System and method for leakage control in a particle capture system

Abstract

A system and method for target material capture, the method comprising: receiving a set of target cells into an array of wells defined at a surface plane of a substrate; receiving a set of particles into the array of wells, thereby co-capturing the set of target cells and the set of particles; achieving a desired state for the array of wells upon receiving a washing fluid into a cavity in communication with the array of wells; receiving a lysis buffer into the cavity; receiving a partitioning fluid into the cavity, thereby displacing the lysis buffer from the cavity and partitioning each of the array of wells from adjacent wells, at the surface plane; and retaining intercellular material of the set of target cells, individually with the set of particles within the array of wells.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 capturing target nucleic acid material of a biological sample across an array of wells defined at a surface plane of a substrate;   achieving a state of specific capture for the array of wells, wherein a well of the array of wells in the state of specific capture has a specific target of a set of targets and no other targets of the set of targets;   delivering a set of reagents in sequence for processing said target nucleic acid material, into a cavity across the array of wells, wherein a reagent of the set of reagents comprises water; and   displacing at least one of the set of reagents with a liquid immiscible with water, thereby partitioning each of the array of wells from adjacent wells of the array of wells, at the surface plane and mitigating leakage of said target nucleic acid material of a first well to a second well of the array of wells.