Patent ID: 8202736

Claim:
A method of extracting one or more hormones from a volume of biological sample using a digital microfluidic electrode array, including the steps of: (a) drying said biological sample at a sample reservoir addressable by said electrode array; (b) adding a volume of lysing solvent to a lysing reservoir addressable by said electrode array and actuating said electrode array to transport said volume of lysing solvent to said sample reservoir, and drying said lysing solvent at said sample reservoir; (c) adding a volume of polar solvent to a polar solvent reservoir addressable by said array and actuating said electrode array to transport said volume of polar solvent to said sample reservoir, thereby obtaining a solution in which said one or more hormones are dissolved; (d) actuating said electrode array to transport a droplet of said solution from said sample reservoir to an extraction reservoir containing a volume of non-polar solvent, said non-polar solvent chosen to extract contaminants from said droplet of said solution while maintaining said droplet of said solution as a distinct liquid phase that can be transported by said electrode array relative to said non-polar solvent; (e) actuating said electrode array to transport said droplet of said solution from said extraction reservoir to an output reservoir; and (f) repeating steps (d) and (e) until said solution has been substantially removed from said sample reservoir, thereby obtaining a volume of purified solution located at said output reservoir.