DROPLET MICROFLUIDIC DEVICE AND METHODS OF SENSING THE RESULTS OF AN ASSAY THEREIN

1 . A method of performing an amoebocyte lysate (LAL)-based assay in a microfluidic device comprising the steps of:

dispensing a sample droplet onto a first portion of an electrode array of the microfluidic device;

dispensing an LAL reagent droplet onto a second portion of the electrode array of the microfluidic device;

controlling actuation voltages applied to the electrode array of the microfluidic device to mix the sample droplet and the LAL reagent droplet into a product droplet;

sensing a dynamic property of the product droplet; and

determining a result of the assay based on the sensed dynamic property of the product droplet.

2 . The LAL-based assay method of claim 1 , further comprising:

dispensing a droplet of a negative control standard onto a third portion of the electrode array of the microfluidic device;

dispensing a further LAL reagent droplet onto a fourth portion of the electrode array of the microfluidic device;

controlling actuation voltages applied to the electrode array of the microfluidic device to mix the negative control standard droplet and the LAL reagent droplet into a negative control product droplet;

sensing a dynamic property of the negative control product droplet; and

determining the result of the assay further based on the sensed dynamic property of the negative control product droplet.

3 . The LAL-based assay method of claim 1 , further comprising one or more positive control steps comprising:

dispensing a positive reference droplet onto a fifth portion of the electrode array of the microfluidic device, the positive reference droplet comprising either a sample droplet or a droplet of diluent;

dispensing yet another LAL reagent droplet onto a sixth portion of the electrode array of the microfluidic device;

dispensing a droplet of endotoxin standard onto a seventh portion of the electrode array of the microfluidic device;

controlling actuation voltages applied to the electrode array of the microfluidic device to mix the endotoxin standard droplet and the positive reference droplet to create a positive control droplet;

controlling actuation voltages applied to the electrode array of the microfluidic device to mix the positive control droplet and the LAL reagent droplet to create a positive control product droplet;

sensing a dynamic property of the positive control product droplet; and

determining the result of the assay further based on the sensed dynamic property of the positive control product droplet.

4 . The LAL-based assay method of claim 1 , further comprising:

dispensing a plurality of reference LAL reagent droplets onto respective portions of the electrode array of the microfluidic device;

dispensing at least one control substance droplet onto another portion of the electrode array of the microfluidic device;

dispensing at least one diluent droplet onto another portion of the electrode array of the microfluidic device;

controlling actuation voltages applied to the electrode array of the microfluidic device to mix the control substance droplets with the at least one diluent droplet respectively to form a plurality of control substance droplets having different concentrations;

controlling actuation voltages applied to the electrode array of the microfluidic device to mix the plurality of LAL reagent droplets with the plurality of control substance droplets of different concentrations respectively to create a plurality of reaction droplets of different concentrations of control substance;

generating a calibration curve based on the sensed dynamic property of a plurality of reaction droplets;

plotting the sensed dynamic property of the product droplet on the calibration curve; and

determining the result of the assay based on the plot of the dynamic property of the product droplet on the calibration curve.

5 . The LAL-based assay method of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of reaction droplets are created by serial dilution of the control substance droplets with the at least one diluent droplet, and a dilution factor of each of a plurality of serial dilution steps to generate the calibration curve is one of 2, 4, 8, 10 or 100.

6 . The LAL-based assay method of claim 1 , wherein the LAL based assay is configured to detect Bacterial Endotoxin, and a control substance for detecting the Bacterial Endotoxin is an endotoxin standard.

7 . The LAL-based assay method of claim 1 , wherein the LAL based assay is configured to detect glucans, and a control substance for detecting the glucans is a glucan containing standard.

8 . The LAL-based assay method of claim 6 , wherein the LAL reagent and a diluent are at least one of produced, packaged, or certified to be one or both of endotoxin free or glucan free.

9 . The LAL-based assay method of claim 1 , wherein the dynamic property of the product droplet is a physical property of the product droplet that influences a transport property of the product droplet on the electrode array of the microfluidic device.

10 . The LAL-based assay method of claim 9 , further comprising actuating a portion of the electrode array associated with the product droplet, wherein the transport property of the product droplet is whether the product droplet is in a moveable or non-moveable state with the actuation of the electrode array portion.

11 . The LAL-based assay method of claim 9 , further comprising actuating a portion of the electrode array associated with the product droplet, wherein the transport property of the product droplet is whether the product droplet may be split into daughter droplets by the actuation of the electrode array portion.

12 . The LAL-based assay method of claim 9 , wherein the transport property of the product droplet is related to a viscosity of the product droplet.

13 . The LAL-based assay method of claim 12 , further comprising actuating a portion of the electrode array associated with the product droplet to split the product droplet into daughter droplets, wherein the viscosity of the droplet is determined based on sensing a distance between centroids of the daughter droplets at a time of splitting of the product droplet by actuation of the electrode array portion.

14 . The LAL-based assay method of claim 12 , further comprising actuating a portion of the electrode array associated with the product droplet, wherein the viscosity of the droplet is determined based on a time to effect a splitting of the product droplet by actuation of the electrode array portion.

15 . An assay measurement system for performing an amoebocyte lysate (LAL)-based assay, the assay measurement system comprising:

a microfluidic device including an electrode array configured to receive fluid droplets;

a controller configured to control actuation voltages applied to the electrode array to perform manipulation operations to the liquid droplets; and

a sensor for sensing a dynamic property of the fluid droplets as a result of the manipulation operations;

wherein:

a sample droplet is dispensed onto a first portion of the electrode array;

an LAL reagent droplet is dispensed onto a second portion of the electrode array;

the controller controls actuation voltages applied to the electrode array to mix the sample droplet and the LAL reagent droplet into a product droplet;

the sensor senses a dynamic property of the product droplet; and

the controller further is configured to determine a result of the assay based on the sensed dynamic property of the product droplet.

16 . The assay measurement system of claim 15 , wherein:

a droplet of a negative control standard is dispensed onto a third portion of the electrode array;

a further LAL reagent droplet is dispensed onto a fourth portion of the electrode array;

the controller controls actuation voltages applied to the electrode array to mix the sample droplet and the LAL reagent droplet into a negative control product droplet;

the sensor senses a dynamic property of the negative control product droplet; and

the controller is configured to determine the result of the assay further based on the sensed dynamic property of the negative control droplet.

17 . The assay measurement system of claim 16 , wherein:

a positive reference droplet is dispensed onto a fifth portion of the electrode array, the positive reference droplet comprising either a sample droplet or a droplet of diluent;

yet another LAL reagent droplet is dispensed onto a sixth portion of the electrode array;

a droplet of endotoxin standard is dispensed onto a seventh portion of the electrode array;

the controller controls actuation voltages applied to the electrode array to mix the positive reference droplet and the endotoxin standard droplet to create a positive control droplet;

the controller controls actuation voltages applied to the electrode array to mix the positive control droplet and the LAL reagent droplet to create a positive control product droplet;

the sensor senses a dynamic property of the positive control product droplet; and

the controller is configured to determine a result of the assay further based on the sensed dynamic property of the positive control product droplet.

18 . The assay measurement system of claim 15 , wherein:

a plurality of LAL reagent droplets are dispensed onto respective portions of the electrode array of the microfluidic device;

a plurality of control substance droplets are dispensed onto another portion of the electrode array of the microfluidic device;

at least one diluent droplet is dispensed onto another portion of the electrode array of the microfluidic device; and

the controller further is configured to:

control actuation voltages applied to the electrode array of the microfluidic device to mix the control substance droplets with the at least one diluent droplet respectively to form a plurality of control substance droplets having different concentrations;

control actuation voltages applied to the electrode array of the microfluidic device to mix the plurality of control substance droplets having different concentrations with the plurality of LAL reagent droplets to form a plurality of reaction droplets of different concentrations of control substance;

generate a calibration curve based on the sensed dynamic property of the reaction droplets;

plot the sensed dynamic property of the product droplet on the calibration curve; and

determine a result of the assay based on the plot of the dynamic property of the product droplet on the calibration curve.

19 . The assay measurement system of claim 15 , wherein the sensor is an integrated sensor that is integrated into array element circuitry of the electrode array of the microfluidic device.

20 . The assay measurement system of claim 15 , wherein the microfluidic device comprises an active matrix electro wetting on dielectric (AM-EWOD) device.