Patent ID: 9211512
Filing Date: 2015-12-15
Classification: B01F,B01L,G01N

Abstract:
1. A microfluidic apparatus adapted to be mounted on a rotation driving unit and wherein when mounted on the rotation driving unit and rotated about a rotation center of the apparatus, a fluid flow is induced in the apparatus due to a centrifugal force, the microfluidic apparatus comprising: a sample chamber in which a sample fluid is centrifuged, wherein a partition wall is provided in the sample chamber to form a bottleneck portion together with at least one of a top wall and a bottom wall of the sample chamber, wherein the partition wall defines an inner region and an outer region within the sample chamber, wherein the outer region is located further away along a radial direction from the rotation center than the inner region, and wherein the bottleneck portion partially restricts the flow of the sample fluid in a radial direction of the sample chamber through a gap region in the bottleneck portion, the gap region joining the inner region and the outer region within the sample chamber, and wherein the gap region has a size or dimension that is greater than a size or dimension of a gap that would induce a capillary phenomenon with the sample fluid and which is sufficiently large to allow target cells and fine beads in the sample fluid to move back and forth through the gap region between the inner region and the outer region within the sample chamber during a mixing process whereby the apparatus is rotated back and forth in clockwise and counterclockwise directions about the rotation center, and which partially restricts the flow of sample fluid in an inward radial direction from the outer region to the inner region within the sample chamber when the apparatus is not being rotated, wherein the partition wall has a shape wherein the bottleneck portion is narrower from the inner region of the sample chamber to the outer region of the sample chamber in the radial direction, and wherein the partition wall includes a plurality of partition wall segments arranged within the sample chamber along a circumference direction of the sample chamber, wherein the partition wall segments are spaced apart from each other along the circumference direction with an opening between adjacent partition wall segments.