Compact Microfluidic Structures for Generating Spatial and Temporal Gradients

We present an improved microfluidic design for generating spatial and temporal gradients. The basic functional elements are bifurcated and trifurcated channels used to split flow between two and three channels, respectively. We use bifurcated channels on the exterior of the channel manifold and trifurcated channels in the interior with mixing tees to recombine flows. For N gradient-forming levels, the number of discrete steps in the gradient is 2 N + 1, allowing a compact gradient-forming structure that is only 1.6 mm long and 0.5 mm wide. Control of the relative sample concentration at the inlets enables generation of gradients with varying slopes and offsets. The small total channel length allows faster switching (only 2.6 s) between gradients of different compositions than did previous designs, allowing complex temporal sequences and reducing total displacement volume and reagent use. The design permits opposing-gradient experiments and generation of complex nonlinear gradients. We fabricated and tested three channel designs with either three or four gradient-forming levels, 20- or 40-μm channel widths, 60- or 120-μm center-to-center channel spacings, and 9 or 17 output steps. These devices produced essentially identical high-quality linear gradients using both pressure-driven and electrokinetic flow.