Patent ID: 7238521

Claim:
A microarray hybridization device which comprises: a flat substrate having a surface to which a microarray of reactive moieties can be attached, liquid barrier means juxtaposed with said surface to create a chamber having an interior wall surface in which chamber said microarray is located, and a cover closing said chamber so said device may be manipulated without loss of liquid target solution that fills said chamber except for a gaseous bubble included therein, said barrier means having inwardly facing surfaces which border said chamber and which are generally perpendicular thereto, which surfaces are formed with a plurality of bubble-fracturing elements that lie in a planar region extending parallel to said flat substrate and extend laterally into said chamber so that, when said device is moved so that a liquid target solution in said chamber moves along said flat substrate surface from one boundary of said chamber to another boundary, a bubble initially in said chamber is ruptured into a plurality of microbubbles that then assure very effective distribution of the liquid target solution in said chamber across the entire microarray, driven by movement of said microbubbles.