Microfluidic chip

Inventors

Garstecki, Piotr • DEBSKI, Pawel • ZIÓLKOWSKI, Jaroslaw • Knap, Piotr

Assignees

Bacteromic Sp zoo

Abstract

A microfluidic chip for conducting microbiological assays, comprises a substrate in which incubation segments, a sample reservoir and microfluidic channels connecting said sample reservoir with said incubation segments are arranged. Said microfluidic chip further comprise a non-aqueous liquid reservoir for containing non-aqueous liquid wherein said reservoir is connectable via a releasable airtight and liquid-tight valve with said microfluidic channels connecting said sample reservoir with said incubation segments each incubation segment comprises an incubation well (113) connected by a gas-exchange channel (115) to an unvented gas cavity (111).

Core Innovation

The invention provides a microfluidic chip for conducting microbiological assays. The chip includes a substrate made of a first impermeable material with first and second major faces, where the first major face is covered by a first layer of a second impermeable substantially transparent material and the second major face is covered by a second layer of a third impermeable substantially transparent material. Within the substrate, microfluidic channels connect a sample reservoir to multiple incubation segments.

Each incubation segment includes an incubation segment inlet channel and an incubation well that is connected by a gas-exchange channel to an unvented gas cavity. The microfluidic chip further comprises a non-aqueous fluid reservoir for containing non-aqueous fluid, where the non-aqueous fluid reservoir has a fluid reservoir outlet opening connectable via a releasable airtight and liquid-tight valve with the microfluidic channels.

In use, the incubation segments are arranged in a fractal manner so that all respective microchannels connecting the incubation segments to the sample reservoir are substantially equally long and/or have an equal resistance to flow. The disclosed microfluidic arrangement aims to support microbial growth by providing gas exchange to an unvented gas cavity while using a non-aqueous fluid to physically separate neighboring segments.

The fractal microchannel geometry is used to enable substantially equal flow behavior to each incubation segment, supporting dense packing for comprehensive antimicrobial susceptibility testing, including minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and antibiotic resistance mechanism detection.

Claims Coverage

Independent claim clm-00001 defines four inventive features: the transparent impermeable layered substrate, the sample reservoir-to-incubation microfluidic channel arrangement with fractal incubation segments, the non-aqueous fluid reservoir with a releasable airtight and liquid-tight valve, and the incubation wells with gas-exchange to an unvented gas cavity.

The claim coverage centers on a microfluidic chip architecture that combines transparent impermeable layered substrates, a sample reservoir feeding a plurality of fractally arranged incubation segments through microfluidic channels with substantially equal length or equal flow resistance, incubation wells having gas exchange to an unvented gas cavity, and a non-aqueous fluid reservoir connected through a releasable airtight and liquid-tight valve.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications