Microfluidic clinical analyzer

1. A microfluidic cartridge for performing an assay of a fluid microsample to detect a clinical analyte or analytes therein, the microfluidic cartridge comprising:

a cartridge body, a sample receptacle for receiving said fluid microsample, and at least one assay circuit arm,

said assay circuit arm comprising:

a) an intake fluidic channel joining said sample receptacle to a reaction chamber, wherein said reaction chamber is enclosed by a gas permeable, liquid impermeable stop-flow barrier and opposingly paired optical windows, said optical windows for transilluminating said reaction chamber at a defined wavelength or wavelengths by an optical interface of a host workstation when said cartridge body is docked therein;

b) a downstream fluidic channel joining said reaction chamber to an actuation port configured to receive a suction pulse, said downstream fluidic channel further comprising said stop-flow barrier interposed between said reaction chamber and said actuation port, said reaction chamber and stop-flow barrier defining a fixed wettable volume within said assay circuit arm;

c) a dry reagent matrix deposited on one or both of said opposingly paired optical windows in said reaction chamber, wherein said dry reagent matrix is configured to enable homogeneous dissolution operatively coupled to the filling of said fixed volume with said fluid microsample in response to said suction pulse; and

d) a chromogen deposited in said rehydratable dry reagent matrix, said chromogen having an absorbance at a defined wavelength or wavelengths specific for a reaction with said clinical analyte.

2. The microfluidic cartridge of claim 1 , wherein said opposing paired optical windows are formed of two laminated layers of a cyclic olefin copolymer film separated by an ACA layer.

3. The microfluidic cartridge of claim 1 , wherein said homogenous dissolution in said fixed volume is driven passively by convective mass transfer.

4. The microfluidic cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the homogeneous dissolution of said chromogen defines a first phase of said assay and the reaction of said chromogen with said clinical analyte defines a second phase of said assay; and the first phase and the second phase are separated by a change in sign of the first derivative of said absorbance.

5. The microfluidic cartridge of claim 4 , wherein the second phase of said analysis is further defined by a change in absorbance that is zero order for said analyte.

6. The microfluidic cartridge of claim 1 , wherein said microfluidic cartridge further comprises a dry substrate, substrates or enzyme for a reaction deposited in said upstream fluidic channel, said dry substrate, substrates, or enzyme further comprising a rehydratable matrix for rapid rehydration in said fluid microsample.

7. The microfluidic cartridge of claim 1 , wherein said sample receptacle is a whole blood receptacle, and interposed in said intake channel between said whole blood receptacle and said reaction chamber is a blood filtration element capable of separating plasma from whole blood.

8. The microfluidic cartridge of claim 1 , wherein said rehydratable dry reagent matrix comprises a buffer salt and a lyoprotective agent, and said rehydratable dry reagent matrix is printed as a liquid precursor on an inside surface of said optical windows and dried in place.

9. The microfluidic cartridge of claim 1 , wherein said apparatus is configured with a chromogen for assay of a clinical analyte by a zero order reaction rate, wherein said analyte is lactate dehydrogenase, creatine phosphokinase, alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, lipase, cholesterol, triglyceride, uric acid, glucose, BUN, creatinine, sodium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, chloride, iron, carbon dioxide, total protein, an antigen, or an antibody.

10. The microfluidic cartridge of claim 1 , further comprising an assay circuit arm for endpoint assay of a clinical analyte, wherein said analyte is free hemoglobin, total hemoglobin, bilirubin, an antigen, or an antibody.

11. The microfluidic cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the microfluidic cartridge is capable of completing a panel of assays in less than 120 seconds.

12. The microfluidic cartridge of claim 7 , wherein said microfluidic cartridge comprises a plurality of assay circuit arms configured for drawing plasma from said whole blood receptacle to each of said plurality of assay circuit arms in series, each assay circuit arm under control of a separate pneumatic circuit of said host workstation.

13. A kit comprising the microfluidic cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the microfluidic cartridge is supplied in a sealed foil pouch and requires addition only of said fluid microsample.

14. The kit of claim 13 , wherein said fluid microsample is a sample of serum, plasma, whole blood, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, or urine.