阅读说明：本技术 一种用于线虫运动行为和生理特征监测的微流控芯片 (Micro-fluidic chip for monitoring movement behaviors and physiological characteristics of nematodes ) 是由 朱真 徐星宇 王昊曦 杨剑坤 于 2020-05-29 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了一种用于线虫运动行为和生理特征监测的微流控芯片,其中：流体入口、培养腔阵列、抽检通道、电阻抗断层成像检测腔、电阻抗谱检测腔以及流体出口依次连接；抽检控制阀,设置于所述抽检通道上,用于控制通道导通或关闭；检测控制阀,设置于电阻抗断层成像检测腔和电阻抗谱检测腔之间,用于控制通道导通或关闭；电阻抗断层成像电极阵列,与电阻抗断层成像检测腔连接；电阻抗谱检测电极阵列,与电阻抗谱检测腔连接。采用上述技术方案,可以实现培养腔、电阻抗断层成像检测腔和电阻抗谱检测腔的集成,实现对线虫的培养、运动行为和生理结构的检测等功能,结合控制阀,可以实现高自动化、高效率的培养、检测。(The invention discloses a micro-fluidic chip for monitoring movement behaviors and physiological characteristics of nematodes, wherein: the fluid inlet, the culture cavity array, the sampling channel, the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity, the electrical impedance spectrum detection cavity and the fluid outlet are sequentially connected; the sampling inspection control valve is arranged on the sampling inspection channel and is used for controlling the channel to be switched on or switched off; the detection control valve is arranged between the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity and the electrical impedance spectrum detection cavity and is used for controlling the channel to be switched on or switched off; the electrical impedance tomography electrode array is connected with the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity; and the electrical impedance spectrum detection electrode array is connected with the electrical impedance spectrum detection cavity. By adopting the technical scheme, the integration of the culture cavity, the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity and the electrical impedance spectroscopy detection cavity can be realized, the functions of culturing the nematodes, detecting the movement behaviors and physiological structures and the like can be realized, and the high-automation and high-efficiency culture and detection can be realized by combining the control valve.)

1. A microfluidic chip for monitoring nematode locomotor activity and physiological characteristics, comprising: base plate, fluid entry, cultivation chamber array, selective examination passageway, selective examination control valve, electrical impedance tomography detect the chamber, electrical impedance tomography electrode array, electrical impedance spectrum detection chamber, electrical impedance spectrum detection electrode array, detect control valve, fluid outlet, wherein:

the substrate is used for bearing the microfluidic chip assembly;

the fluid inlet, the culture cavity array, the sampling channel, the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity, the electrical impedance spectrum detection cavity and the fluid outlet are sequentially connected;

the selective examination control valve is arranged on the selective examination channel and used for controlling the channel to be switched on or off, and nematodes in the corresponding culture cavity flow through the selective examination channel along with the fluid when the channel is switched on;

the detection control valve is arranged between the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity and the electrical impedance spectrum detection cavity and is used for controlling the channel to be switched on or switched off;

the electrical impedance tomography electrode array is connected with the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity; the electrical impedance spectrum detection electrode array is connected with the electrical impedance spectrum detection cavity.

2. The microfluidic chip for nematode locomotor behavior and physiological characteristic monitoring of claim 1, further comprising: wash the entry, wash export and filtration pore, wash entry, wash export and culture chamber array connection, the filtration pore sets up the junction between the culture chamber to be in and wash the entry and wash the passageway between the export on.

3. The microfluidic chip for monitoring locomotor activity and physiological characteristics of nematodes according to claim 2, further comprising a flushing control valve disposed on the channel between the flushing inlet and the flushing outlet for controlling the channel to be opened or closed.

4. The microfluidic chip for monitoring the locomotor behavior and the physiological characteristics of the nematode according to claim 1, wherein the contact part of the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity and the electrode is of a bottleneck-shaped small hole structure.

5. The microfluidic chip for monitoring locomotor activity and physiological characteristics of nematodes according to claim 1, further comprising a side-suction inlet, a side-suction outlet, and connected with said electrical impedance spectroscopy detection chamber.

6. The microfluidic chip for nematode locomotor behavior and physiological characteristic monitoring of claim 5, wherein the electrical impedance spectroscopy detection chamber comprises a porous structure.

7. The microfluidic chip for monitoring locomotor activity and physiological characteristics of nematodes according to claim 6, further comprising a side-suction control valve disposed on the channel between the side-suction inlet and the side-suction outlet for controlling the channel to be turned on or off.

8. The microfluidic chip for monitoring the locomotor behavior and the physiological characteristics of the nematode according to claim 3 or 7, wherein the control valve comprises a cavity and a gas inlet, and a thin film is correspondingly arranged on a channel connected with the cavity.

9. The microfluidic chip for monitoring locomotor activity and physiological characteristics of nematodes according to claim 1, wherein the channel gradually shrinks from the cavity for detection of electrical impedance spectroscopy to the fluid outlet.

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of microfluidic chips, in particular to a microfluidic chip for monitoring movement behaviors and physiological characteristics of nematodes.

Background

Microfluidic chips (Microfluidics chips) are a leading-edge technology for realizing fluid manipulation by manufacturing submicron microchannels and chamber networks through micromachining processes, and integrate operations in traditional biochemical analysis laboratories on tiny chips. The intersection of microfluidic chip technology and various subjects such as hydrodynamics, electromagnetism, acoustics, optics and the like is widely applied to research in the fields of biology and chemistry at present. Nematodes are a common model organism in biological research

Disclosure of Invention

The purpose of the invention is as follows: the invention aims to provide a micro-fluidic chip for monitoring the movement behavior and physiological characteristics of nematodes.

The technical scheme is as follows: the embodiment of the invention provides a micro-fluidic chip for monitoring the movement behavior and physiological characteristics of nematodes, which comprises: base plate, fluid entry, cultivation chamber array, selective examination passageway, selective examination control valve, electrical impedance tomography detect the chamber, electrical impedance tomography electrode array, electrical impedance spectrum detection chamber, electrical impedance spectrum detection electrode array, detect control valve, fluid outlet, wherein:

the substrate is used for bearing the microfluidic chip assembly;

the fluid inlet, the culture cavity array, the sampling channel, the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity, the electrical impedance spectrum detection cavity and the fluid outlet are sequentially connected;

the selective examination control valve is arranged on the selective examination channel and used for controlling the channel to be switched on or off, and nematodes in the corresponding culture cavity flow through the selective examination channel along with the fluid when the channel is switched on;

the detection control valve is arranged between the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity and the electrical impedance spectrum detection cavity and is used for controlling the channel to be switched on or switched off;

the electrical impedance tomography electrode array is connected with the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity; the electrical impedance spectrum detection electrode array is connected with the electrical impedance spectrum detection cavity.

Specifically, still include: wash the entry, wash export and filtration pore, wash entry, wash export and culture chamber array connection, the filtration pore sets up the junction between the culture chamber to be in and wash the entry and wash the passageway between the export on.

The flushing control valve is arranged on a channel between the flushing inlet and the flushing outlet and used for controlling the channel to be communicated or closed.

Specifically, the contact part of the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity and the electrode is of a bottleneck-shaped small hole structure.

Specifically, the device also comprises a side suction inlet and a side suction outlet which are connected with the electrical impedance spectrum detection cavity.

Specifically, the electrical impedance spectroscopy detection cavity comprises a porous structure.

The side suction passage control valve is arranged on a passage between the side suction inlet and the side suction outlet and used for controlling the passage to be communicated or closed.

Specifically, the control valve comprises a cavity and a gas inlet, and a membrane is arranged corresponding to a channel connected with the cavity.

Specifically, the channel gradually shrinks from the electric impedance spectroscopy detection cavity to the fluid outlet.

Has the advantages that: compared with the prior art, the invention has the following remarkable advantages: the integrated culture cavity, the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity and the electrical impedance spectroscopy detection cavity realize the functions of culturing the nematodes, detecting the movement behaviors and physiological structures and the like, and can realize the automatic and efficient culture and detection by combining a control valve.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a microfluidic chip provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a fluid channel provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of an electrical impedance tomography detection region provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of an electrical impedance spectroscopy detection region provided in an embodiment of the present invention

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a control valve provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

1-fluid inlet, 2-culture chamber array, 3-sampling inspection channel, 4-sampling inspection control valve, 5-electrical impedance tomography detection chamber, 6-electrical impedance tomography electrode array, 7-bottleneck-shaped small hole structure, 8-detection control valve, 9-electrical impedance spectroscopy detection chamber, 10-electrical impedance spectroscopy detection electrode array, 11-fluid outlet, 12-flushing inlet, 13-flushing outlet, 14-filtering hole, 15-flushing control valve, 16-side suction inlet, 17-side suction outlet, 18-hole structure, 19-side suction control valve, 20-contraction channel, 21-gas inlet, 22-cavity and 23-film.

Detailed Description

The technical scheme of the invention is further explained by combining the attached drawings.

Fig. 1 and fig. 2 are schematic structural diagrams of a microfluidic chip and schematic plan views of a fluid channel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The embodiment of the invention provides a micro-fluidic chip for nematode detection, which comprises: base plate, fluid entry 1, culture chamber array 2, selective examination passageway 3, selective examination control valve 4, electrical impedance tomography detects chamber 5, electrical impedance tomography electrode array 6, electrical impedance spectrum detection chamber 9, electrical impedance spectrum detection electrode array 10, detect control valve 8, fluid export 11, wherein:

the substrate is used for bearing the microfluidic chip assembly;

the fluid inlet 1, the culture cavity array 2, the sampling channel 3, the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity 5, the electrical impedance spectrum detection cavity 9 and the fluid outlet 11 are connected in sequence;

the selective examination control valve 4 is arranged on the selective examination channel 3 and is used for controlling the channel to be switched on or off, and nematodes in the corresponding culture cavity flow through the selective examination channel 3 along with fluid when the channel is switched on;

the detection control valve 8 is arranged between the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity 5 and the electrical impedance spectrum detection cavity 9 and is used for controlling the channel to be switched on or switched off;

the electrical impedance tomography electrode array 6 is connected with the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity 5; the electrical impedance spectrum detection electrode array 10 is connected with the electrical impedance spectrum detection cavity 9.

In the specific implementation, an electrode array layer is arranged on the substrate, and then a fluid channel layer is arranged above the substrate, and the substrate is used for bearing components such as a fluid channel (the fluid channel refers to a channel through which fluid passes, a culture chamber, a detection chamber and the like) such as a fluid inlet 1, a fluid outlet 11, and channels among devices or components, an electrical impedance tomography detection chamber 5, an electrical impedance tomography electrode array 6, an electrical impedance spectroscopy detection chamber 9, an electrical impedance spectroscopy detection electrode array 10, a control valve and the like.

In a specific implementation, the fluid inlet 1 may be used for inputting a fluid such as a culture solution, a suspension, etc., and discharging the fluid from the fluid outlet 11 after passing through the fluid channel and the microfluidic chip assembly.

In specific implementation, the culture cavity array 2 may include a plurality of culture cavities, each culture cavity corresponds to a sampling inspection channel 3, and the plurality of sampling inspection channels 3 may be converged into one channel to be connected with the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity 5, or may be directly connected with the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity 5. And each sampling inspection channel 3 is provided with a sampling inspection control valve 4, and when the sampling inspection channel 3 is controlled to be communicated, the nematodes in the culture cavity corresponding to the sampling inspection channel 3 flow through the sampling inspection channel 3 along with the fluid and enter the electrical impedance tomography imaging detection cavity 5. Through setting up a plurality of culture chambers and selective examination control valve 4, can realize the control experiment of a plurality of nematodes to and cultivate, catch etc. accurate controlling.

In specific implementation, the detection control valve 8 controls the conduction or the closing of a channel between the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity 5 and the electrical impedance spectroscopy detection cavity 9, and in the case of conduction, nematodes enter the electrical impedance spectroscopy detection cavity 9 along with the fluid flowing through the channel.

In an implementation, referring to fig. 3 and 4, the electrodes are connected to the detection chamber, i.e. the electrodes are in direct contact with the fluid in the fluid channel.

In the specific implementation, the nematode can be caenorhabditis elegans, which is a common model organism in biological research, and by virtue of the characteristics of known whole gene sequence, clear genetic background, short growth cycle and simple individual structure, the caenorhabditis elegans is widely applied to the research of biological neurology, genetics, motor behavior, pharmaceutical research and test and stress response. The existing experiment results show that the change of the movement behavior and the physiological characteristic structure of the nematode has obvious correlation with the activity, the aging and the life of the nervous system of the nematode, for example, the movement behavior of the nematode becomes slow in the aging process, the internal organs such as gonads and the like are gradually enlarged, and the epidermal muscle tissue is gradually degenerated. The micro-fluidic chip structure is combined to have the advantages of customization and diversification, the size of the nematode can be improved and optimized, and PDMS, PMMA and other materials with air permeability, light transmittance and biological harmlessness are adopted, so that the long-term culture, capture, fixation and other accurate control of the nematode can be realized.

In the specific implementation, Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) detection applies an excitation signal to a target (nematode) to be detected, fits Electrical impedance detection data and non-uniform medium distribution in an electric field, reduces the internal structure and tissue distribution of the target by combining an EIT image reconstruction algorithm and a deep learning algorithm, and can detect and obtain kinematic behavior parameters such as movement rate, body curvature, swing amplitude, frequency and the like of the nematode; the combination of Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) detection and a microfluidic chip, the integration of a submicron electrode in the chip realizes the non-invasive nondestructive detection of a biological sample (nematode), the sweep frequency Electrical impedance detection signal with wide frequency band and small amplitude can obtain the characteristics of the biological sample such as shape, volume, internal dielectric parameters and the like according to the difference of the characteristic frequency of biological tissues, and the physiological structure characteristics of the nematode such as pseudocoelomic epidermic muscle, internal organs and the like can be detected.

In the embodiment of the invention, the contact part of the electrical impedance tomography electrode array 6 and the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity 5 is the bottleneck-shaped small hole structure 7, so that the detection plane electrode can be equivalent to a point electrode, the influence of a flat electrode on image reconstruction can be reduced, and the imaging resolution is improved.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the microfluidic chip further includes: a flushing inlet 12, a flushing outlet 13 and a filter hole 14, wherein the flushing inlet 12, the flushing outlet 13 are connected with the culture cavity array 2, and the filter hole 14 is arranged at the connection part between the culture cavities and is positioned on a channel between the flushing inlet 12 and the flushing outlet 13.

In the specific implementation, the flushing inlet 12 is used for inputting flushing liquid, and after the flushing liquid passes through all the culture chambers in the culture chamber array 2, the flushing liquid takes away waste such as worm eggs and is discharged from the flushing outlet 13. The filter holes 14 are arranged at the joints among the culture chambers, and can retain the nematodes on the basis of filtering waste such as worm eggs.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the microfluidic chip further includes a flushing control valve 15 disposed on the channel between the flushing inlet 12 and the flushing outlet 13, for controlling the channel to be opened or closed.

In one embodiment, the flushing control valve 15 controls the passage to be open, so that the flushing liquid can flush and carry away the waste. The combination with the flushing control valve 15 can realize automatic and high-efficiency culture.

In the embodiment of the invention, the microfluidic chip further comprises a side suction inlet 16 and a side suction outlet 17, and the side suction inlet and the side suction outlet are connected with the electrical impedance spectrum detection cavity 9.

In the embodiment of the invention, the electrical impedance spectroscopy detection chamber 9 comprises a hole-shaped structure 18.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the microfluidic chip further includes a side suction control valve 19, which is disposed on the channel between the side suction inlet 16 and the side suction outlet 17, and is used to control the channel to be turned on or off.

In the specific implementation, the fluid enters the electrical impedance spectroscopy detection cavity 9 from the side suction port 16, is dispersed after passing through the porous structure 18, can apply uniform fluid force to the nematodes, and the nematodes adhere to the wall under the action of the uniform fluid force, so that the swing of the nematode body is limited, and the interference of the movement of the nematodes on electrical impedance detection signals during detection is reduced.

Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a control valve according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the control valve includes a cavity 22 and a gas inlet 21, and a membrane 23 is disposed corresponding to a channel connected to the cavity 22.

In specific implementation, the control valve includes a sampling control valve 4, a detection control valve 8, a flushing control valve 15, a side suction control valve 19, etc., the control valve may be a pneumatic membrane valve, the opening and closing of the pneumatic membrane valve may be controlled by its corresponding electromagnetic microvalve (or may be controlled by other devices), the compressed gas is communicated with the electromagnetic valve through a pressure maintaining valve, is connected with a gas inlet 21 through a conduit and is squeezed into a cavity 22 corresponding to the pneumatic membrane valve, a membrane 23 correspondingly arranged above the squeezing channel is squeezed, and the membrane 23 is compressed to close the channel. The electromagnetic micro valve can be controlled by an intelligent device such as a computer, so that the automation and the intelligent degree of the micro-fluidic chip are improved.

In the embodiment of the invention, the channel 20 gradually shrinks from the electric impedance spectroscopy detection cavity 9 to the fluid outlet 11.

In the specific implementation, the channel 20 gradually shrinks from the electric impedance spectroscopy detection cavity 9 to the fluid outlet 11, namely, the channel 20 close to the electric impedance spectroscopy detection cavity 9 is wider, and the channel 20 close to the fluid outlet 11 is narrower. By the arrangement, the head or tail of the nematode can be limited at the contraction channel 20, the body swing of the nematode is limited, and the interference of nematode movement on an electrical impedance detection signal during detection is reduced.

In a specific embodiment, all control valves are in a closed channel state after the nematodes are loaded into the culture chamber. The sampling control valve 4 controls the conduction of a corresponding extraction channel of a culture cavity in which nematodes to be detected are located at intervals of preset time, the nematodes are loaded into the electrical impedance tomography detection cavity 5, the electrical impedance tomography electrode array 6 carries out sampling detection, the detection control valve 8 controls the conduction of the channel after the detection is finished, the nematodes are loaded into the electrical impedance spectroscopy detection cavity 9, the head or tail of the nematodes are limited at the contracted channel, the side suction control valve 19 controls the conduction of the channel, culture solution with a certain flow rate is injected from the side suction inlet 16 to fix the captured nematodes, the electrical impedance spectroscopy detection electrode array 10 carries out sampling detection, the flow direction of fluid is changed through the fluid inlet 1 and the fluid outlet 11 after the detection is finished, and the nematodes return to the culture cavity according to the original path.

In specific implementation, the number, shape and size of the fluid channels and culture chambers, and the shape, size and layout of the electrode array can be designed and prepared according to actual requirements.

In the specific implementation, the integrated culture chamber, the electrical impedance tomography detection chamber 5 and the electrical impedance spectroscopy detection chamber 9 realize the functions of culturing the nematodes, detecting the movement behaviors and physiological structures and the like, and can realize the automatic and high-efficiency culture and detection by combining with a control valve.