Patent ID: 11964273
Assignee: ROCHE MOLECULAR SYSTEMS, INC.
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B  C | IPC B  C

Claim 0:
1. A microfluidic chip for thermally incubating an aqueous sample comprising target nucleic acid, the microfluidic chip comprising, from a proximate to a distal end:
an inlet port for receiving the aqueous sample, the inlet port comprising an inner wall including a sealing agent attached to the inner wall of the inlet port in a pre-loaded solid state so as to not obstruct the passage of the aqueous sample through the inlet port while the sealing agent is in the pre-loaded solid state, said sealing agent having a melting point above room temperature and being immiscible with and having a lower density than the aqueous sample, wherein the sealing agent is a wax; and
a flow channel positioned between an upper plate and a lower plate of the microfluidic chip, the flow channel being in fluid communication with the inlet port and a plurality of fixed reaction compartments positioned on one or more surfaces of an inside wall of the upper plate and the lower plate, the reaction compartments comprising a plurality of fixed wells, wherein each of the fixed wells comprises a sidewall, an upper end, and a closed lower end;
wherein the sealing agent is configured to displace from the pre-loaded solid state and solidify so as to seal the inner wall of the inlet port once the aqueous sample has been displaced from the inlet port through the flow channel and separated into one or more of the plurality of fixed wells.