Fluidics cartridge for use in the vertical or substantially vertical position
Disclosed herein are devices, systems and methods for conducting a reaction using electrowetting in a vertical or substantially vertical position. Some embodiments disclosed herein provide fluidic cartridges for use in a substantially vertical position comprising: (a) a front substrate; (b) a back substrate; (c) a droplet operations gap formed between the front substrate and the back substrate; and (d) a plurality of electrodes on the front substrate or the back substrate, wherein the plurality of electrodes are configured to transport a droplet along a substantially vertical plane defined by the front substrate and the back substrate.
1. A fluidics cartridge for use in a substantially vertical position comprising:
(a) a front substrate;
(b) a back substrate;
(c) a droplet operations gap formed between the front substrate and the back substrate; and
(d) a plurality of electrodes on the front substrate or the back substrate,
wherein the plurality of electrodes is configured to transport a droplet along a substantially vertical plane defined by the front substrate and the back substrate;
wherein the front substrate comprises at least one U-feature which comprises a U-shaped protrusion from an inside surface of the front substrate and which is configured to hold a sample, a reaction mixture, a reagent, a filler fluid, a buffer, or a waste liquid.
2. The fluidics cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the front substrate or the back substrate is a printed circuit board (PCB).
3. The fluidics cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the back substrate comprises one or more flow paths.
4. The fluidics cartridge of claim 1 , comprising one or more reservoirs configured to hold a reagent, a filler fluid, a buffer, or a waste liquid.
5. The fluidics cartridge of claim 4 , wherein the one or more reservoirs can hold a volume of 1-100 ml.
6. The fluidics cartridge of claim 4 , wherein the one or more reservoirs are integrated into a plate to form a reservoir assembly.
7. The fluidics cartridge of claim 4 , wherein each of the one or more reservoirs is in fluid communication with the droplet operations gap through a flow path.
8. The fluidics cartridge of claim 4 , wherein each of the one or more reservoirs are in fluid communication with the droplet operations gap through an upper flow path and a lower flow path.
9. The fluidics cartridge of claim 4 , wherein the one or more reservoirs comprise a U-shaped portion.
10. The fluidics cartridge of claim 3 , wherein the height of the droplet operations gap at the position of a flow path is greater than the height of the droplet operations gap.
11. The fluidics cartridge of claim 1 , wherein a U-feature corresponds to a reservoir.
12. The fluidics cartridge of claim 11 , wherein each of the one or more U-features comprises a U-shaped protrusion from an inside surface of the front substrate.
13. The fluidics cartridge of claim 12 , wherein the U-shaped protrusion is porous.
14. The fluidics cartridge of claim 12 , wherein the height of the U-shaped protrusion equals the height of the droplet operations gap.
15. The fluidics cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the front substrate or back substrate comprises one or more downward dispensing volumes configured to hold a sample, a reaction mixture, a reagent, or a buffer.
16. The fluidics cartridge of claim 15 , wherein the one or more downward dispensing volumes comprise sections having different heights.
17. The fluidics cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of electrodes is configured to transport a droplet from the one or more U-features or the one or more downward dispensing volumes.
18. The fluidics cartridge of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of electrodes is configured to form an electrowetting array.
19. The fluidics cartridge of claim 18 , wherein the electrowetting array comprises a reagent dispense region, a reaction region, a sample loading region, a waste collection region, and a detection region.
20. The fluidics cartridge of claim 19 , wherein the detection region comprises a CMOS detector.
21. The fluidics cartridge of claim 19 , wherein the reaction region is configured to conduct a nucleic acid reaction selected from the group consisting of a PCR reaction, a sequencing reaction, a primer extension reaction and a clustering reaction.
22. A method of conducting a reaction using the fluidic cartridge according to claim 1 , comprising:
providing a reaction droplet to the droplet operations gap of the fluid cartridge; and
actuating the reaction droplet to move vertically along the operations gap,
wherein the fluidic cartridge is operated in a substantially vertical position.
23. The method of claim 22 , comprising drawing the reaction droplet by downward dispensing or upward dispensing.
24. The method of claim 22 , comprising activating a CMOS detector to detect a reaction product in the reaction droplet.
25. The method of claim 22 , comprising filling the droplet operations gap by passive refill.
26. The method of claim 22 , comprising resuspending a plurality of beads in the droplet.
27. A system for conducting a reaction, comprising:
a fluidic cartridge comprising a front substrate, a back substrate, and a plurality of electrodes configured to transport a droplet along a substantially vertical plane defined by the front substrate and the back substrate, wherein the front substrate comprises at least one U-feature which comprises a U-shaped protrusion from an inside surface of the front substrate and which is configured to hold a sample, a reaction mixture, a reagent, a filler fluid, a buffer, or a waste liquid; and
an instrument deck holding the fluidic cartridge in a substantially vertical position.