparticles. The
photograph displays the arrays of micropatches wherein the white
dots are single microparticles which are each captured by or in
separate microwells. The drop comprising several nanoparticles had
been transported over the microwells to release one microparticle
at some of the patches on this way generating an array of single
nanoparticles.
[0187] FIG. 8a Schematic top view and side view of a droplet
containing suspended microspheres that is transported over a
capture array of hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic microwells by using an
electrowetting-on-dielectric microfluidic chip. By placing a magnet
on top of the array, paramagnetic microbeads are attracted fastly
inside the microwells.
[0188] FIG. 9 Fluorescent images of fluorescently labeled
paramagnetic beads patterned inside hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic
microwells by using an electrowetting-on-dielectric based digital
microfluidic chip by using magnet attraction. In part a, the mother
droplet containing the suspended particles was shuttled over the
array two times, while in part b, this droplet was shuttled over
the array 10 times.
[0189] FIG. 10 SEM images showing single paramagnetic microbeads in
hydrophilic-in-hydrophobic microwells. Scale bars are 8 .mu.m (a)
and 3 .mu.m (b).
* * * * *