Temperature controlled microfabricated two-pin liquid sample dispensing system
View Patent ↗A cooled liquid sample dispensing system comprises a pair of pins for holding a droplet of liquid therebetween and a cooling element. Each pin includes a tip spaced predetermined distance from the other pin to define a sample acquisition region. The pins acquire and hold a droplet of the liquid sample in the sample acquisition region formed in the space between the tips and apply the droplet to a selected sample handing system. The cooling element, when activated, cools the droplet of liquid to reduce evaporation.
1. A method of manufacturing a pin-based fluid handling system, comprising the steps of:
providing a substrate,
imprinting a pattern defining a plurality of components of the pin-based fluid handling system on the substrate;
etching the substrate around the pattern to remove excess material from the substrate and form the components of the fluid handling system; and
coupling a cooling element to one of the components for cooling at least one of the plurality of components of the fluid handling system.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the components of the fluid handling system comprise at least one fluid handling pin.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the components of the fluid handling system comprise:
a holder,
a first pin coupled to the holder, and
a second pin coupled to the holder,
wherein the second pin is spaced from the first pin to define a channel therebetween, the channel sized and dimensioned for receiving and retaining a fluid sample by capillary action.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first pin and second pin extend from and are integral with the holder.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the components of the fluid handling system comprise a base, a first pin tip connected to the base and a second pin tip connected to the base and spaced from the first pin tip to form a cavity for receiving a fluid volume.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising the step of applying a chemical coating for enhancing fluid handling to one of said first pin tip and said second pin tip.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the chemical coating comprises one of a hydrophilic coating, a hydrophobic coating, and combinations thereof.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the step of applying the chemical coating comprises applying a coating mask defining a coating pattern to the fluid handling system and applying the coating in a predetermined pattern, defined by the coating mask.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of coupling a temperature sensor to a component of the fluid handling system.
10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising the step of connecting the temperature sensor to a controller for comparing an actual temperature measured using the temperature sensor to a reference temperature, and for selectively actuating the cooling element to adjust the actual temperature to equal the reference temperature.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the temperature sensor comprises a thin-film resistor.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a silicon wafer.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises one of glass, plastic, silicon and combinations thereof.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of imprinting the pattern comprises applying a photo-mask containing the pattern to the substrate, applying a photoresist layer and projecting light through the photo-mask to create the pattern.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cooling element is a Peltier element.
16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of forming a second fluid handling system on the substrate.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the step of forming the second fluid handling system comprises the steps of:
imprinting a second pattern defining a plurality components of the second fluid handling system on the substrate in a different region of the substrate from a region in which the first fluid handling system is formed;
etching the substrate around the second pattern to remove excess material from the substrate and form the components of the second fluid handling system; and
coupling a second cooling element to one of the components of the second fluid handling system.
18. A method of manufacturing a pin-based fluid handling system, comprising the steps of:
etching a plurality of components of a fluid handling system in a substrate, the plurality of components including a holder, a first pin tip and a second pin tip spaced from the first pin tip to define a sample acquisition region; and
placing a cooling element in temperature communication with one of the components for cooling the fluid handling system.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the substrate comprises one of silicon, glass, plastic and combinations thereof.
20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the cooling element is a Peltier element.
21. The method of claim 18 , wherein the cooling element is coupled to the holder.
22. The method of claim 18 , wherein the cooling element is coupled to one to the first pin tip and the second pin tip.
23. The method of claim 18 , further comprising the step of applying a chemical coating for enhancing fluid handling to one of the first pin tip and the second pin tip.
24. The method of claim 18 , further comprising the step of coupling a temperature sensor to a component of the fluid handling system.
25. The method of claim 24 , further comprising the step of connecting the temperature sensor to a controller for comparing an actual temperature measured using the temperature sensor to a reference temperature and for selectively actuating the cooling element to adjust the actual temperature to equal the reference temperature.
26. The method of claim 21 , wherein the temperature sensor comprises a thin-film resistor.
27. The method of claim 18 , wherein the fluid-handling system is formed in a first region of the substrate, and a second fluid-handling system is formed in a second region of the substrate.
28. A method of manufacturing a pin-based fluid handling system, comprising the steps of:
etching a fluid handling system from a substrate, the fluid handling system comprising a plurality of components; and
coupling a temperature control system to one of the components for controlling a temperature of at least one of the plurality of components of the fluid handling system.
29. The method of claim 28 , wherein the temperature control system comprises:
a temperature sensor for measuring a temperature of a component of the fluid handling system;
a cooling element for selectively cooling a component of the fluid handling system; and
a controller in communication with the temperature sensor and the cooling element for comparing an actual temperature measured using the temperature sensor to a reference temperature and for selectively actuating the cooling element to adjust the actual temperature to equal the reference temperature.
30. The method of claim 29 , wherein the temperature sensor comprises a thin-film resistor.
31. The method of claim 29 , wherein the cooling element comprises a Peltier element.
32. The method of claim 28 , wherein the components of the fluid handling system comprise at least one fluid handling pin.
33. The method of claim 28 , wherein the components of the fluid handling system comprise a holder, a first pin coupled to the holder, and a second pin coupled to the holder, wherein the second pin is spaced from the first pin to define a channel therebetween, the channel sized and dimensioned for receiving and retaining a fluid sample by capillary action.
34. The method of claim 33 , further comprising the step of applying a chemical coating for enhancing fluid handling to one of the first pin tip and the second pin tip.
35. The method of claim 28 , further comprising the step of imprinting a pattern defining the plurality components of the fluid handling system on the substrate prior to the step of etching the substrate.
36. The method of claim 35 , wherein the step of imprinting a pattern comprises the steps of:
applying a photo-mask containing the pattern to the substrate,
applying a photoresist layer to the substrate and photo-mask, and
projecting light through the photo-mask to create the pattern.
37. A method of manufacturing an array of fluid handling systems comprising the steps of:
providing a substrate;
for each fluid handling system in the array, imprinting a pattern defining a plurality of components of the associated fluid handling system on the substrate;
for each imprinted pattern, etching the substrate around the pattern to remove excess material from the substrate and form the components of the associated fluid handling system; and
for each thus-formed fluid handling system, coupling a cooling element to a component for cooling the associated fluid handling system.
38. The method of claim 37 , wherein the substrate comprises a silicon wafer.
39. The method of claim 37 , wherein each fluid handling system comprises a holder, a first pin coupled to the holder, and a second pin coupled to the holder, wherein the second pin is spaced from the first pin to define a channel therebetween, the channel sized and dimensioned for receiving and retaining a fluid sample by capillary action.
40. The method of claim 37 , wherein the array comprises at least about 300 fluid handling systems formed in the substrate.
41. The method of claim 37 , wherein the step of imprinting the pattern comprises applying a photo-mask containing an array of patterns to the substrate, applying a photoresist layer and projecting light through the photo-mask to create the array of patterns.
42. The method of claim 37 , wherein the cooling elements are Peltier elements.