Download SPIE lezing - PicoFill Systems

PicoFill-Systems
Outlicensing Coverslip-Filling of Wells on MicroArrays
Requirements for Adequate Coverslip Filling:

Substrate Material: coverslip- and chip surfaces should be rigid, smooth and hydrophylic allowing
complete filling of wells and good bonding for complete sealing of wells: Adequate materials: glass,
silicon nitride, polymethyl methacrylate, metal.

Material thickness: coverslips and chips may be as thin as 300 micron allowing monitoring in a
ScanArray. Thicker material is preferred because it is stronger and more rigid.

Pipetting of Sample Liquid: a pipetting needle adds nanoliter-microliter amounts of liquid onto the
chip in front of the array. Adequate liquids are all aqueous solutions, DMSO, alcohols, glycerol.

Automated sliding device: one actuator presses the coverslip onto the chip while a second actuator
moves the coverslip across the chip to slide the liquid into the wells followed by well-sealing.

Removal of excess sample: after filling, some of the excess liquid has to be removed from the edge
of the coverslip.
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Application: enzyme assays
Filling wells using coverslip
Spraying enzyme solutions:
20 wt% sugars
Sample liquid
Storage of chips
for months
PFS
Enzyme spots
Shipping chips
to end-users
Coverslip
Monitoring of enzyme assays using a ScanArray
or underneath Microscope objective
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