Method and apparatus for aligning microbeads in order to interrogate the same

• US 20060063271A1
• Filed: 09/13/2005
• Published: 03/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Martin A. Putnam, Richard L. Lemoine
• Original Assignee: Martin A. Putnam, Richard L. Lemoine
• Inventors: Putnam, Martin A., Lemoine, Richard L.
• Application Number:
  US11/226,892
• Publication Number:
  US 20060063271A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 436/174
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00459 Beads
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00463 Directed sorting
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00466 in a slurry
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/0047 Pins
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/005 Beads
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00545 Colours
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00547 Bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00576 fluorophore
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00648 by the use of solid beads
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00657 One-dimensional arrays
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00659 Two-dimensional arrays
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00702 Processes involving means for analysing and characterising the products
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2200/0636 Focussing flows, e.g. to laminate flows
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2200/0668 Trapping microscopic beads
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2300/0654 Lenses; Optical fibres
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2400/0409 centrifugal forces
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2400/0457 passive flow or gravitation
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2400/0487 fluid pressure, pneumatics
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 3/502761 specially adapted for handling suspended solids or molecules independently from the bulk fluid flow, e.g. for trapping or sorting beads, for physically stretching molecules investigating characteristics of particles G01N15/00
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 3/5085 for multiple samples, e.g. microtitration plates
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 15/147 : the analysis being performed on a sample stream
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2035/00574 : Means for distributing beads
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2035/00782 : reprogrammmable code
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 35/00732 : Identification of carriers, materials or components in automatic analysers
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 1/0272 : Substrate bearing the hologram
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 2210/53 : Coded object not directly interpretable, e.g. encrypted object, barcode
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 2230/10 : Microhologram not registered to the substrate
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 2270/20 : Shape
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 2270/24 : Having particular size, e.g. microscopic
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 436/25 : including sample preparation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 436/2575 : Volumetric liquid transfer

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided for aligning optical elements or microbeads 8, wherein each microbead has an elongated body with a code embedded therein along a longitudinal axis thereof to be read by a code reading device. The microbeads 8 are aligned with a positioning device (or cell) 500 having a plate or platform 200, 1252 with grooves 205, 1258 so the longitudinal axis of the microbeads is positioned in a fixed orientation relative to the code reading device. The microbeads 8 are typically cylindrically shaped glass beads having a diffraction grating-based code embedded in the bead 8 disposed along an axis, which requires a predetermined alignment between the incident code readout laser beam and the code readout detector in two of three rotational axes. The geometry of the grooves 205 are designed to allow for easy loading and unloading of beads from a cell, and the grooves 205 may be straight or curved. Also, the cell may be segmented into regions each associated with a different reaction or used for a different identification process/application, and may have many different geometries depending on the application.

Claims

1. A method for aligning microbeads to be read by a code reading or other detection device, comprising the step of:

providing microbeads to a positioning device, each having an elongated body with a code embedded therein along a longitudinal axis thereof;

aligning the microbeads with the positioning device so the longitudinal axis of the microbeads is in a fixed orientation relative to the code reading or other detection device.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the positioning device is a plate having a multiplicity of grooves therein.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the method includes agitating the plate to encourage the alignment of the microbeads in the grooves.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the microbeads are cylindrically shaped glass beads between 25 and 250 microns in diameter and between 100 and 500 microns long.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the microbeads have a holographic code embedded in a central region thereof.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the code is used to correlate a chemical content on each bead with a measured fluorescence signal.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein each microbead is substantially aligned in relation to its pitch and yaw rotational axes.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the plate has a series of parallel grooves having one of several different shapes, including square, v-shaped or semi-circular.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein the plate is an optically transparent medium including boro-silicate glass, fused silica or plastic, and the grooves are formed therein.

10. A method according to claim 1, wherein the grooves have a depth that is dimensioned to be at least the diameter of the microbeads, including at least 110% of the diameter of the microbead.

13. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus includes means for agitating the plate to encourage the alignment of the microbeads in the grooves.

14. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the microbeads are cylindrically shaped glass beads between 25 and 250 microns in diameter and between 100 and 500 microns long.

11. Apparatus for aligning microbeads to be read by a code reading device, comprising:

a positioning device for aligning microbeads, each microbead having an elongated body with a code embedded therein along a longitudinal axis thereof, so the longitudinal axis of the microbeads is positioned in a fixed orientation relative to the code reading device.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the positioning device is a plate having a multiplicity of grooves therein.

15. Apparatus for aligning an optical identification element, comprising:

the optical identification element having an optical substrate having at least a portion thereof with at least one diffraction grating disposed therein, the grating having at least one refractive index pitch superimposed at a common location, the grating providing an output optical signal when illuminated by an incident light signal, the optical output signal being indicative of a code, and the optical identification element being an elongated object with a longitudinal axis; and

an alignment device which aligns the optical identification element such that said output optical signal is indicative of the code.

16. Apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the alignment device is a plate having a multiplicity of grooves therein.

17. Apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the plate is a disk and the multiplicity of grooves are concentric circles or a spiral.

18. Apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the alignment device is a tube having a bore for receiving the optical identification element.