Micronics Inc. of Redmond, Wash., a developer of molecular and immunohematology diagnostic tests, announced today that it has been issued two patents from the US Patent and Trademark Office for novel microfluidic devices and methods relating to the company’s focus on developing rapid and easy-to-use clinical diagnostic products. Using microfluidics, the company substantially reduces the volumes of sample and reagents required to produce a test result, generally within a fraction of the time and cost that traditional reference lab and benchtop methods require. The first patent (No. 7,416,892) has broad applicability for molecular diagnostics; it identifies an integrated microfluidic system for isolating, amplifying, and detecting DNA or RNA from biological fluids, with all processing steps done within the microfluidic lab-on-a-card format. The second patent (No. 7,419,638) relates primarily to microfluidic systems for detecting a person’s blood type and Rh status in a sanitary, disposable, credit card-sized device. In addition, the patent is directed to the placement of dried biological agents and liquid buffers into the microfluidic device, which results in a closed system that permits multiple assay steps to be processed without additional human interaction.

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