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Publication Number
US-12239983-B2
Publication Date
2025-03-04
Expiration Date
Abstract
A medical device comprising a multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) comprising a heating element on an inner layer of the PCB; a single cell electrical power source to power the heating element; and a chamber adapted to contain a liquid, at least part of said chamber being defined by a thermally conductive material configured to provide a thermal transfer interface between the chamber and the PCB.
Core Innovation
A point-of-care disposable medical device architecture is described for biological sample analysis using a multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) with integrated heating. The device includes a heating element on an inner layer of the PCB, a chamber adapted to contain a liquid, and a thermally conductive material defining at least part of the chamber to provide a thermal transfer interface between the chamber and the PCB. The interface between the thermally conductive material and the PCB comprises a larger surface area than the area of the chamber defined by the thermally conductive material.
The device is powered by a single-cell electrical power source to power the heating element, and the heating is integrated with PCB concepts such as heater coils as PCB traces on inner layers and a thermally conductive foil interface configured as a thermal transfer interface. Temperature sensing and a temperature controller via the PCB are described, together with optional biasing of the PCB to the thermally conductive material using foam or casing features to support thermal coupling.
In described implementations, mechanically driven liquid transfer between multiple zones and heater integration are combined for sample analysis workflows, including nucleic-acid amplification and/or immunoassay. The document also describes a thermally conductive chamber-defining material and a larger thermal transfer interface surface area than the chamber-defined area, and includes example results for detecting SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA using a positive versus negative process control.
Claims Coverage
The patent contains one independent claim. It defines a medical device with a multilayer PCB heating element, a single-cell electrical power source, and a liquid-containing chamber thermally coupled to the PCB via a thermally conductive material where the PCB/thermally conductive material interface area is larger than the chamber area defined by the thermally conductive material. The dependent claims further refine structural and functional features including contact biasing, power-source specifics, electrical-resistance matching, and temperature sensing and control relationships, as well as chamber specialization for nucleic acid amplification.
Multilayer PCB heating element with thermally coupled liquid chamber via larger thermal transfer interface
A medical device includes a multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) comprising a heating element on an inner layer of the PCB, a single-cell electrical power source to power the heating element, and a chamber adapted to contain a liquid, with at least part of the chamber defined by a thermally conductive material configured to provide a thermal transfer interface between the chamber and the PCB, wherein the interface between the thermally conductive material and the PCB comprises a larger surface area than the area of the chamber defined by the thermally conductive material.
Overall claim coverage is anchored by the thermal transfer interface concept: a thermally conductive material defining a chamber portion provides thermal coupling to an inner-layer PCB heater through a PCB/thermally conductive-material interface having a larger surface area than the chamber portion area. Dependent features add contact biasing, single-cell source specification, electrical-resistance matching between the heater and the power source, temperature sensing thermally coupled to the chamber, and chamber specialization toward nucleic acid amplification in described refinements.
Stated Advantages
Not explicitly described in patent.
Documented Applications
Biological sample analysis in a point-of-care disposable medical device, including nucleic-acid amplification and/or immunoassay.
Detecting SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA with example results using a positive versus negative process control.
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