Patent ID: 8685325
Filing Date: 2014-04-01
Classification: B01L

Abstract:
1. A device of field-programmable lab-on-a-chip (FPLOC) by employing the microelectrode array architecture comprising: a. a bottom plate comprising an array of multiple microelectrodes disposed on a top surface of a substrate covered by a dielectric layer; wherein each of the microelectrode is coupled to at least one grounding elements of a grounding mechanism, wherein a hydrophobic layer is disposed on the top of the dielectric layer and the grounding elements to make hydrophobic surfaces with droplets; b. a field programmability mechanism for programming a group of configured-electrodes to generate microfluidic components and layouts with selected shapes and sizes; and c. a FPLOC functional block, comprising: i. I/O ports; ii. a sample preparation unit; iii. a droplet manipulation unit; iv. a detection unit; v. a system control unit comprising: a. a hierarchical FPLOC chip-level module comprising: i. a field-programming management unit for configuring the microelectrodes into microfluidic components and layout/networks for the microfluidic components; ii. a microfluidic operations programming management unit for controlling and managing microfluidic operations; and b. an application system management module comprising: i. a system partition and integration unit for partitioning the device; ii. a detection and display unit for obtaining, displaying, reporting and storing assay results; iii. a data management and transfer unit for connecting to the device to external information system; iv. a peripheral management block for connecting to external systems.