Integral biomolecule preparation device
First Claim
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1. A self-contained biomolecule preparation device for automatically preparing biomolecules such as nucleic acid from samples such as cell samples, comprising:
- a plurality of samples tubes contained in a rotor for holding chemical compounds in liquid or solid form;
a plurality of pipet tips to withdraw and dispense controlled amounts of fluid contained in said plurality of sample tubes;
a centrifuge, containing the rotor, for spinning said plurality of samples tubes in said rotor at predetermined times;
a pipet tip rack, separate from the centrifuge and the rotor, for holding said plurality of pipet tips, each of said tips associated with and substantially parallel to one of said sample tubes in the rotor of said centrifuge;
means for maintaining a predetermined relationship between the pipet tips in said tip rack and the sample tubes in the rotor;
a pipet arm assembly, proximate said pipet tip rack and the rotor of said centrifuge, including a pipet tip handling mandrel, driven to move in two dimensions by a motorized mechanism, for selectively removing pipet tips from said pipet tip rack, inserting them into the sample tubes in the rotor of said centrifuge, and returning the selected pipet tip back to the tip rack for further use, said arm assembly responsive to said means for maintaining so that the pipet tip selected for removal remains associated with the sample tube in which the pipet tip is to be inserted;
a plurality of reagent reservoirs, proximate said sample tubes, for holding biomolecule preparation reagents;
reagent adding means for selectively adding controlled amounts of the reagents from said reservoirs to said sample tubes at predetermined times;
mixing means for mixing the sample tube contents at predetermined times;
fluid withdrawal means for withdrawing fluid from a sample tube into an inserted pipet tip at predetermined times; and
process control means for controlling the operation, including the integrated sequence of operations, of said centrifuge, said pipet arm, said reagent adding means, said mixing means and said fluid withdrawal means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An integral biomolecule preparation device which accomplishes all of the nucleic acid separation steps, including centrifugation, reagent addition, and pipeting, automatically without human intervention to fully automate the DNA separation procedure.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1. A self-contained biomolecule preparation device for automatically preparing biomolecules such as nucleic acid from samples such as cell samples, comprising:
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a plurality of samples tubes contained in a rotor for holding chemical compounds in liquid or solid form; a plurality of pipet tips to withdraw and dispense controlled amounts of fluid contained in said plurality of sample tubes; a centrifuge, containing the rotor, for spinning said plurality of samples tubes in said rotor at predetermined times; a pipet tip rack, separate from the centrifuge and the rotor, for holding said plurality of pipet tips, each of said tips associated with and substantially parallel to one of said sample tubes in the rotor of said centrifuge; means for maintaining a predetermined relationship between the pipet tips in said tip rack and the sample tubes in the rotor; a pipet arm assembly, proximate said pipet tip rack and the rotor of said centrifuge, including a pipet tip handling mandrel, driven to move in two dimensions by a motorized mechanism, for selectively removing pipet tips from said pipet tip rack, inserting them into the sample tubes in the rotor of said centrifuge, and returning the selected pipet tip back to the tip rack for further use, said arm assembly responsive to said means for maintaining so that the pipet tip selected for removal remains associated with the sample tube in which the pipet tip is to be inserted; a plurality of reagent reservoirs, proximate said sample tubes, for holding biomolecule preparation reagents; reagent adding means for selectively adding controlled amounts of the reagents from said reservoirs to said sample tubes at predetermined times; mixing means for mixing the sample tube contents at predetermined times; fluid withdrawal means for withdrawing fluid from a sample tube into an inserted pipet tip at predetermined times; and process control means for controlling the operation, including the integrated sequence of operations, of said centrifuge, said pipet arm, said reagent adding means, said mixing means and said fluid withdrawal means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. The biomolecule preparation device of claim 42 further including piston sensing means for sensing a predetermined position of said piston.
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43. A biomolecule preparation device for automatically preparing biomolecules such as nucleic acid from a sample such as a cell sample, comprising:
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a plurality of sample tubes contained in as indexing sample tube rotor for holding chemical compounds in liquid or solid form; a plurality of pipet tips to withdraw and dispense controlled amounts of fluid contained in said plurality of sample tubes; a variable speed centrifuge, with an indexing sample tube rotor, for spinning said sample tubes at predetermined times; tube position determining means for determining the position of the tube rotor with respect to the centrifuge to locate each sample tube in the rotor; an indexing pipet tip rack, separate from the centrifuge and the tube rotor, for holding at least one said pipet tip for each sample tube; said pipet tip rack holding said pipet tip substantially parrallel to said sample tube; means for determining the position of the tip rack with respect to the centrifuge to locate each pipet tip in relation to a respective sample tube; a pipet arm, proximate said indexing pipet tip rack and the rotor of said centrifuge, having a pipeting end; first arm displacing means for displacing said pipeting end in a first direction coaxially into a pipet tip to engage the tip associated with said respective sample tube; second arm displacing means for displacing said pipeting end in a second direction coaxially with the engaged pipet tip to withdraw the tip from said tip indexing tip rack; tip insertion means for inserting the engaged pipet tip into said respective sample tube at predetermined times; mixing means for mixing the tube contents by both repeatedly withdrawing at least part of the sample tube contents into the engaged pipet tip and dispensing the withdrawn tube contents back into the tube at predetermined times; a plurality of reagent reservoirs, proximate said indexing sample tube rotor, for holding biomolecule preparation reagents; a reagent dispensing orifice proximate said indexing sample tube rotor; reagent dispensing means for dispensing under pressure reagent from at least one of said reservoirs through said orifice into the sample tube at a rate controlled by the orifice size and the dispensing pressure at predetermined times; and reagent dispensing time means for establishing the reagent dispense time to control the volume of dispensed reagent.
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Specification