US 11,964,278 B2
Microfluidic chip, systems, and methods for capturing of environmental DNA
Joshua Johannes Creelman, Halifax (CA); Edward Arthur Luy, Halifax (CA); Gabryelle Cecile Henderson Beland, Halifax (CA); Sean Christopher Morgan, Halifax (CA); Marie Evelyn Julie LaRoche, Halifax (CA); Mahtab Tavasoli, Bedford (CA); Robert Gerald Beiko, Upper Sackville (CA); Roger Edmund Race, Dartmouth, MA (US); Arnold Furlong, Fall River (CA); and Vincent Joseph Sieben, Bedford (CA)
Assigned to DARTMOUTH OCEAN TECHNOLOGIES INC., Dartmouth (CA)
Filed by Dartmouth Ocean Technologies Inc., Dartmouth (CA)
Filed on Sep. 8, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/468,986.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/075,548, filed on Sep. 8, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0072547 A1, Mar. 10, 2022
Int. Cl. G01N 33/68 (2006.01); A01N 1/02 (2006.01); B01L 3/00 (2006.01); C07C 309/65 (2006.01); C07C 309/73 (2006.01); F04B 43/12 (2006.01); G01N 1/40 (2006.01); G01N 21/33 (2006.01); G01N 21/64 (2006.01); G01N 33/52 (2006.01); G01N 35/10 (2006.01)
CPC B01L 3/502753 (2013.01) [B01L 3/502715 (2013.01); B01L 3/502761 (2013.01); B01L 2200/0631 (2013.01); B01L 2300/0663 (2013.01); B01L 2300/0681 (2013.01); B01L 2300/0803 (2013.01); B01L 2300/0867 (2013.01); G01N 21/64 (2013.01)] 24 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A microfluidic system, comprising:
an environmental sample inlet port;
a preservative reagent inlet port;
a waste outlet port;
one or more discrete filter membranes for particle concentration;
at least one fluid access port that permits control of a sample fluid stream through a selected filter membrane of the one or more discrete filter membranes;
at least one optical flow cell that enables at least one of light microscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, light attenuation measurements, and scattered light intensity measurements, situated before the one or more discrete filter membranes to interrogate the sample fluid stream;
at least one bypass channel to enable disposal of the sample fluid stream and avoid capturing suspended microbes and/or particles on the one or more discrete filter membranes;
a photodetector positioned at the at least one optical flow cell and configured to measure absorbance or fluorescence changes in the sample fluid stream; and
a processing unit configured to receive data from the photodetector and analyze the absorbance or fluorescence changes to enable intelligent fluid routing to the one or more discrete filter membranes and/or the at least one bypass channel.