Patent ID: 7547096

Claim:
A printing manifold for depositing fluid for chemical and biological analysis on a support comprising: a plurality of adjoining plates, each plate comprising a first surface, a second surface; a plurality of channels intersecting the first and second surface of each plate, wherein the dimension of the first and second surface of each plate perpendicular to the direction of the plurality of channels ranges from 200 micrometers to 10,000 micrometers; and a plurality of deposition units, said deposition units formed from a solid material, wherein each deposition unit extends at least between a proximate end and a distal end of the channel with which the deposition unit is associated, and wherein the proximate end of each deposition unit is configured to retain fluid for chemical and biological analysis from the channel with which the deposition unit is associated and to deposit said fluid on the support to produce an array comprising a plurality of positionally distinguishable areas.