Self-contained biological assay apparatus, methods, and applications

摘要

A self-contained, fully automated, biological assay-performing apparatus includes a housing; a dispensing platform including a controllably-movable reagent dispensing system, disposed in the housing; a reagent supply component disposed in the housing; a pneumatic manifold removably disposed in the housing in a space shared by the dispensing platform, removably coupled to a fluidic transport layer and a plurality of reservoirs, wherein the fluidic transport layer, the reservoirs, and a test sample to be introduced therein are disposed in the housing in the space separate from the dispensing platform; a pneumatic supply system removably coupled to the pneumatic manifold in the housing in a space separate from the dispensing platform; and a control system coupled to at least one of the dispensing platform and the pneumatic supply system, disposed in the housing.

主权项

1. An automated process, comprising:
providing a self-contained biological assay apparatus including a reagent dispensing system and a pneumatic manifold that operates a microfluidic system having a fluidic transport layer and a plurality of fluidic channels disposed in the fluidic transport layer, and a plurality of reservoirs attached to the fluidic transport layer: introducing a fluid test sample containing a target nucleic acid into one of the plurality of reservoirs fluidically connected to one of the fluidic channels; providing at least one liquid reagent to the fluidic channel from at least one reservoir that is in fluid connection with the fluidic transport layer; combining the fluid test sample and the at least one reagent in the fluidic transport layer, one of the plurality of reservoirs or a temperature-controlled amplification/reaction reactor; transporting the fluid test sample and the at least one reagent to the temperature-controlled amplification/reaction reactor that is in operative communication with the fluidic transport layer if not combined there; incubating the fluid test sample and the at least one reagent in the temperature-controlled amplification/reaction reactor under conditions sufficient to permit the target nucleic acid sequence to be amplified; transporting the fluid test sample and the at least one reagent to an analysis reservoir via the fluidic channel; and analyzing the amplified target nucleic acid sequence from the fluid test sample, wherein the fluid test sample is automatically transported from a fluid sample introduction reservoir in the fluidic transport layer to the analysis reservoir separately from any other samples, all in a single microfluidic chip, via a fluidic channel and independent of contact with the pneumatic manifold and the reagent dispensing system.