Patent ID: 7744762

Claim:
A microfluidic device for on-chip complex sample processing, comprising: a separation system including at least one pump and a separation channel for separating a complex liquid sample, wherein the separation channel includes a liquid chromatography medium; an interface fluidly coupled to the separation channel and configured to transfer separated sample components from the separation channel into an array of microreservoirs; wherein the interface comprises multiple microchannels having cross-sectional diameters or depths small enough to act as valves by way of hydraulic resistance, which substantially precludes leakage of the sample out of the separation channel and into the microchannels, wherein different microreservoirs in said array of microreservoirs are connected by different microchannels positioned at different points along a length of said separation channel, wherein the microchannels in the interface are adapted to translate separated components by an electroosmotic mechanism, such that when separation in the separation channel is completed, and the pump is turned off, a potential differential applied across the separation channel via the interface transfers the contents of the separation channel to the microreservoirs by said electroosmotic mechanism; and wherein at least the separation channel, interface, and microreservoirs are disposed within the same chip, facilitating analyte detection directly on the chip.