Microfluidic devices

Abstract

The present invention provides novel microfluidic substrates and methods that are useful for performing biological, chemical and diagnostic assays. The substrates can include a plurality of electrically addressable, channel bearing fluidic modules integrally arranged such that a continuous channel is provided for flow of immiscible fluids.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method for analyzing an amplification reaction product, the method comprising:
 providing a plurality of aqueous droplets separated by an oil in a reservoir of a fluidic device, wherein one or more of the droplets comprise nucleic acid molecules and reagents for an amplification reaction;   conducting the nucleic acid amplification reaction simultaneously in the droplets while the droplets are in the reservoir; and   detecting amplification product in the droplets via imaging.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the imaging provides for the simultaneous detection of contents of the droplets in parallel. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the droplets are spatially distributed in a two-dimensional sheet during imaging. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the droplets are spatially distributed in the two-dimensional sheet within a microscopic field-of-view. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the imaging comprises fluorescence imaging. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the amplification reaction is a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the fluidic device comprises a chip, the amplification reaction comprises PCR, and the conducting step comprises performing PCR in the droplets on the chip. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the during the imaging, an optical signal indicates presence of a nucleic acid amplification product in at least one of the droplets. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the droplets and the oil have different densities. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the oil is a fluorinated oil. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the oil comprises a fluorosurfactant. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising, prior to conducing the amplification reaction, forming the plurality of the droplets using at least one channel of the fluidic device. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , further comprising the step of merging the reagents into the droplets to provide the droplets that comprise the nucleic acid molecules and the reagents. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the reservoir is in fluid communication with the channel. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the fluidic device comprises a microfabricated chip that includes the reservoir and the droplet formation channel.