Electroosmotic Pump for Microchip HPLC

描述（由申请人提供）：芯片上实验室的概念是为了在微芯片平台上集成和执行多个分析过程（例如样品预处理，溶液分配/混合，分离，检测等）而创建的。到目前为止，大部分的芯片实验室研究都集中在电泳分离上，而对多工序集成的研究相对较少。有限的过程集成的主要原因之一是缺乏一个强大的和小型化的泵，很容易与芯片上的实验室设备集成。微芯片高效液相色谱被设想在护理点（POC）测量和化学和生物战剂（CBWA）检测中发挥重要作用。它可以高度并行化以增加样品通量（例如用于药物化合物筛选），这将对药物筛选和生物标志物发现产生重大影响。微芯片高效液相色谱与质谱联用可以加快蛋白质组学研究的速度，大大降低研究成本。微芯片高效液相色谱的主要挑战是缺乏可与芯片上的实验室设备集成的强大的小型化高压泵。可靠的片上样品注入阀的可用性是这些应用的另一个障碍。我们建议开发一个级联开通道EO泵和一个片上样品注入阀来解决这些问题。级联泵将由交替排列的“+”和“-”泵组成。该泵将能够产生高达5L/min的流量和高达1000 psi的压力，用于微芯片HPLC应用。我们将开发一种无气泡电极来解决电气连接问题。该电极将能够在EO泵上施加高压，同时防止泵溶液泄漏。此外，它将最大限度地减少泵液成分的变化，消除因电解而产生的气泡。我们还将开发用于微芯片HPLC分离的片上样品进样阀。该阀的进样量从亚nl到5L不等，进样量是可重复的。所有这些功能不同的组件将与芯片上的实验室设备集成。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The concept of lab-on-chip is created with an objective to integrate and perform multiple analytical processes (e.g. sample pretreatment, solution distribution/mixing, separation, detection, etc.) on a microchip platform. So far, most of lab-on-chip research is focused on electrophoretic separations, and relatively much less work is carried out on multi-process integration. One of the main reasons for limited process integration is the lack of a robust and miniaturized pump that is readily integrated with lab-on-chip devices. Microchip HPLC is envisioned to play an important role in point-of-care (POC) measurements and Chemical and Biological Warfare Agent (CBWA) detections. It can be highly parallelized to increase sample throughput (e.g. for drug compound screening), which will have great impact on drug screening and biomarker discovery. Microchip HPLC combined with mass spectrometer could accelerate the proteomic research and reduce its cost considerably. A major challenge toward microchip HPLC is the lack of a robust and miniaturized high-pressure pump that is integrateable with lab-on-chip devices. In availability of reliable on-chip sample injection valves is another obstacle toward these applications. We propose to develop a cascade open-channel EO pump and an on-chip sample injection valve to address these issues. The cascade pump will consist of alternately-arranged "+" and "-" pumps. This pump will be able to generate flow rates of up to 5L/min and pressures of up to 1000 psi for microchip HPLC applications. We will develop a bubbleless electrode to solve the electric connection problems. The electrode will be capable of applying high voltages onto EO pumps while preventing pump solutions from leaking out. In addition, it will minimize the pump solution composition change and eliminate bubble formation due to electrolysis. We will also develop an on-chip sample injection valve for microchip HPLC separations. The valve will have an injection volume ranging from sub-nL to 5L, and the injected volume will be reproducible. All these function-different components will be integrateable with lab-on-chip devices. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: We will develop a microchip platform that integrates a cascade open-channel EO pump, an on-chip sample injection valve, a monolith separation column and an on-chip detection scheme to perform HPLC. The cascade pump will consist of alternately-arranged "+" and "-" pumps to generate flow rates of up to 1 5L/min and pressures of up to 1000 psi for microchip HPLC applications. We will develop a bubbleless electrode capable of applying high voltages onto EO pumps while preventing pump solutions from leaking out, and eliminating bubble formation due to electrolysis.