US Patent:
20100018861, Jan 28, 2010
Inventors:
Igor Mezic - Goleta CA, US
Frederic Bottausci - Santa Barbara CA, US
Assignee:
THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - Oakland CA
International Classification:
C07K 1/26
G01N 27/26
Abstract:
An apparatus and method to achieve manipulation of particles and/or solutions through the induction of electromagnetic fields inside liquid contained inside vessels are disclosed. A “vessel” denotes specifically either a microtitter plate (microplate or well-plate, 1536, 3456 or any other format) well or hybridization solution placed on microarrays for hybridization experiment purposes or more generally any volume containing liquid solution. The manipulation is performed by bringing the active part of the device into contact with the fluidic solution, wherein electromagnetic fields and/or induced fluid flow are used to perform specific manipulations including transport, separation, concentration, mixing, reaction and electroporation. The invention can be used to enhance processing in a number of standard assays and protocols, including the Polymerase Chain Reaction, kinase-based assays, ELISA assays and electroporation.