Patent ID: 11970688
Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC B  C  G | IPC C  G

Claim 6:
7. A cell monitoring apparatus, comprising:
a sensing chip, comprising:
a channel region comprising a semiconductor material; and
a sensing film disposed on the channel region at a sensing surface of the sensing chip; and

a channel module, disposed on the sensing surface of the sensing chip and has a proximal surface facing the sensing surface of the sensing chip and a distal surface opposite to the proximal surface,
wherein a microfluidic channel is disposed between the sensing surface of the sensing chip and the proximal surface of the channel module, the microfluidic channel comprising:
a first microchannel, extending along a first direction from the proximal surface of the channel module to the distal surface of the channel module;
a second microchannel, extending from the distal surface of the channel module to the proximal surface of the channel module along the first direction;
a third microchannel, located at the proximal surface of the channel module at one end of the first microchannel, and extending from the first microchannel towards the second microchannel along a second direction different from the first direction;
a fourth microchannel, located at the proximal surface of the channel module at one end of the second microchannel, and extending from the second microchannel towards the first microchannel along a third direction different from the first direction;
a culture chamber, located between the third microchannel and the fourth microchannel, and concave into the proximal surface of the channel module, wherein the culture chamber extends from the proximal surface of the channel module toward the distal surface of the channel module, and forms a first surface at a first level; and

a micro-well, concave into a side of the first surface of the culture chamber, wherein the micro-well directly faces the sensing film, extends from the first surface of the culture chamber toward the distal surface of the channel module, and form a second surface having a topmost at a second level facing away from the sensing surface of the sensing chip,
wherein the first microchannel, the third microchannel, the culture chamber, the fourth microchannel, and the second microchannel are connected to each other in order,
the proximal surface of the channel module is separated from the sensing surface of the sensing chip with a first distance,
a distance between the first level of the first surface of the culture chamber and the sensing surface of the sensing chip is a second distance,
a distance between the second level of the second surface of the micro-well and the sensing surface of the sensing chip is a third distance, and
the third distance is greater than the second distance, and the second distance is greater than the first distance.