Microfluidic Analysis System

Abstract

A thermal cycling device ( 3 ) device a number of fixed thermal zones ( 11, 12, 13 ) and a fixed conduit ( 10 ) passing through the thermal zones. A controller maintains each thermal zone including its section of conduit ( 10 ) at a constant temperature. A series of droplets flows through the conduit ( 10 ) so that each droplet is thermally cycled, and a detection system detects fluorescence from droplets at all of the thermal cycles. The conduit is in a single plane, and so a number of thermal cycling devices may be arranged together to achieve parallelism. The flow conduit comprises a channel ( 17 ) and a capillary tube ( 10 ) inserted into the channel. The detection system may perform scans along a direction to detect radiation from a plurality of cycles in a pass.

1 . A microfluidic analysis system comprising:
 a thermal cycling device, the device comprising:   a heating portion,   a cooling portion,   a channel for receiving a sample, the channel comprising a serpentine portion and a non-serpentine portion, the non-serpentine portion comprising an isothermal zone, and the serpentine portion comprising a plurality of cycles, each cycle configured to have varying temperatures along the cycle, and   a controller for maintaining the temperatures of the serpentine portion and non-serpentine portion.   
     
     
         2 . The microfluidic analysis system of  claim 1 , wherein the channel is in a single plane. 
     
     
         3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . The microfluidic analysis system of  claim 1 , wherein the channel is configured to receive a tube. 
     
     
         5 . The microfluidic analysis system of  claim 1 , wherein the channel comprises a tube. 
     
     
         6 . The microfluidic analysis system of  claim 5 , wherein the tube has a circular cross-section. 
     
     
         7 . A microfluidic analysis system of  claim 1 , further comprising a detection system for detecting fluorescence in the channel. 
     
     
         8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . The microfluidic analysis system of  claim 7 , wherein the detection system comprises optics for focusing incident light radiation. 
     
     
         10 . The microfluidic analysis system of  claim 7 , wherein the detection system comprises optics for filtering incident radiation. 
     
     
         11 . The microfluidic analysis system of  claim 7 , wherein the detection system comprises optics for filtering emitted radiation. 
     
     
         12 . The microfluidic analysis system of  claim 7 , wherein the detection system performs scans along a direction to detect radiation from at least one of the plurality of cycles. 
     
     
         13 . The microfluidic analysis system of  claim 7 , wherein the detection system performs simultaneous detection of emitted light from a plurality of cycles. 
     
     
         14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . The microfluidic analysis system of  claim 1 , wherein the channel passes through the non-serpentine portion for a length before passing through the serpentine portion. 
     
     
         17 . The microfluidic analysis system of  claim 1 , wherein the non-serpentine portion is a hot isothermal zone. 
     
     
         18 . (canceled) 
     
     
         19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . The microfluidic analysis system of  claim 1 , wherein the channel is in a serpentine pattern of multiple folds, each fold extending through a plurality of temperatures. 
     
     
         21 . The microfluidic analysis system of  claim 1 , wherein the system comprises a plurality of thermal cycling devices arranged in parallel. 
     
     
         22 . The microfluidic analysis system of  claim 21 , wherein the thermal cycling devices are interconnected to form a physical unit. 
     
     
         23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . A thermal cycling device comprising:
 a channel for receiving a sample, the channel comprising a serpentine portion and a non-serpentine portion, the non-serpentine portion comprising an isothermal zone, and the serpentine portion comprising a plurality of folds, wherein the channel portion between each fold is configured to have varying temperatures along the channel portion;   a heating element for heating at least a portion of the channel;   a cooling element for heating at least a portion of the channel, and   a controller for maintaining the temperatures of the serpentine portion and non-serpentine portion.   
     
     
         25 . A thermal cycling device comprising:
 a heating portion,   a cooling portion,   a channel for receiving a sample, the channel comprising a serpentine portion and a non-serpentine portion, the serpentine portion comprising a plurality of cycles, each cycle configured to have varying temperatures along the cycle;   a controller for maintaining the temperatures of the channel, and   a detection system for detecting electromagnetic radiation for at least one of the plurality of thermal cycles.