Technology

InGeneron, Inc.
8275 El Rio Street
Suite 130
Houston, TX 77054
713-440-9900 p
713-440-6299 f
info@ingeneron.com

Programmable Fluidic Processor

The field of microfluidics has led to many new approaches in the areas of cell and molecular biology, clinical diagnostics, and chemical analysis. Numerous advantages arise as system size is reduced to the microscale, including reduced reagent and sample consumption, reduced power consumption, decreased reaction times, high sensitivity, and lower costs. However, despite these advantages and the despite the huge growth of microfluidics as a field, some key challenges have prevented widespread use of these systems for real world applications. For example, accurate fluid handling on a nanoliter scale can be a significant problem for many of these applications. In addition, the need for reproducible and reliable manufacturing of integrated microvalves and micropumps presents a difficult technical challenge and adds cost and complexity.

InGeneron’s approach is to utilize a novel dielectrophoresis based microfluidic platform that eliminates the need for complex valves and pumps. Reagent and sample droplets are injected onto an array of microelectrodes using dielectrophoresis gated microinjection in conjunction with high precision syringe pumps. Once reagents are injected onto the surface of the electrode array, individual electrodes are turned off and on, creating dielectrophoretic forces capable of moving droplets throughout the array. Due to the small scale of the droplets, neighboring droplets mix nearly instantaneously when brought into contact with each other, speeding up reactions dramatically. Reaction mixtures can be left to incubate or moved elsewhere for further reactions or analysis.

Another advantage of InGeneron’s approach is that its array of electrodes exploits an open architecture design that is easily reprogrammed to perform different assays unlike many other microfluidic systems that utilize a hard-wired approach that is specific to a single assay.