Intellectual Property Law

US Patent 7452565 - Microparticle immobilization using nanoparticles

In order to enhance the adhesion of microbeads used in bioassays to a substrate this patent teaches using silica nanoparticles to fill in gaps formed between the microbeads and wells in the substrate. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method of affixing an array of microparticles in a series of recesses in a substrate surface, comprising:

placing microparticles in said series of recesses in a manner such that one microparticle resides in any one recess;

placing a nanoparticle suspension on the substrate surface over said series of recesses having microparticles therein;

incubating the nanoparticle suspension with the microparticle containing substrate whereby numerous nanoparticles get deposited and wedged between the microparticle and the walls of the recess in which it resides.

Full post as published by TinytechIP on November 18, 2008 (boomark / email).