The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 14, 2015
Filed:
Sep. 30, 2011
Maurice M. Garcia, San Francisco, CA (US);
Aaron Ohta, Honolulu, HI (US);
Ming Wu, Moraga, CA (US);
Tom F. Lue, Hillsborough, CA (US);
Justin Valley, Dallas, TX (US);
Maurice M. Garcia, San Francisco, CA (US);
Aaron Ohta, Honolulu, HI (US);
Ming Wu, Moraga, CA (US);
Tom F. Lue, Hillsborough, CA (US);
Justin Valley, Dallas, TX (US);
THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Oakland, CA (US);
Abstract
An optical pattern-driven light induced dielectrophoresis (DEP) apparatus and separation methods are described which provide for the manipulation of particles or cells and selection based on traits correlated with the DEP response. Embodiments of the apparatus use DEP electric field patterns in combination with microfluidic laminar flows to measure response, separate, segregate and extract particles from heterogeneous mixtures according to the relative response of the particles to one or more DEP fields without damaging living cells. The methods are particularly suited for selecting and extracting the best sperm and embryo candidates based on fitness for use with existing artificial reproduction procedures and excluding defective or non-viable gametes.