System and method for separating an aqueous liquid into at least two cavities
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Publication Number
US-12605708-B2
Publication Date
2026-04-21
Expiration Date
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a method for separating an aqueous liquid comprising biological material into at least two cavities, the use of a polysiloxane having at least one hydroxy group in such a method, as well as a system for separating an aqueous liquid into at least two cavities.
Core Innovation
The invention relates to microfluidic devices and methods for separating an aqueous liquid comprising biological material into at least two cavities. The device includes at least one void providing a separating space, and the cavities are in fluidic connection with the void and separated by the separating space. A separating space is supplied with a separation liquid such that leakage between the cavities is reduced, thereby addressing cross-contamination originating from residual aqueous film and leakage between separated portions.
The separation liquid comprises a polysiloxane having at least one hydroxy-group, where the %-mass ratio of hydroxy in the separation liquid is between 0.1% and 5%. By using hydroxy-functional polysiloxanes, the patent describes leakage reduction when separating an aqueous biological sample into multiple cavities. The disclosure includes that different hydroxy-functional polysiloxane variants, including silanol-terminated and carbinol-terminated polysiloxanes, are used as the separation liquid to reduce leakage and leakage-related crosstalk between cavities.
The method further includes analyzing the aqueous liquid after separation, where analyzing comprises determining the absence, presence, activity or concentration of biological material in the aqueous liquid. The patent describes narrowing the analysis to nucle-acid biological material with amplification by PCR or isothermal amplification, and also narrowing analysis to a target protein analyzed by antibody binding. The patent also describes defining polysiloxane structural and physical property ranges and cavity volume ranges for the hydroxy-containing separation liquids used in the cavity-separating microfluidic architecture.
Claims Coverage
The only independent claim provided is clm-00001. It defines a leakage-reducing separation method for splitting an aqueous liquid comprising biological material into at least two cavities using a hydroxy-group-containing polysiloxane separation liquid with a specified hydroxy %-mass ratio, and it requires analyzing biological material in the separated aqueous liquid by absence/presence/activity/concentration determination. Dependent claims further refine polysiloxane structure and properties and narrow the biological material and analysis modalities.
Hydroxy-functional polysiloxane separation liquid to reduce leakage during cavity separation
A method comprising providing a device with a void providing a separating space and at least two cavities separated by the separating space, supplying an aqueous liquid comprising biological material to each cavity, supplying the separating space with a separation liquid so that leakage between cavities is reduced, analyzing the aqueous liquid by determining absence, presence, activity or concentration of biological material, wherein the separation liquid comprises a polysiloxane having at least one hydroxy-group and a %-mass ratio of hydroxy between 0.1% and 5%.
Across the provided claims, the inventive core is the use of a polysiloxane containing at least one hydroxy-group as the separation liquid (hydroxy %-mass ratio 0.1% to 5%) in a microfluidic void/cavity architecture to reduce leakage between cavities, followed by analyzing the separated aqueous liquid for absence, presence, activity or concentration of biological material.
Stated Advantages
Reducing leakage between the cavities during separation of an aqueous liquid comprising biological material.
Documented Applications
Separating an aqueous biological sample into multiple cavities for subsequent analysis to determine absence, presence, activity or concentration of biological material.
Nucleic-acid biological material analysis using PCR or isothermal amplification after separation.
Target protein analysis after separation using antibody (or antibody fragment) binding.
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