IBM has received US Patent No. 7,740,472, "Method and device for flowing a liquid on a surface." The patent describes a device for flowing liquid across a surface. Liquid is supplied to one end of the flow path and pressure is applied to retain the liquid on the surface. The liquid is then received from the other end of the flow path and pressure is applied to continuously draw the liquid from one end of the surface to the other. According to the patent, the claimed devices could be used in surface patterning.
IBM has also received US Patent No. 7,740,806, "Ceramic microarray spotting device for bioassay printing." The patent claims methods of making microspotting plates that contain feed holes, dispensing nozzles, an open cavity in communication with the dispensing nozzles, and channels. According to the patent, the channels connect the feed holes to the dispensing nozzles for transferring a fluid from the feed holes to the dispensing nozzles under a capillary force. These microspotting plates allow the continuous self-feeding flow of fluids by capillary forces through hydrophilic layers, enabling the dispensing of drops of fluids onto an array substrate, such as a microscope slide, for later use.
IBM has also received US Patent No. 7,740,933, "Patterned, high surface area substrate with hydrophilic/hydrophobic contrast, and method of use." The patent claims a method of constructing nanoporous structures that have hydrophilic regions separated by hydrophobic regions. The porous, hydrophilic regions have reaction sites suitable for use in a bioassay application and have a higher density of reaction sites than that of a non-porous, two-dimensional surface, the patent states. The described structure may be made by depositing a layer of a matrix material and a porogen, and then crosslinking the matrix material to form a nanohybrid composite. The porogen is decomposed to form pores within the matrix material, and a reactive gas phase species is directed onto a surface of the matrix material. Ultraviolet light activates the gas phase species to form a reactive species that then reacts with the matrix material to make it hydrophilic. The porogen may be decomposed thermally or by exposing it to an oxidizing atmosphere in the presence of ultraviolet light, according to the patent.
The Public Health Research Institute of the City of New York of Newark, NJ, has received US Patent No. 7,741,031, "Optically decodable microcarriers, arrays and methods." The patent claims a coding scheme for microcarriers suitable for use in distributed arrays. The scheme includes labeling the carriers with quenched signaling hairpin molecules with any one of three to eight distinguishable fluorophores that open and fluoresce differentially as a chemical or physical condition, like temperature, is changed. Mixtures of microcarriers containing immobilized capture probes can be decoded by measuring fluorescence from these fluorophores under certain conditions, the patent states. Mixtures of coded microcarriers with capture probes can then be used in microarray-based assays.
Genomictree of Taejeon, Korea, has received US Patent No. 7,741,042, "Method for preparing a DNA chip and use thereof." The patent describes a method for producing a DNA chip by: a) cloning a probe, where a linker is coupled to one or both ends of an oligonucleotide to be integrated on a slide, into a vector; b) transforming host cells with the vector; c) culturing the transformed host cells, to recover the probe where the linker is coupled to one or both ends of the oligonucleotides; and d) integrating the recovered double-helical probes on a slide. The patent also describes a DNA chip for human papillomavirus diagnosis.
The University of California of Oakland has received US Patent No. 7,741,104, "Capillary array and related methods." The patent provides methods and devices for detecting the presence of target analytes in a sample using a channel that contains binding partners for each target analyte. Assays are carried out by transporting the sample through the channel to each successive binding partner so that target analyte present in the sample binds to the corresponding binding partner. The sample is then transported beyond the binding partners, followed by detection of any target analyte bound to each binding partner.
Samsung Electronics has received US Patent No. 7,741,105, "Biomolecule chip and fabrication method thereof." The patent claims a method of fabricating a biomolecule chip, where the chip includes a substrate; an insulating layer formed on the substrate; an adhesive layer formed on the insulating layer; a seed layer formed on the adhesive layer; an opening patterned at a predetermined location within the adhesive layer, the seed layer and the electroplating layer; and a biomolecule immobilized layer formed on the electroplating layer. According to the patent, the immobilization of biomolecules onto the surface can be done more effectively by modifying the surface of the substrate in favor of biomolecules.
Corning of Corning, NY, has received US Patent No. 7,741,598, "Optical interrogation system and method for using same." The patent describes an optical system that supports the interrogation of biosensors located within the wells of a microplate. The optical interrogation system has a tunable laser, fiber launches, lenses, and detectors that are set up to interrogate biosensors. It also includes a data-processing device for receiving intensity spot patterns from the plate.