Fluidic device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10670504-B2
Application number	US-201815921778-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2018
Priority date	Oct 23, 2012
Publication date	Jun 2, 2020
Grant date	Jun 2, 2020

Abstract

Methods for determining the lateral diffusion of one or more components are provided.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for determining the diffusion coefficient of two or more components, the method comprising the steps of:
(i) providing a component fluid flow comprising two or more components;
(ii) providing a blank fluid flow;
(iii) flowing the component fluid flow and the blank fluid flow laminarly in a channel;
(iv) measuring lateral diffusion of the two or more components from the component flow into the blank fluid flow at a plurality of diffusion times; and
(v) comparing the measured lateral diffusion profiles of the two or more components from step (iv) with a series of distributions for components having known hydrodynamic radii, thereby determining a diffusion coefficient value for one of the two or more components from the lateral diffusion measurements of step (iv) and the hydrodynamic radius of each of the two or more components.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the lateral diffusion is measured at three or more diffusion times.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein step (v) comprises deconvoluting the measured lateral diffusion profiles of the two or more components from step (iv) using a highest entropy regularisation approach with reference to a series of distributions for components having known hydrodynamic radii, thereby to determine the hydrodynamic radii for each of the two or more components.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein step (ii) provides two blank fluid flows, and the blank fluid flows are brought into contact with, and provided either side of, the component fluid flow, thereby to generate three fluid flows.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein step (iii) more particularly comprises bringing the flow (i) into contact with the flow (ii) in a channel, thereby to generate two laminar flows.

6. A method for analysing a change in the composition of a fluid comprising one or more components, the method comprising the step of taking a first sample from the fluid at a first time and performing a method according to claim 1 , thereby to determine the composition of the fluid at the first time; and taking a second sample from the fluid at a second time, which is after the first time, and performing an analysis to determine the composition of the fluid at the second time.

7. A method for determining the concentration of a component in a composition, the method comprising performing a method according to claim 1 , and determining the concentration of the component from a resolved diffusion profile of the composition.

8. A method for determining the diffusion coefficient of one or more components, the method comprising the steps of:
(i) providing a component fluid flow comprising one or more components;
(ii) providing a blank fluid flow;
(iii) flowing the component fluid flow and the blank fluid flow laminarly in a channel;
(iv) measuring lateral diffusion of the one or more components from the component flow into the blank fluid flow at a plurality of diffusion times; and
(v) comparing the measured lateral diffusion profiles of the one or more components from step (iv) with a series of distributions for components having known hydrodynamic radii, thereby determining a diffusion coefficient value for one of the one or more components from the lateral diffusion measurements of step (iv) and the hydrodynamic radius of each of the two or more components.

Assignees

• Cambridge Entpr Ltd

Inventors

• Cohen Samuel
• Knowles Tuomas
• Dobson Christopher
• Rajah Luke
• White Duncan

Classifications

• B01F5/045

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• G01N2013/003

  Diffusion; diffusivity between liquids · CPC title

• B01F13/0093

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• G01N33/487

  of liquid biological material · CPC title

• G01N13/00 Primary

  Investigating surface or boundary effects, e.g. wetting power; Investigating diffusion effects; Analysing materials by determining surface, boundary, or diffusion effects (scanning-probe techniques or apparatus G01Q) · CPC title