TWI382147B - Techniques to measure width of microchannels on a rotating disk and to detect the liquid filling in the channels by the use of optical pick-up head devices - Google Patents

Description

Method for measuring microchannel width and detecting flow channel fluid using optical reading device

The present invention relates to a method, and more particularly to a method for measuring the width of a microchannel and detecting a fluid in a flow channel using an optical reading device.

Nowadays, micro-channel technology plays a very important role in the application of biomedical engineering, but there is no method and instrument for detecting micro-channels conveniently and effectively. The existing methods for detecting micro-channels are mainly contact and optics. Two types, but the contact type may damage the flow channel structure and need to be performed before the micro flow channel package, while the optical type can be detected after the micro flow channel package, but the flow channel width after the package cannot be accurately measured. Existing detection methods have considerable limitations in operation.

In addition, the existing detection method can only be used to detect the size of the micro flow channel, such as the depth, etc., whether it is suitable for detecting the width and the flow condition between the micro flow channels, that is, when the actual operation cannot be detected, Whether the liquid flows through the various channels as designed, there are also deficiencies in its use.

Therefore, in view of the deficiencies and shortcomings of the existing microchannel detecting methods, the present inventors have finally developed a present invention which can improve the existing defects through continuous experimentation and research.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a method for measuring the microchannel width and detecting the flow channel fluid by using an optical reading device, which can conveniently and easily measure the width of the microchannel through the reflected laser light signal. , or to detect the presence of fluid through the microchannel, to achieve the purpose of improving the convenience and accuracy of detecting microchannels.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention mainly provides a method for measuring a microchannel width and detecting a channel fluid using an optical reading device, which comprises the following steps:

1) rotating a measured microfluidic disk at a certain rotational speed;

2) starting a laser light emitting device to emit a laser light signal;

3) guiding the laser light signal to a rotating micro-channel disc via a guiding device;

4) receiving a laser light signal reflected from the microchannel disc;

5) calculating the reflected/unlighted signal time of the reflected laser signal by using the signal voltage difference;

6) Calculate the width of the microchannel using the no/low signal time or determine if there is fluid in the microchannel.

The method wherein, when calculating the width of the microchannel, the received/calculated no/low signal time, in conjunction with the rotational speed of the disc, is calculated by the following formula:

2π× l × t × s ÷60

Where l is the length from the center of rotation of the disc, t is the no/low signal time, and s is the rotational speed of the disc.

The method wherein the rotational speed of the microfluidic disk is 500 revolutions per minute.

The method wherein the laser light signal is emitted by the laser light emitting device and then guided through a phase grating, and the laser light passing through the phase grating generates three beams to provide focus servo and tracking. The error signal required by the servo.

The method, wherein the guiding device comprises a Polarization Beam Splitter ( PBS ), and the laser light signal is reflected by the polarization beam splitter to the rotating micro-channel disc.

In the method, the photo sensor directly receives the laser light signal reflected by the disc.

In the method, after the reflected light is reflected through the polarizing beam splitter, the reflected laser light signal is received by the light sensor.

According to the above technical means, the present invention utilizes a laser light signal to generate a scattering phenomenon due to a micro flow channel or a refraction phenomenon of a fluid in a micro flow channel to generate a no/low signal interval in the received signal. Thereby, the width of the micro flow channel and the presence or absence of fluid passing through the micro flow channel are accurately detected, and the invention detects the micro flow channel by the laser light reflection signal, so it is a non-contact detection method, which can be before the disk package Or after the package is tested, the convenience and practicability of improving the microchannel detection can be achieved.

The present invention provides a method for measuring the microchannel width and detecting the flow channel fluid by using an optical reading device. Please refer to the first and second figures. As can be seen from the figure, the method of the present invention mainly includes the following step:

1) rotating a microfluidic disk (10) to be tested at a certain rotational speed: wherein the microfluidic disk (10) is formed with a micro flow path for detection, and the width of the micro flow channel is practically applied. The case is different, and is located between 400 μm and several mm, and the structure of the micro-channel disc (10) can be as shown in the third figure, which comprises a substrate (12) on the substrate. (12) forming at least one microchannel (122) on one side, and further providing a transparent substrate (14) on the side of the substrate (12) forming the microchannel (122), and on the transparent substrate (14) The other side is coated with a reflective layer (16), which can be applied to the transparent substrate (14) by sputtering on the aluminum reflective layer, and rotates the microfluidic disk. The rotational speed can be 500 rpm, ie 500 revolutions per minute.

2) starting a laser light emitting device (22) to emit a laser light signal: wherein the laser light emitting device (22) can be a laser diode and a phase is arranged in front of the laser diode A grating (23), which causes the laser light passing through the phase grating (23) to generate three beams to provide the error signals required for the focus servo and the tracking servo.

3) guiding the laser light signal through a guiding device to the rotating micro-channel disc (10): the guiding device may comprise a Polarization Beam Splitter (PBS) (24), and The laser light signal is reflected to the rotating microfluidic disk (10), and a device such as a lens (26) that can be used for focusing can be arranged to concentrate the laser light.

4) Laser light signal received from the micro-channel disc (10): when the laser light is irradiated onto the disc (10), the substrate (12) is different from the side on which the micro-channel (122) is formed. After passing through the transparent substrate (14), it is reflected from the disc (10) by the reflective layer (16), and receives the reflected signal by a photo sensor (28), wherein the photo sensor (28) The laser light signal reflected by the disc (10) can be directly received, and the laser light can be transmitted through the polarizing beam splitter (24), and then the reflected laser light signal is received by the light sensor (28). Light energy is converted into electrical energy by a light sensor (28).

5) Calculate the reflected laser signal by the signal voltage difference. No/low signal time: When the laser light is irradiated onto the disc (10) and the micro flow path (122) is not formed, the laser light can be reflected according to the designed path. On the photo sensor (28), the signal received by the photo sensor (28) will be at a high level, that is, the signal received by the photo sensor (28) forms a high signal interval.

When the laser light is irradiated onto the disc (10) to form the microchannel (12), the laser light will form a scattering at the bottom of the microchannel (122) after entering the microchannel (122). However, the reflective layer (16) cannot be reflected on the photosensor (28) according to the designed path, so the signal received by the photo sensor (28) will be at a low level, that is, the photo sensor. The received signals form a no-signal interval.

When a fluid passes through the microchannel (122), the laser light incident on the fluid microchannel (122) may have partial reflection and partial scattering due to the difference in refractive index of the fluid itself, and only Some of the signals are reflected to the photosensor (28) according to the designed path, so the signal received by the photo sensor (28) forms a low signal interval.

The high/low or no signal interval received by the light sensor (28) can calculate the no/low signal time.

6) Calculate the width of the microchannel by using no signal time or determine whether there is fluid in the microchannel: the microchannel can be calculated from the received and calculated no signal time and the speed of the disc (10). 122) The width of the formula is:

2π× l × t × s ÷60

Where l is the distance from the center of rotation of the disc, t is the no/low signal time, and s is the rotational speed of the disc.

In addition, it is also possible to determine whether or not a fluid passes through the microchannel (122) by a low signal time.

In the following, the method of the present invention will be further illustrated by a number of practical examples: the fourth figure shows the result of detecting the disc in which the microfluidic channel is not formed by using the present invention, as can be seen from the figure, due to the disc. The micro-channel is not formed, so the reflected signal will remain at a high level.

As shown in the fifth figure, the result of detecting the disc forming a microfluidic channel by using the present invention, as can be seen from the figure, when the laser light signal is irradiated on the disc at a position relative to the formation of the microfluidic channel, Since the laser signal is scattered at the bottom of the microchannel due to scattering phenomenon, a signal-free section is generated, and it is clear from the accepted signal diagram that only one non-signal section is generated, so that it can be clearly seen on the disc. A micro flow channel is formed, and the width of the micro flow channel can be calculated according to the time of the non-signal segment to match the rotation speed of the disk, thereby judging whether the width of the micro flow channel is in accordance with design expectations.

The figure shown in the sixth figure uses the present invention to detect the result of forming a disc of two microfluidic channels. As can be seen from the figure, two non-signal sections are generated in the signal diagram, so it can be clearly seen Two microchannels are formed on the disc, and the width of each microchannel can be calculated according to the time of each signal section and the rotation speed of the disc.

As shown in Figures 7 and 8, the present invention is applied to test whether there is fluid passing through the microchannel. As can be seen from the seventh figure, a microchannel is formed on the disc, and No fluid is introduced into the flow channel, so a signal-free section is formed in the signal diagram, and the smaller signal-free section on both sides of the non-signal section relative to the micro-channel is used to bond the substrate and the transparent substrate. The colloid is formed by its refractive index. When the fluid is introduced into the microchannel, as shown in the eighth figure, due to the influence of the refractive index of the fluid in the microchannel, a low signal interval is formed in the signal diagram. The measurement results of the seven and eight figures can clearly determine that the fluid actually passes through the microchannel.

Therefore, the present invention can accurately detect the width of the microchannel and whether or not fluid passes through the microchannel, and the precision thereof can be about 0.7 μm according to the experiment of the present inventors, and the present invention detects the micro by the laser light reflection signal. The flow path is a non-contact detection method, which can be detected before or after the package, so as to improve the convenience and practicability of the micro flow path detection.

(10). . . Disc

(12). . . Substrate

(122). . . Microchannel

(14). . . Transparent substrate

(16). . . Reflective layer

(twenty two). . . Laser light emitting device

(twenty three). . . Phase grating

(twenty four). . . Polarizing beam splitter

(26). . . lens

(28). . . Light sensor

The first figure is a flow chart of the present invention.

The second drawing is a schematic view of the operation of the optical reading device of the present invention.

The third figure is an enlarged view of the microfluidic disk detected by the present invention.

The fourth figure is a signal diagram for detecting a disc in which a micro flow path is not formed by the present invention.

The fifth figure uses the present invention to detect a signal map of a disk having a micro flow path.

The sixth figure uses the present invention to detect a signal map of a disc having two microchannels.

The seventh figure uses the present invention to detect a signal map of a disc having no fluid flowing into the microchannel.

The eighth figure uses the present invention to detect a signal pattern of fluid flow into the microchannel.

(10). . . Disc

(twenty two). . . Laser light emitting device

(twenty three). . . Phase grating

(twenty four). . . Polarizing beam splitter

(26). . . lens

(28). . . Light sensor

Claims (14)

A method for measuring microfluidic width and detecting flow channel fluid by using an optical reading device, comprising the steps of: 1) rotating a measured microfluidic disk at a certain rotational speed; 2) starting a laser light The transmitting device transmits the laser light signal; 3) directs the laser light signal to the rotating micro-channel disc through a guiding device; 4) receives the laser light signal reflected from the micro-channel disc; 5) utilizes the signal voltage The difference is calculated by the reflected laser signal without/low signal time; and 6) the width of the micro flow channel is calculated using the no/low signal time or whether fluid is passed through the micro flow path. A method for measuring a microchannel width and detecting a flow channel fluid using an optical reading device as described in claim 1, wherein the width of the microchannel is calculated as the no/low of the received and calculated The signal time, in conjunction with the rotational speed of the disc, is calculated by the following formula: 2π × l × t × s ÷ 60 where l is the distance from the center of rotation of the disc, t is the no/low signal time, and s is the disc Rotating speed. A method of measuring a microchannel width and detecting a flow channel fluid using an optical reading device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rotational speed of the rotating microfluidic disk is 500 revolutions per minute. A method for measuring a microchannel width and detecting a flow channel fluid using an optical reading device according to claim 3, wherein the laser light signal is emitted by the laser light emitting device and then guided through a phase grating ( The phase grating produces three beams of laser light that pass through the phase grating to provide the error signals required for focus servo and tracking servo. A method for measuring a microchannel width and detecting a flow channel fluid using an optical reading device according to the fourth aspect of the invention, wherein the guiding device comprises a polarization beam splitter (PBS), The laser light signal is reflected by the polarization beam splitter to the rotating microfluidic disk. The method of measuring a microchannel width and detecting a channel fluid by using an optical reading device according to claim 5, wherein the photo sensor directly receives the laser light signal reflected by the disc. The method for measuring a microchannel width and detecting a flow channel fluid by using an optical reading device according to claim 5, wherein the electro-optic light is reflected and passed through the polarizing beam splitter, and then the light is sensed. The receiver receives the reflected laser light signal. A method for measuring a microchannel width and detecting a flow channel fluid by using an optical reading device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the laser light signal is emitted by the laser light emitting device and is guided through a phase A grating is used to generate three beams of laser light that passes through the phase grating to provide the error signals required for focus servo and tracking servo. The method for measuring a microchannel width and detecting a flow channel fluid by using an optical reading device according to claim 8, wherein the guiding device comprises a polarization beam splitter (PBS). The laser light signal is reflected by the polarization beam splitter to the rotating microfluidic disk. The method of measuring a microchannel width and detecting a channel fluid by using an optical reading device according to claim 9, wherein the photo sensor directly receives the laser light signal reflected by the disc. The method for measuring a microchannel width and detecting a flow channel fluid by using an optical reading device according to claim 9, wherein the laser light is reflected and passed through the polarization beam splitter, and then the light is sensed. The receiver receives the reflected laser light signal. A method for measuring a microchannel width and detecting a flow channel fluid using an optical reading device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the guiding device comprises a polarization beam splitter (PBS). And reflecting the laser light signal through the polarizing beam splitter to the rotating microfluidic disk. The method of measuring a microchannel width and detecting a channel fluid by using an optical reading device according to claim 12, wherein the photo sensor directly receives the laser light signal reflected by the disc. The method for measuring a microchannel width and detecting a flow channel fluid by using an optical reading device according to claim 12, wherein the laser light is reflected and passed through the polarizing beam splitter, and then the light is sensed. The receiver receives the reflected laser light signal.