Patent ID: 8695355

Claim:
A microfluidic apparatus comprising a thermally insulating substrate and a heating/cooling device, wherein a contact surface of the thermally insulating substrate contacts at least partially the heating/cooling device, the heating/cooling device including: a heating/cooling chamber for heating and/or cooling a sample disposed in said chamber; a waste heat channel for carrying away waste heat and/or supplying thermal energy, the waste heat channel being fluidically disconnected from the heating/cooling chamber; and at least one Peltier junction having first and second opposing faces, the first face thereof facing towards said heating/cooling chamber and being in thermal communication therewith for providing either heat or cooling to said chamber in response to a flow of electrical current through said at least one Peltier junction, the second face thereof facing towards said waste heat channel and being in thermal communication therewith for either receiving heat from or dumping heat to said channel in response to a flow of electrical current through said at least one Peltier junction, wherein said at least one Peltier junction is thus configured to transfer heat between said heating/cooling chamber and said waste heat channel, wherein the heating/cooling chamber, the waste heat channel, the at least one Peltier junction and the thermally insulating substrate are configured to form a multilevel arrangement inside the microfluidic apparatus, a first level being composed of the thermally insulating substrate supporting a second level, the second level comprising the heating/cooling chamber, the waste heat channel, and the at least one Peltier junction, wherein the heating/cooling chamber, the waste channel and the at least one Peltier junction are arranged side by side within the second level along said contact surface, wherein the thermally insulating substrate is fluidically disconnected from the heating/cooling chamber and the waste heat channel.