ACOUSTICALLY MEDIATED FLUID TRANSFER METHODS AND USES THEREOF
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Accused Products
Abstract
Invention methods employ the use of acoustic waves to transfer small amounts of fluid in a non-contact manner. In invention methods, acoustic waves are propagated through a separated pool of a source fluid in such a manner that causes the ejection of a single micro-droplet from the surface of the pool. The droplet is ejected towards a target with sufficient force to provide for contact of the droplet with the target. Because the fluid is not contacted by any fluid transfer device such as a pipette, the opportunities for contamination are minimized. Invention methods may be employed to transfer fluids from an array of source sites to an array of target sites, thereby enabling the precision automation of a wide variety of procedures including screening, and synthesis procedures commonly used in biotechnology.
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Citations
126 Claims
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1-57. -57. (canceled)
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58. A system for acoustically propelling a portion of a volume of a first liquid from a surface of the first liquid, the system comprising
(a) an acoustic liquid deposition emitter configured to provide sufficient acoustic energy to the first liquid to propel said portion from the volume of the first liquid; - and
(b) a first well for holding the first liquid;
(c) wherein the first well is spaced a distance from the acoustic liquid deposition emitter; and
(d) wherein at least one of the acoustic liquid deposition emitter and the first well is movable so that the distance between the acoustic liquid deposition emitter and the first well is variable. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
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66. A system for acoustically propelling a portion of a volume of a first liquid from a first well, the system comprising:
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(a) an acoustic liquid deposition emitter configured to provide sufficient acoustic energy to the first liquid to propel said portion from the volume of the first liquid; and
(b) a stage for holding the first well;
(c) wherein at least one of the acoustic liquid deposition emitter and the stage is movable so that the distance between the acoustic liquid deposition emitter and the first well is variable. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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74. A system for acoustically propelling a portion of a volume of a liquid from a surface of the liquid, the system comprising:
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(a) an acoustic liquid deposition emitter configured to provide sufficient acoustic energy to the liquid to propel said portion from the surface; and
(b) a well for holding the liquid at a liquid level;
(c) wherein the well is configured such that the liquid level in the well decreases after said portion of the volume is propelled from the surface. - View Dependent Claims (75)
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76. A system for acoustically propelling a portion of a volume of a liquid from a surface of the liquid, the system comprising
(a) an acoustic liquid deposition emitter configured to provide sufficient acoustic energy to the liquid to propel the droplet from the surface; - and
(b) a well for holding the liquid;
(c) wherein the well is removable from the system. - View Dependent Claims (77)
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78. A system for acoustically propelling a droplet from a surface of a first liquid, the system comprising:
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(a) an acoustic liquid deposition emitter configured to provide sufficient acoustic energy to the first liquid to propel the droplet from the surface;
(b) a well for holding the first liquid at a first liquid level; and
(c) an acoustically-transmissive liquid in contact with the acoustic liquid deposition emitter and the well;
(d) wherein the acoustic liquid deposition emitter has a curved surface that contacts the acoustically-transmissive liquid to form a lens which focuses the acoustic energy toward said surface.
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79. A method of forming an array of compound sites for identifying properties of chemical or biological compounds, the method comprising
(a) ejecting a liquid from a well using focused acoustic energy, (b) depositing the ejected liquid at a location on a substrate, (c) ejecting a subsequent liquid from a subsequent well using focused acoustic energy, (d) depositing the ejected subsequent liquid at a subsequent location on the substrate, and (e) repeating steps (c) and (d) to form the array.
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89. A non-contact method for transferring small amounts of source fluid, said method comprising propagating an acoustic wave from an acoustic liquid deposition emitter through a removable source fluid containment structure into a pool of a source fluid, wherein:
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a) said acoustic liquid deposition emitter is in contact with said source fluid containment structure through a liquid interposed between said acoustic liquid deposition emitter and a first surface of said source fluid containment structure, said liquid transmitting the acoustic wave from the acoustic liquid deposition emitter to the source fluid containment structure, b) said pool of source fluid is one of a plurality of pools of source fluid on a second surface of said source fluid containment structure that is opposite said acoustic liquid deposition emitter; and
c) said acoustic wave ejects at least one droplet of said source fluid from said pool. - View Dependent Claims (90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123)
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124. A non-contact method for transferring small amounts of a source fluid to a separate target structure, said method comprising activating a piezoelectric transducer thereby propagating an acoustic wave through a liquid which is interposed between said piezoelectric transducer and a first surface of a removable source fluid containment structure, wherein:
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a) said source fluid is contained as a pool on a second surface of said source fluid containment structure that is opposite said piezoelectric transducer, said pool of source fluid one of a plurality of pools of source fluid on said second surface, and b) said target is positioned to receive a portion of said source fluid ejected from said pool of source fluid as a result of propagation of said acoustic wave through said source fluid.
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125. A method for transferring small amounts of a source fluid from a pool selected from one of a plurality of pools of source fluid located on a first surface of a removable source fluid containment structure, to a separate target structure without physically contacting said source fluid, said method comprising propagating an acoustic wave through said source fluid such that a single droplet of fluid is ejected from the surface of said pool with sufficient energy to bring said droplet into contact with said target, wherein:
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a) said acoustic wave is propagated from a piezoelectric transducer, b) said piezoelectric transducer is in contact with said source fluid containment structure via a liquid interposed between said piezoelectric transducer and a second surface of said source fluid containment structure, c) said second surface of said source fluid containment structure is opposite said pool, and d) said target is opposite said surface of said pool.
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126. A system for performing non-contact transfer of small amounts of source fluid, comprising:
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a source fluid containment structure;
a movable stage, configured to support the source fluid containment structure;
an acoustic liquid deposition emitter in operative contact with the source fluid containment structure;
a liquid interposed between the deposition emitter and the source fluid containment structure;
a fluid level detector for detecting a level or volume of fluid in a source fluid containment structure;
a lens in operative association with the acoustic liquid deposition emitter for focusing an acoustic wave; and
a computer in operable communication with the acoustic liquid deposition emitter for varying one or more of frequency of the acoustic wave;
voltage of an energy source used to excite the acoustic liquid deposition emitter;
duration of an energy source used to excite the acoustic liquid deposition emitter, or location of the stage relative to the acoustic deposition emitter; and
wherein the computer comprises a computer implemented algorithm for adjusting one or more of;
frequency of the acoustic wave;
voltage of an energy source used to excite the acoustic liquid deposition emitter;
duration of an energy source used to excite the acoustic liquid deposition emitter;
or location of the stage relative to the acoustic deposition emitter in response to a change in fluid level or volume detected by the fluid level detector.
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Specification