Novel dome-shaped structures for high-efficiency patterning of individual microbeads in amicrofluidic device

Abstract

The design and fabrication process of dome-shaped structures in a microfludic device, have been discussed that were used to immobilize and pattern individual microbeads to form an ordered microarray at high flow rate. The domes surrounding the well protect the bead from subsequent flows and prevent it from being flushed away. The spherical surface of the domes also avoids deposition of the beads on interstitial spaces, and eliminate undesirable signal interference. Encoded microbeads, with such features, was incorporated in a bead-based microfluidic device so that many samples can be processed and analyzed simultaneously in a single assay. It was observed that an immobilized bead experience very high resistance to being dislodged due to the presence of the surrounding domes. It was also observed that the possibility of depositing beads on the interstitial spaces was extremely low, which reflect the effectiveness of the dome-shaped structures in solving patterning problems.