Sharp Life Science (eu) Limited

Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Sharp Life Science Corporation

Laura Huang

Adam Christopher Wilson

Benjamin James Hadwen

Nathan James Smith

Takehiro Murao

Hywel Hopkin

Sally Anderson

Peter Neil Taylor

Pamela Ann Dothie

Campbell Donald Brown

John Patrick Nonweiler

Tim Boyle

Timothy John Boyle

A microfluidic device performs a method of partitioning droplets from a fluid reservoir containing particles that provides a non-Poissonian distribution of dispensed droplets containing a desired number of particles. Using an electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) device, droplets are dispensed having a Poissonian distribution of dispensed droplets containing a desired number of particles, and the droplets are interrogated to determine whether each dispensed droplet has a desired number of particles. Droplets that contain the desired number of particles are moved by EWOD operation to a reaction area on the EWOD device, and droplets that do not contain the desired number of particles are rejected and moved by EWOD operation to a holding area on the EWOD device that is different and spaced apart from the reaction area. The result is that droplets in the reaction area have a non-Poissonian distribution of droplets containing the desired number of particles.

Non-poissonian droplet partitioning using feedback

A method of partitioning droplets from a fluid reservoir containing particles provides a non-Poissonian distribution of dispensed droplets containing a desired number of particles. The method constitutes a method of operating an electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) device including the steps of: inputting a fluid reservoir containing particles into the EWOD device; performing an electrowetting operation to dispense a plurality of dispensed droplets from the fluid reservoir; interrogating each droplet with a detector and determining whether each dispensed droplet has a desired number of particles; selecting dispensed droplets that contain the desired number of particles and performing an electrowetting operation to move the selected dispensed droplets to a reaction area on the EWOD device; and rejecting dispensed droplets that do not contain the desired number of particles and performing an electrowetting operation to move the rejected dispensed droplets to a holding area on the EWOD device that is different and spaced apart from the reaction area. The selected droplets may be combined, including with or without a portion of the rejected droplets and/or additional reagent, into a larger reaction droplet that may be used in subsequent reaction protocols.

An electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) device includes an EWOD device array that applies electrowetting forces and contains a non-polar fluid. A barrier droplet configuration is formed using electrowetting forces to obstruct migration of a species from a first area of the EWOD device array to a protected area of the EWOD device array. A method of operating the EWOD device includes the steps of: dispensing a source droplet into a first area of the EWOD device array, the source droplet containing a migrating species, wherein the EWOD device array includes a second area to be protected from the migrating species; and forming a barrier droplet configuration positioned between the first area and the second area of the EWOD device array that obstructs a migration pathway of the migrating species between the first area and the second area. The barrier droplet configuration includes at least one aqueous or polar barrier droplet, and the migrating species exhibits a preference for either the polar or aqueous environment of the barrier or the non-polar environment of the oil to obstruct migration.

Barrier droplet configurations against migration between droplets on AM-EWOD devices

A reconfigurable parallax barrier panel comprising an electro-optic material has first and second regions. The parallax barrier panel is configured in a first mode to address the first and second electrodes on the basis of at least one received drive signal such that: the first electrodes define, in the first region of the panel, a first parallax barrier array selected from a plurality of predetermined parallax barrier arrays; and the second electrodes define, in the second region of the panel, independently of the first parallax barrier array, a second parallax barrier array selected from the plurality of predetermined parallax barrier arrays, the second parallax barrier array being different to the first parallax barrier array. To obtain a good autostereoscopic 3-D viewing zone the pitch of a parallax barrier would ideally vary over the width of the parallax barrier panel as a function of viewing distance. This is impracticable to obtain in a practical parallax barrier panel, but the present invention can provide a change in barrier pitch at the boundary between the first region and the second region, and this effectively mimics a pitch that varies over the width of the parallax barrier panel as a function of viewing distance. A parallax barrier panel of the invention can provide improved 3-D viewing when the parallax barrier panel is incorporated in a display.

Parallax barrier with independently controllable regions

A microfluidic system includes an electro-wetting on dielectric (EWOD) device and a control system that controls actuation voltages applied to the element array of the EWOD device to perform manipulation operations as to fluid droplets. The control system applies a sequence of actuation voltages to a portion of the array elements associated with a droplet to maintain the droplet in a desired droplet state corresponding to a predetermined droplet property. The sequence of actuation voltages includes an actuation-on period in which the portion of the array elements associated with the droplet is actuated and an actuation-off period in which the portion of the array elements associated with the droplet is not actuated, and the actuation-off period is non-zero. The control system may apply a sequence of actuation voltages comprising a predetermined duty cycle, and/or the actuation voltages may be applied in accordance with a sensor based intervention.

AM-EWOD device and control methods with intermittent actuation patterns

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Oxford, United Kingdom

Laura Huang