ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,551,889, issued on Feb. 17, was assigned to Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. (Hercules, Calif.).
"Modification of surface properties of microfluidic devices" was invented by Joshua Ritchey (Melrose, Mass.), Yi Xue (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Robert Meltzer (Belmont, Mass.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Compositions, devices, and methods are disclosed for the modification of polymer surfaces with coatings having a dispersion of silicone polymer and hydrophobic silica. The surface coatings provide the polymer surface with high hydrophobicity, as well as increased resistance to biofouling with proteinaceous material. The polymer surfaces can be partic...