Fluidic system for reagent delivery to a flow cell

Abstract

A fluidic system that includes a reagent manifold comprising a plurality of channels configured for fluid communication between a reagent cartridge and an inlet of a flow cell; a plurality of reagent sippers extending downward from ports in the manifold, each of the reagent sippers configured to be placed into a reagent reservoir in a reagent cartridge so that liquid reagent can be drawn from the reagent reservoir into the sipper; at least one valve configured to mediate fluid communication between the reservoirs and the inlet of the flow cell. The reagent manifold can also include cache reservoirs for reagent re-use.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of reagent re-use comprising:
 a) drawing a liquid reagent from a reagent reservoir into a cache reservoir, the cache reservoir in fluid communication with the reagent reservoir and at least one channel of a flow cell; 
 b) transporting the liquid reagent from the cache reservoir onto the at least one channel of the flow cell; 
 c) transporting at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, or 90% of the liquid reagent on the flow cell channel to the cache reservoir such that the liquid reagent from the flow cell is not directed back to the reagent reservoir after contacting the flow cell and maintaining a gradient of the transported at least 30% of the liquid reagent and fresh liquid within the cache reservoir; and 
 d) repeating at least b) to achieve re-use of the liquid reagent on the flow cell. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , comprising transporting the liquid reagent from the cache reservoir onto the at least one channel of the flow cell through a valve coupled between the cache reservoir and the flow cell. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , comprising, after c), diverting a portion of liquid reagent to waste. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , comprising repeating b) and c) at least once. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , comprising mixing the liquid reagent within the cache reservoir. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , comprising maintaining a gradient of used and fresh liquid reagents within the cache reservoir. 
     
     
       7. A method of reagent re-use comprising:
 a) drawing a liquid reagent from a reagent reservoir into a cache reservoir, the cache reservoir in fluid communication with the reagent reservoir and at least one channel of a flow cell; 
 b) transporting the liquid reagent from the cache reservoir onto the at least one channel of the flow cell; 
 c) transporting at least a portion of the liquid reagent on the flow cell channel to the cache reservoir such that the liquid reagent from the flow cell is not directed back to the reagent reservoir after contacting the flow cell and maintaining a gradient of the transported portion of the liquid reagent and fresh liquid reagent within the cache reservoir; 
 d) diverting a portion of the liquid reagent from the cache reservoir to waste; and 
 e) repeating at least b) to achieve re-use of the liquid reagent on the flow cell. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , comprising repeating b), c), and d) at least once. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 7 , comprising repeating b), c), and d) multiple times. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 7 , comprising transporting the liquid reagent from the cache reservoir onto the at least one channel of the flow cell through a valve coupled between the cache reservoir and the flow cell. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 7 , comprising mixing the liquid reagent within the cache reservoir. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 7 , comprising maintaining a gradient of used and fresh liquid reagents within the cache reservoir. 
     
     
       13. A system comprising:
 a reagent reservoir; 
 a flow cell; 
 a manifold coupled between the reagent reservoir and the flow cell and comprising a cache reservoir configured to receive liquid reagent from the reagent reservoir, and configured to provide a volume of the liquid reagent into a channel of the flow cell, and configured to receive at least a portion of the liquid reagent back from the flow cell for re-use in the flow cell and maintain a gradient of the portion of the liquid reagent back from the flow cell and fresh liquid reagent within the cache reservoir; and 
 a pump coupled to the flow cell and configured to draw the liquid reagent from the reagent reservoir into the cache reservoir and into the flow cell, and configured to return the at least a portion of the liquid reagent back to the cache reservoir for re-use. 
 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 13 , comprising a valve coupled between the cache reservoir and the flow cell to direct the liquid reagent to the flow cell and back to the cache reservoir. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 14 , wherein the valve is configured to direct a portion of the liquid reagent from the flow cell to waste. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 13 , wherein the cache reservoir comprises an enlarged section of a reagent transport channel in the manifold. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 13 , wherein the manifold comprises a plurality of cache reservoirs for different liquid reagents. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 13 , wherein the cache reservoir comprises a volume less than the channel of the flow cell. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 13 , wherein the cache reservoir comprises a volume greater than the channel of the flow cell. 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 13 , wherein the cache reservoir comprises a volume greater than a combined volume of more than one channel of the flow cell. 
     
     
       21. The method of claim 1, wherein the transported at least 30% of the liquid reagent is downstream of at least part of the fresh reagent in the cache reservoir.