Patent ID: 8211382

Claim:
A method for patterning a surface for a microassay, comprising: a) providing a spotter including at least one fluid pathway adapted to provide a printing cavity having a printing orifice and an interrogation cavity having an interrogation orifice, both the printing orifice and the interrogation orifice being configured to form a seal with the surface; b) placing the spotter against the surface so as to seal the printing orifice to the surface and form a printing flow chamber defined by the printing cavity and the surface; c) flowing a fluid through the printing flow chamber so as to print a spot onto the surface; d) relocating the spotter along the surface over a distance and in a direction so that the interrogation orifice overlaps both a portion of the spot and an adjacent unprinted space of the surface; e) placing the spotter against the surface so as to seal the interrogation orifice to the surface to form an interrogation flow chamber defined by the interrogation cavity and a second location on the surface, said second location being positioned over both a portion of the spot and an adjacent unprinted space; and f) flowing a second fluid through the interrogation flow chamber so as to generate contact between the second fluid and both the portion of the spot and the unprinted space.