Incubation well with an unvented gas cavity for use in a microfluidic chip
Inventors
Garstecki, Piotr • ZIÓLKOWSKI, Jaroslaw • Knap, Piotr
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-12290807-B2
Publication Date
2025-05-06
Expiration Date
Abstract
An incubation segment in a microfluidic chip for microbiological assays, wherein said incubation segment is formed in a substrate with an upper major face and a lower major face, said segment includes an incubation well, an inlet channel through which a sample may be inputted into said incubation well, and a gas cavity connected to said incubation well by a microfluidic communication channel, wherein said gas cavity is unvented and the base of the gas cavity is connected to the base of the incubation well by the communication channel.
Core Innovation
The invention relates to an incubation segment formed in a substrate for use in a microfluidic chip for microbiological assays. The incubation segment comprises an incubation well and an inlet channel through which a sample may be inputted into the incubation well. A gas cavity is connected to the incubation well by a microfluidic communication channel, and the gas cavity is unvented, so that the base of the gas cavity is connected to the base of the incubation well by the communication channel.
In the incubation segment, the incubation well comprises an optical window formed by a through hole extending from a first major face through the substrate to a second major face. The optical window is covered on the first major face by a first impermeable, transparent layer and on the second major face by a second impermeable, transparent layer. This arrangement provides impermeable transparent optical regions on both faces of the substrate while maintaining the unvented gas cavity connected via the microfluidic communication channel.
The disclosed microfluidic incubation segment is configured to support microbiological assays including antimicrobial susceptibility testing and determination of minimum inhibitory concentration. The disclosure includes oxygen availability reasoning based on oxygen diffusion and oxygen-consumption calculations to indicate that the required gas-cavity volume does not significantly limit growth over a 24 h test cycle. Further disclosed aspects include sub-mm incubation well dimensions, constraints on the communication channel length and on volume ratios among the incubation well, gas cavity, and communication channel, and optional fractal channel networks enabling many segments per chip.
The disclosure also addresses sealing and optical detection. It describes sealing inlet channels with impermeable sealing foils and sealing inlet channels with non-aqueous sealing liquid to prevent evaporation and cross-contamination, and it notes optical detection based on scattered light and fluorescent light through the impermeable transparent optical layers.
Claims Coverage
The independent claim defines the structural and functional core of an unvented microfluidic incubation segment for microbiological assays, including a microfluidic communication/gas-exchange channel and an optical window formed by through-hole and impermeable transparent layers. The claim set includes independent claim coverage focused on this incubation segment architecture (with multiple dependent refinements) and provides additional narrowing of geometry, materials, optical function, and assay compatibility through inventive features stated in dependent claims. For this partial content, only one independent claim is explicitly provided: clm-00001.
Unvented gas cavity connected via microfluidic communication channel
A gas cavity is unvented and is connected to an incubation well by a microfluidic communication channel, wherein the base of the gas cavity is connected to the base of the incubation well by the communication channel.
Through-hole optical window with impermeable transparent layers on both faces
An incubation well comprises an optical window comprising a through hole extending from a first major face through the substrate to a second major face, and a first impermeable, transparent layer covering the incubation well on the first major face and a second impermeable, transparent layer covering the incubation well on the second major face.
Incubation well dimension constraint
The incubation well has a smallest linear dimension that is equal to or less than 0.5 mm.
Communication channel volume ratio constraint
A communication channel volume Vc equals 2% to 10% of the incubation well volume Vi.
Overall, the claim coverage centers on an incubation segment architecture that combines an unvented gas cavity connected by a microfluidic communication channel with an optical window realized as a through hole in the substrate and impermeable transparent layers on both major faces. The dependent claim refinements explicitly constrain incubation well geometry and communication channel volume ratio, with additional narrowing options described in the dependent claim set included in the partial content.
Stated Advantages
Supports microbiological assays including antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) and determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) without significant limitation of growth over a 24 h test cycle, based on oxygen diffusion and oxygen-consumption calculations.
Prevents evaporation and cross-contamination through described sealing approaches.
Enables optical detection of scattered light and fluorescent light through the impermeable transparent optical layers.
Documented Applications
Microbiological assays in a microfluidic chip, including antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) and determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC).
Optical detection of scattered light and fluorescent light associated with the incubation segment in microbiological assays.
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