Thermocycling system and manufacturing method

Inventors

Brahmasandra, Sundaresh • Haddock, Thomas • Duffy, Patrick • Williams, Jeffrey

Assignees

NeumoDx Molecular Inc

Abstract

A system for thermocycling biological samples within detection chambers comprising: a set of heater-sensor dies, each heater-sensor die comprising a heating surface configured to interface with a detection chamber and a second surface, inferior to the heating surface, including a first connection point; an electronics substrate, comprising a first substrate surface coupled to the second surface of each heater-sensor die, an aperture providing access through the electronics substrate to at least one heater-sensor die, and a second substrate surface inferior to the first substrate surface, wherein the electronics substrate comprises a set of substrate connection points at least at one of the first substrate surface, an aperture surface defined within the aperture, and the second substrate surface, and wherein the electronics substrate is configured to couple heating elements and sensing elements of the set of heater-sensor dies to a controller; and a set of wire bonds, including a wire bond coupled between the first connection point of at least one of the set of heater-sensor dies and one of the set of substrate connection points.

Core Innovation

A thermocycling system for thermocycling biological samples within detection chambers uses a set of heater-sensor dies. Each heater-sensor die includes a heating surface configured to interface with a detection chamber and an inferior surface including a connection point, with a heating element and a sensing element coupled to a controller through an electronics substrate.

An electronics substrate includes a first substrate surface coupled to the inferior surface of each heater-sensor die, and the electronics substrate includes a set of apertures longitudinally spaced across the electronics substrate. The electronics substrate further defines a set of substrate connection points at one or more of the first substrate surface, an aperture surface, and a second substrate surface inferior to the first substrate surface, and wire bonds couple between the connection point of at least one heater-sensor die and at least one substrate connection point.

Heat-sink supports are coupled to at least one of the heater-sensor dies through the apertures and the second substrate surface of the electronics substrate, and are configured to dissipate heat generated by the heater-sensor dies. At least one heat-sink support includes an integrated cooling element, and a base surface of each heat-sink support is coupled to an elastic element that transmits a biasing force through the electronics substrate, maintaining thermal communication between the heater-sensor dies and the detection chambers upon alignment.

In the disclosed implementation, optical reflection mitigation is provided by a non-reflective coating near the heating surface of the heater-sensor dies to reduce light reflection toward photodetectors of an optical subsystem. The dies are positioned opposite the photodetectors, linking thermal heater-sensor placement with optical subsystem compatibility during thermocycling.

Claims Coverage

The partial content includes one independent claim (clm-00001) and a dependent claim option. The claim coverage recites four inventive features in the independent claim, with an optical reflection-mitigation option in a dependent claim.

Independent claim coverage centers on integrating heater-sensor dies with an electronics substrate that uses apertures and substrate connection points to couple die elements to a controller, while heat-sink supports and elastic biasing maintain thermal communication during alignment with detection chambers, with wire bonds providing electrical coupling between die connection points and substrate connection points.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications