CN116352679A - Mechanical arm interface assembly for realizing automatic microfluidic operation and vitrification freezing system - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a mechanical arm interface assembly, which comprises a mechanical arm interface and a matching piece matched with the mechanical arm interface; the robotic interface includes a first substrate and a first seal; the first basal body is provided with a first connecting surface, a second connecting surface and a liquid communication channel, and a first connecting port and a first sealing element of the liquid communication channel are arranged on the first connecting surface; the first sealing piece is a sealing ring, the caliber of which is equal to that of the liquid communication channel and is coaxially arranged with the liquid communication channel; the mating element includes a second substrate and a second seal. The invention can be matched with the mechanical arm gripper to realize automatic grabbing and releasing of the microfluidic chip, thereby realizing automatic microfluidic operation. Furthermore, the invention also discloses a vitrification freezing system with the mechanical arm interface assembly, which not only can accurately and adjustably generate continuous liquid concentration gradient, but also can be better used for vitrification freezing and thawing of high-flux biological samples.

Description

Mechanical arm interface assembly for realizing automatic microfluidic operation and vitrification freezing system

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of biological sample micromanipulation, and particularly relates to a mechanical arm interface assembly for realizing automatic microfluidic operation and a vitrification freezing system.

Background

Cryopreserving biological samples typically refers to preserving the living body in ultra-low temperature (196 ℃ below zero) liquid nitrogen to maintain its activity after thawing. Cryopreservation techniques are currently widely used for long-term storage of cells, tissues and organs and have achieved breakthrough progress in many fields, such as in the assisted reproduction field (freezing of ova, sperm, embryos, etc.), and in the stem cell freezing field, etc. The vitrification freezing method is to add high-concentration freezing liquid to make cells frozen fast in ultralow temperature environment (cooling speed about 10000 deg.c/min) to form irregular vitrification solid and avoid ice crystal formation during freezing. The vitrification flash freezing technique is the most commonly used low temperature cryopreservation technique at present due to its fast freezing speed and small loss to cells (no ice crystals are generated). However, a major difficulty with vitrification freezing techniques is that cells are exposed to high concentrations of the freezing solution, which are chemically toxic to the cells. To solve this problem, a common solution is to gradually change the buffer solution with concentration gradient and the freezing solution to the cells, so that the cells gradually contact and adapt to the freezing solution with low to high concentration to slowly reach the balance of internal and external osmotic pressure, and reduce the chemical toxicity.

There are two main types of current cell liquid exchange methods, namely manual liquid exchange and automatic liquid exchange. However, both of these liquid changing methods are diluted by a conventional pipette-like method, and usually only a balance liquid and a frozen liquid having a specific concentration gradient can be produced, and it is difficult to produce a wide range of gradients across a plurality of concentrations, and there is room for further improvement. In order to minimize the effect of the pipetting process on the activity of the cells, it is desirable to have a pipetting process that produces a plurality of precisely controllable concentration gradients in succession from low to high. The patent CN112430531a proposes a digitally operable device for microfluidic operations of biological samples, which realizes accurate quantification of liquid inhalation removal by means of a digital droplet flowmeter integrated in a microfluidic chip, and can continuously adjust the concentration gradient of liquid around the biological sample by means of digital droplet generation. However, this solution is currently only manually operated and does not allow for automated microfluidic operations, which also limits its use in high-throughput application scenarios.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the problems, the invention provides a mechanical arm interface assembly aiming at biological sample vitrification freezing and thawing, which can be matched with an automatic mechanical arm paw to be used, and can realize automatic grabbing and releasing of a microfluidic chip by utilizing the existing intelligent control technology, thereby realizing automatic microfluidic operation (namely microfluidic cell vitrification freezing operation). Furthermore, the invention also discloses a vitrification freezing system with the mechanical arm interface assembly, which is connected with the microfluidic chip and the digital droplet generation device through the mechanical arm interface, so that not only can continuous liquid concentration gradient be accurately and adjustably generated to furthest improve the activity of cells in the liquid exchange process, but also the automatic operation scheme can be better used for vitrification freezing and thawing of high-flux biological samples.

The first aspect of the invention discloses a mechanical arm interface assembly for realizing automatic microfluidic operation, which mainly comprises a mechanical arm interface and a matching piece matched with the mechanical arm interface; the mechanical arm interface comprises a first substrate and a first sealing element fixedly connected with the first substrate; the first basal body is provided with a first connecting surface, a second connecting surface and a liquid communication channel, the liquid communication channel is provided with a first connecting port and a second connecting port, and the first connecting port and the first sealing element are both arranged on the first connecting surface; the first sealing piece is a sealing ring, the caliber of which is equal to that of the liquid communication channel and is coaxially arranged with the liquid communication channel; the mating member includes a second base and a second seal fixedly coupled thereto.

As an alternative, the first connection surface and the second connection surface are arranged opposite to each other; the second connection port is disposed between the first connection face and the second connection face.

As an alternative, the first substrate and the second substrate are made of a hard bio-inert material capable of being sterilized, and the first sealing member and the second sealing member are made of a flexible or elastic bio-inert material capable of being sterilized.

As an alternative, the hard bio-inert material is a polymer, a metal, or a ceramic, the metal comprising stainless steel, aluminum, the polymer comprising PP, PS, PMMA, COC, COP; the flexible or resilient bio-inert material includes any of PE, PP, PEEK, PTFE, FEP, ETFE.

As an alternative, the first sealing member and the first substrate are bonded and fixed by a biocompatible adhesive, and the second sealing member and the second substrate are bonded and fixed by a biocompatible adhesive.

As an alternative, the overall thickness of the mechanical arm interface and the overall thickness of the mating member are equal, wherein the thickness of the first substrate and the second substrate is 0.01mm to 20mm, and the thickness of the first sealing member and the second sealing member is 0.01mm to 5mm.

As an alternative, the mechanical arm interface further comprises at least one first locating pin, which is arranged circumferentially along the outer periphery of the first seal.

As an alternative, the mating element further comprises at least one second locating pin, which is arranged circumferentially along the outer periphery of the second seal.

As an alternative, the mating element adopts the same structural design as the mechanical arm interface, wherein the second base body has the same structure as the first base body, and the second sealing element has the same structure as the first sealing element.

A second aspect of the present invention discloses a vitrification refrigeration system for achieving automated microfluidic operations, which essentially comprises a microfluidic chip, a digital droplet generation device for digital droplet generation and removal, and a robotic interface assembly for achieving automated microfluidic operations employing the apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 9; when the micro-fluidic chip is used, the micro-fluidic chip is connected with the digital liquid drop generating device through the liquid communication channel of the mechanical arm interface; when the mechanical arm interface is provided with a first locating pin or a first locating pin and a second locating pin, the micro-fluidic chip is provided with a pin hole matched with the first locating pin or the second locating pin.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following beneficial effects:

(1) According to the invention, through the specially designed mechanical arm interface assembly for automatic microfluidic operation, the automatic grabbing and releasing of the microfluidic chip and the communication between the microfluidic chip and the digital liquid drop type vitrification freezing device can be realized by means of the existing intelligent control technology, so that the microfluidic operation is developed to be intelligent and unmanned.

(2) According to the invention, the positioning mechanism is arranged on the mechanical arm interface assembly, so that the rapid positioning and high-precision alignment of the chip and the interface during clamping can be ensured, and the air tightness and reliability of automatic connection of the microfluidic chip are ensured.

(3) The invention also provides an automatic vitrification freezing system, which combines a digital droplet generation mode and an automatic control technology, not only can realize continuous accurate adjustment of digital concentration gradient, but also can automatically realize continuous digital liquid dilution, greatly improve the activity of cells in the liquid exchange process and ensure the liquid exchange efficiency.

(4) By using the vitrification freezing system for realizing automatic microfluidic operation disclosed by the invention, the flux of operating biological samples is high, the labor cost can be effectively saved, the operation of a user is convenient, and more importantly, the standardization of the vitrification freezing process of the biological samples can be realized, and the consistency of the freezing effect of the corresponding biological samples is improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a mechanical arm interface structure according to embodiment 1, wherein a is a front view, and B is a side view.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the mechanical arm interface of embodiment 1.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the mechanical arm interface assembly according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of another mechanical arm interface structure, where a is a front view and B is a side view.

Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a mechanical arm interface assembly according to embodiment 3.

Fig. 6 is a schematic view of the vitrification freezing system described in example 4.

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the microfluidic chip in example 4, where a is a front view and B is a side view.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the digital droplet generator in example 4.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of an automated microfluidic operation with a two-finger robotic gripper.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of another mechanical arm interface and a microfluidic chip, where a is a cross-sectional view of the mechanical arm interface, B is a cross-sectional view of the microfluidic chip, and C is a schematic diagram of the mechanical arm interface assembly and the microfluidic chip in cooperation.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to specific embodiments and drawings, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the invention.

In the description of the present invention, if terms indicating an azimuth or a positional relationship such as "upper", "lower", "inner", "outer", etc., are presented, they are based on the azimuth or the positional relationship shown in the drawings, only for convenience of description and simplification of the description, and do not indicate or imply that the apparatus or element in question must have a specific azimuth, be constructed and operated in a specific azimuth, and thus should not be construed as limiting the present invention. In addition, if the terms "first," "second," etc. are used to distinguish between similar objects, they are not necessarily used to describe a particular order or relative importance. If the connection between A and B is described, the connection may be direct or indirect through a pipeline or other structure. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art in combination with specific cases. Furthermore, the terms "comprise" and "have," as well as any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such product or apparatus.

It is understood that cells contemplated in the present invention include human or other biological oocytes, embryos, sperm, stem cells, and blastocysts among other biological samples.

As shown in fig. 1 to 3, embodiment 1 discloses a mechanical arm interface 10 for cooperating with automatic grabbing and removing operations of a microfluidic chip. The mechanical arm interface 10 mainly comprises a base body 11 and a sealing element 12 fixedly connected with the base body. The substrate 11 includes a first connection surface 111 and a second connection surface 112, and an integrated liquid flow channel 113, where the first connection surface 111 is mainly used to connect with the microfluidic chip, the second connection surface 112 is mainly used to connect with the manipulator gripper, the liquid flow channel 113 is used to connect with the microfluidic chip and the digital droplet generation device, more specifically, the first connection port 113a of the liquid flow channel 113 may be connected with the digital droplet generation device through a hose, and the second connection port 113b may be directly connected with the channel of the microfluidic chip. The outer contour of the base 11 may be circular (shown in fig. 1), rectangular (shown in fig. 4), elliptical, or other shapes, and may be designed to have a stepped structure, or may be a plate-like or block-like structure. The sealing member 12 is disposed at the first connecting surface 111, and is specifically configured as a sealing ring, whose caliber is equal to the diameter of the liquid circulation channel 113, and both are coaxially disposed. The first connection surface 111 and the second connection surface 112 are arranged at the back side, the liquid communication passage 113 may be designed in an L-shaped structure, the first connection port 113a is arranged at the first connection surface 111, and the second connection port 113b is arranged between the first connection surface 111 and the second connection surface 112.

The material of the substrate 11 may be a hard bio-inert material which can be sterilized, including polymers, metals, ceramics, etc., wherein the metals may be light metals such as stainless steel, aluminum, etc., and the polymers may be PP (polypropylene), PS (polystyrene), PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate), COC (cyclic olefin copolymer), COP (cyclic olefin copolymer), etc. The thickness D1 of the substrate 11 may be 0.01mm to 20mm, preferably 5mm to 10mm. The seal 12 may be made of a flexible or resilient bio-inert material that can be sterilized, such as PE (polyethylene), PP (polypropylene), PEEK (polyetheretherketone), PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), FEP (fluorinated ethylene propylene), ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene), etc. The thickness D2 of the sealing ring may be selected from 0.01mm to 5mm, preferably from 0.5mm to 1mm. The sealing member 12 and the substrate 11 may be adhered and fixed by a biocompatible adhesive, for example, a high-viscosity sterilized bio-inert adhesive may be selected, including CA (acrylic resin), PU (polyurethane), silicone, and the like.

In practical use, the arm interface 10 is typically mounted on a two-finger arm gripper, and the two fingers of the gripper are synchronized during operation, thus requiring a mating assembly for use.

Embodiment 2 discloses a mechanical arm interface assembly, which comprises a mechanical arm interface 10 and a matching piece 20 matched with the mechanical arm interface, wherein the mechanical arm interface 10 can adopt the structural design described in embodiment 1. The main function of the matching piece 20 is to ensure that the distance between two fingers and the object is equal in the process of clamping the object by the mechanical arm paw, so as to ensure that the object can be firmly gripped when the two fingers synchronously move. Based on the above considerations, the fitting 20 generally only needs to have an overall thickness equal to the overall thickness of the robotic arm interface 10.

As shown in fig. 3, the mechanical arm interface assembly disclosed in embodiment 2 mainly includes a pair of mechanical arm interfaces 10 having the same structure. The mechanical arm interface 10 may be designed according to the embodiment 1. In this embodiment, the matching piece 20 adopts the same structural design as the mechanical arm interface 10, so that the mechanical arm paw is convenient to operate when clamping objects without distinguishing directions.

As shown in fig. 5, embodiment 3 discloses another mechanical arm interface assembly, in which a mating member 20 mainly includes a base 21 and a sealing member 22 fixedly connected thereto. The substrate 21 also includes a first connection surface 211 and a second connection surface 212, the first connection surface 211 being mainly used for connection with the microfluidic chip, and the second connection surface 212 being mainly used for connection with the robot arm gripper. Unlike the base 11, the inside thereof does not need to be provided with a liquid flow passage, and a solid structure design can be adopted. The seal 22 may be of the same design as the seal 12, such as a ring-shaped seal ring, or may be directly configured as a pie-shaped or rectangular gasket, having the same outer contour as the seal 12. In this embodiment, the structural design of the fitting 20 is simplified, and there are advantages in terms of the processing process and the cost.

As shown in connection with fig. 6 to 9, embodiment 4 discloses a vitrification freezing system for realizing an automated microfluidic operation, which mainly includes a robot arm interface assembly, a microfluidic chip 30, and a digital droplet generation device 40.

The mechanical arm interface assembly may be implemented in embodiment 2, and mainly comprises the mechanical arm interface 10 and the mating member 20, however, in other embodiments, the mechanical arm interface assembly described in embodiment 3 may also be implemented.

As shown in fig. 7, the microfluidic chip 30 mainly includes a chip body 31, and a microfluidic pipette 32 and a cell sieve 33 integrated on the chip body 31, and both ends of a fluid channel in the microfluidic pipette 21 are a tip 32a and a liquid connection port 32b, respectively. Among them, the cell sieve 33 is mainly provided in the microfluidic pipette 32 for intercepting and capturing the cells sucked from the tip 32a so that they cannot slide away from the liquid connection port 32b. The material of the microfluidic chip 30 may be a bio-inert material that can be sterilized, and has high thermal conductivity and high thermal diffusivity, for example, PP (polypropylene), PS (polystyrene), PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate), COC (cyclic olefin copolymer), COP (cyclic olefin copolymer), and the like. The thickness of the microfluidic chip may be 0.01mm to 5mm, preferably 0.1mm to 2mm, and this sheet-like design can improve the heat conduction efficiency.

The digital droplet generator 40 is mainly used for droplet generation and removal, and is provided with an air sealing cavity for generating a gas-liquid interface, and further, the generated liquid can be temporarily stored after being removed. As shown in fig. 8, the digital droplet generation device 40 mainly includes a base 41 and a digital droplet flow meter 42 and a liquid reservoir 43 integrally integrated in the base 41. The digital liquid drop flowmeter 42 is also called as a "digital liquid drop generator 42", which can realize accurate quantification of liquid inhalation and removal, so that the concentration gradient of the liquid around the biological sample is continuously adjustable, and the specific working principle is not the focus of this patent, and can refer to the technical schemes in US16538307 and CN112430531a, and will not be repeated here. The digital droplet flowmeter 42 has an air-tight chamber 421, a droplet generation section 422 and a droplet removal section 423 provided at an inlet and an outlet of the air-tight chamber 421, respectively, the droplet generation section 422 being for connection to the liquid connection port 32b of the microfluidic chip 30, the droplet removal section 423 being connected to the liquid reservoir 43 through a liquid circulation channel 424. The digital drop flowmeter 42 is also provided with a gas flow channel 425, one end of the gas flow channel 425 is connected to the vent of the air-tight chamber 421, and the other end is connected to an external air pressure source. The digital drop flowmeter 42 is also provided with a gas flow channel 426. The liquid reservoir 43 mainly stores the liquid that is sucked from the microfluidic pipette 41 in the microfluidic chip 30 and then removed by the liquid droplet removing section 423. On the one hand, the liquid interface 431 of the liquid storage tank 43 is connected to the liquid drop removing part 423 at the outlet of the digital liquid drop generator 12 through the liquid circulation channel 424; the gas connection 432 of the liquid reservoir 43 is also connected to the gas flow channel 425 of the digital droplet flowmeter 42 via the gas flow channel 426. It should be noted that the gas port 432 of the liquid reservoir 43 is generally disposed above the liquid port 431, i.e., the gas port 432 of the liquid reservoir is disposed higher than the liquid port 431. When the liquid level in the liquid reservoir 43 is about to be kept at a level with the gas flow channel 426, the use of the digital droplet generator 40 is ended, and the entire substrate 41 is discarded. The size of the liquid storage tank 43 can be designed according to the requirement, and the capacity thereof can be generally designed to be 1-5 mL, and the liquid storage tank can be used for about 10-20 times under the capacity, so that the use requirement of the same user can be fully satisfied. Of course, in other embodiments, the digital drop flowmeter 42 may be configured in other similar manners, so long as the digital drop generating and removing functions are realized, and the present invention is not limited to the structure.

Further, the vitrification refrigeration system can also include an air pressure source 50, the air pressure source 50 being connected to the digital droplet generation apparatus 40 by a connecting line 70. The pneumatic pressure source 50 may be connected to a positive or negative pressure source with a solenoid valve 80 in the connecting line 70, and the positive or negative pressure may be output by controlling the opening or closing of the solenoid valve 80 to be applied to the connecting line 70. It should be noted that, the connecting pipes in the present invention may be made of bio-inert materials that can be sterilized, such as PE (polyethylene), PP (polypropylene), PEEK (polyetheretherketone), PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), FEP (fluorinated ethylene propylene), ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene), etc. The tightness of the ends of the connecting line 70 can be ensured by an interference fit during connection. The electromagnetic valve 80 may be a high-precision millisecond-level response electromagnetic valve, but may be a manual valve, an electromagnetic valve, or any other valve, as long as the switching function of controlling the gas inlet passage is realized.

As shown in fig. 9, when the vitrification freezing system is assembled and used, the mechanical arm interface 10 and the mating member 20 included in the mechanical arm interface assembly are first mounted on two fingers of the two-finger mechanical arm gripper 60, and the fixing manner includes, but is not limited to, mechanical structures such as glue, bolts, and the like. The distance between the mechanical arm claws 60 can be adjusted independently, so that the distance between the mechanical arm interface 10 fixed on the mechanical arm claws and the matching piece 20 can be adjusted, and further, the precise positioning of grabbing of the microfluidic chip 30 is realized through the high-precision positioning and moving function of the mechanical arm. When the microfluidic chip 30 needs to be grabbed, the gripper is opened, then the two-finger gripper 60 with the gripper interface assembly is moved to the microfluidic chip 30 by the mechanical arm, and the microfluidic chip 30 is automatically clamped by the two-finger gripper 60, so that subsequent operation is realized. In this process, the tightness is ensured between the microfluidic chip 30 and the mechanical arm interface 10 and the matching piece 20 through the sealing piece, and the fluid channel in the microfluidic chip 30 can be communicated with the digital droplet flowmeter 42 of the digital droplet generating device 40 through the liquid flow channel 113 of the mechanical arm interface 10. Multiple airtight connections between the microfluidic chip 30 and the digital droplet generation device 40 can thus be achieved by automated operation.

As an improvement, the present invention may also optimize the structure of the robotic interface assembly and the microfluidic chip 30, as shown in fig. 10. Taking the mechanical arm interface assembly described in embodiment 2 as an example, the positioning pins 14 may be disposed on the first connecting surface 111 of the base 11 of the mechanical arm interface 10, and one, two or more positioning pins 14 may be circumferentially disposed on the outer edge of the sealing member 12. Alternatively, the matching element 20 may also be provided with a positioning pin corresponding to the mechanical arm interface 10. Similarly, if the mechanical arm interface described in embodiment 3 is taken as an example, the positioning pin 14 may be disposed on the first connection surface 111 of the base body 11 of the mechanical arm interface 10, and the positioning pin 24 (not illustrated) may be disposed on the first connection surface 211 of the base body 21 of the mating element 20. In cooperation therewith, pin holes 34 may be provided on the chip body 31 of the microfluidic chip 30. The pin holes 34 are matched in position, number and size to the locating pins. With this improvement, precise positioning and rapid alignment of the robotic interface assembly and microfluidic chip 30 can be achieved during automated operation.

In summary, the invention can be matched with the two-finger mechanical arm by the mechanical arm interface and the component which are specially designed, and realizes automatic micro-flow operation by means of intelligent control technology.

Finally, it should be noted that while the above describes embodiments of the invention in terms of drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and fields of application, which are illustrative, instructive, and not limiting. Those skilled in the art, having the benefit of this disclosure, may effect numerous forms of the invention without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed.

Claims (10)

1. The mechanical arm interface assembly for realizing automatic microfluidic operation is characterized by comprising a mechanical arm interface and a matching piece matched with the mechanical arm interface; the mechanical arm interface comprises a first substrate and a first sealing element fixedly connected with the first substrate; the first basal body is provided with a first connecting surface, a second connecting surface and a liquid communication channel, the liquid communication channel is provided with a first connecting port and a second connecting port, and the first connecting port and the first sealing element are both arranged on the first connecting surface; the first sealing piece is a sealing ring, the caliber of which is equal to that of the liquid communication channel and is coaxially arranged with the liquid communication channel; the mating member includes a second base and a second seal fixedly coupled thereto.

2. The robotic arm interface of claim 1, wherein the first and second connection faces are disposed opposite; the second connection port is disposed between the first connection face and the second connection face.

3. The robotic interface assembly of claim 1, wherein the first and second substrates are selected from a rigid bio-inert material capable of being sterilized, and wherein the first and second seals are selected from a flexible or resilient bio-inert material capable of being sterilized.

4. The robotic arm interface assembly of claim 3, wherein the hard bio-inert material is a polymer, a metal, or a ceramic, the metal comprising stainless steel, aluminum, the polymer comprising PP, PS, PMMA, COC, COP; the flexible or resilient bio-inert material includes any of PE, PP, PEEK, PTFE, FEP, ETFE.

5. The mechanical arm interface assembly of claim 1, wherein the first seal and the first substrate are bonded and secured together by a biocompatible adhesive.

6. The robotic interface assembly of claim 1, wherein the overall thickness of the robotic interface and the overall thickness of the mating member are equal, wherein the first and second substrates have a thickness of 0.01mm to 20mm and the first and second seals have a thickness of 0.01mm to 5mm.

7. The robotic interface assembly of claim 1, wherein the robotic interface further comprises at least one first locating pin circumferentially disposed along the first seal outer periphery.

8. The robotic interface assembly of claim 7, wherein the mating member further comprises at least one second locating pin circumferentially disposed along an outer periphery of the second seal.

9. The mechanical arm interface assembly of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the mating member is of the same structural design as the mechanical arm interface, wherein the second substrate is of the same structure as the first substrate, and wherein the second seal is of the same structure as the first seal.

10. A vitrification refrigeration system for achieving automated microfluidic operations, comprising a microfluidic chip, a digital droplet generation device for digital droplet generation and removal, and a robotic interface assembly for achieving automated microfluidic operations employing any of claims 1 to 9; when the micro-fluidic chip is used, the micro-fluidic chip is connected with the digital liquid drop generating device through the liquid communication channel of the mechanical arm interface; when the mechanical arm interface is provided with a first locating pin or a first locating pin and a second locating pin, the micro-fluidic chip is provided with a pin hole matched with the first locating pin or the second locating pin.

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