Patent ID: 7419822

Claim:
A multi-compartment microfluidic device for enabling fluidic isolation among interconnected compartments within the device comprising: a substrate coupled with an optically transparent device; said substrate comprising a micropatterned cell-adherent coating configured to direct cell attachment; said optically transparent device comprising a first microfluidic region having a first plurality of entry reservoirs for accepting or extracting a first volume of fluid; said optically transparent device further comprising a second microfluidic region, said second microfluidic region having a second plurality of entry reservoirs for accepting or extracting a second volume of fluid that is less than said first volume of fluid to create hydrostatic pressure; a barrier region that couples said first microfluidic region with said second microfluidic region in a way that enables a biological specimen to simultaneously extend across said first microfluidic region, said barrier region and said second microfluidic region; and, said barrier region comprising a plurality of microgrooves having a width and height that enables said second volume of fluid to be fluidically isolated from said first volume of fluid via said hydrostatic pressure maintained via said at least one embedded microgroove wherein said first microfluidic region, said second microfluidic region, said first plurality of entry reservoirs, said second plurality of entry reservoirs and said barrier region are fabricated into said optically transparent device.