Method for producing coded micro-carrier and test method by using a novel type biochip.

This paper provides a method for producing a novel type coded micro-carrier. A simple and cost effective solution for bio-molecule applications was developed. Application relevant items such as manufacture process, biospecific interaction, and analysis method are discussed. For low cost fabrication, the use of LIGA-like process is suggested. LIGA-like process is used as a dry patterning process in which an intense beam of light from an excimer laser is used to pattern a material directly. This process has found extensive application in the microelectronics industry for patterning of polymer materials. The use of LIGA-like techniques offers two attractive features: first, we can cut the polymer into many tiny micro-carriers with micrometer precision. Second, LIGA-like process allows to encode with high precision spatial information onto the micro-carrier that can be used in the identification of the bio-molecule. This paper gives a description of the basic idea, describes the fabrication of the novel micro-carrier that we called "coded micro-carrier," and of the image processing algorithms used for the analysis of bio-molecules. This study also provides a test method for identifying a bio-molecule, which includes mixing several coded micro-carriers with the hybridized unknown bio-molecules; and identifying the codes on the micro-carrier via image recognition system. The numbers and types of the known micro-carrier can be flexibly adjusted according to the number of tested bio-molecules.