Systems and methods for preparing low volume analyte array elements
First Claim
1. A dispensing apparatus for dispensing nanoliter volumes of fluid in chemical or biological procedures onto the surface of a substrate, comprising:
- a housing having a plurality of sides and a bottom portion having formed therein a plurality of apertures, wherein the sides and bottom portion of said housing define an interior volume,one or more fluid transmitting vesicles, mounted within said apertures, and having a fluid holding chamber of a size for holding and dispensing nanoliter volumes of fluid, said fluid holding chamber being disposed in fluid communication with said interior volume of said housing, anddispensing means in communication with said interior volume of said housing for selectively dispensing nanoliter volumes of fluid from said nanoliter volume sized fluid transmitting vesicles when fluid holding chambers of said vesicles are fully loaded, whereby said dispensing means dispenses nanoliter volumes of the fluid onto the surface of the substrate when the apparatus is disposed over and in registration with the surface of the substrate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides, in one aspect, serial and parallel dispensing tools that can deliver defined and controlled volumes of fluid to generate multi-element arrays of sample material on a substrate surface. The substrates surfaces can be flat or geometrically altered to include wells of receiving material. In one embodiment, the invention provides a tool that allows the parallel development of a sample array. To this end, the tool can be understood as an assembly of vesicle elements, or pins, wherein each of the pins can include a narrow interior chamber suitable for holding manual liter volumes of fluid. Each of the pins can fit inside a housing that forms an interior chamber. The interior chamber can be connected to a pressure source that will control the pressure within the interior chamber to regulate the flow of fluid within the interior chamber of the pins. In a further embodiment, the invention then passes the prepared sample arrays to a plate assembly that disposes the sample arrays for analysis by mass spectrometry.
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Citations
53 Claims
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1. A dispensing apparatus for dispensing nanoliter volumes of fluid in chemical or biological procedures onto the surface of a substrate, comprising:
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a housing having a plurality of sides and a bottom portion having formed therein a plurality of apertures, wherein the sides and bottom portion of said housing define an interior volume, one or more fluid transmitting vesicles, mounted within said apertures, and having a fluid holding chamber of a size for holding and dispensing nanoliter volumes of fluid, said fluid holding chamber being disposed in fluid communication with said interior volume of said housing, and dispensing means in communication with said interior volume of said housing for selectively dispensing nanoliter volumes of fluid from said nanoliter volume sized fluid transmitting vesicles when fluid holding chambers of said vesicles are fully loaded, whereby said dispensing means dispenses nanoliter volumes of the fluid onto the surface of the substrate when the apparatus is disposed over and in registration with the surface of the substrate. - 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)
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29. A fluid dispensing apparatus for dispensing nanoliter volumes of a fluid in chemical or biological procedures into one or more wells of a multi-well substrate, comprising
a housing having a plurality of sides and a bottom portion having formed therein a plurality of apertures, said sides and bottom portion defining an interior volume, a plurality of fluid transmitting vesicles, each vesicle for holding a nanoliter volume of a fluid, mounted within said apertures having a fluid holding chamber disposed in communication with said interior volume of said housing, a fluid volume selection and dispensing means in communication with said interior volume of said housing for variably selecting an amount of the fluid loaded into said fluid holding chambers of said vesicles to be dispensed from a single set of plurality of fluid transmitting vesicles, and whereby said dispensing means dispenses a selected amount of the fluid into the wells of the multi-well substrate when the apparatus is disposed over and in registration with the substrate, wherein the selected amount of fluid is a nanoliter volume.
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35. A fluid dispensing apparatus for dispensing fluid in chemical or biological procedures into one or more wells of a multi-well substrate, said apparatus comprising
a housing having a plurality of sides and top and bottom portions, said bottom portion having formed therein a plurality of apertures, said sides and top and bottom portions of said housing defining an interior volume, a plurality of fluid transmitting vesicles, mounted within said apertures, each vesicle having a fluid holding chamber sized to hold a nanoliter volume of the fluid, said fluid holding chamber being disposed in fluid communication with said volume of said housing and mechanical biasing means for mechanically biasing said plurality of said transmitting vesicles into sealing contact with said housing bottom portion, wherein the apparatus dispenses nanoliter volumes of fluid.
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47. A system for dispensing nanoliter volumes of fluid in chemical or biological procedures onto the surface of a substrate, comprising:
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a pin assembly having one or more apertures and one or more fluid transmitting pins, mounted within the apertures, wherein the pins comprise a solid shaft of material, wherein one end is for capturing a nanoliter volume of fluid thereon; and a robotic arm in contact with the pin assembly, wherein the robotic arm is for holding and moving the assembly to insert the end of the pins into a fluid source for capturing fluid on the end of the pins or to dispose the pin assembly adjacent to the surface of a substrate to dispense fluid onto the surface of a substrate by contacting the fluid on the end of the pins with the surface of the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50)
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51. A system for dispensing nanoliter volumes of fluid in chemical or biological procedures onto the surface of a substrate, comprising:
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an assembly, comprising a capillary element for containing a volume of fluid to be dispensed through an orifice of the capillary and a transducer element in contact with the capillary for effecting physical deformation of the capillary causing ejectment of a nanoliter volume of fluid from the capillary; a robotic arm for holding an assembly and for aligning the assembly adjacent to the surface of the substrate to dispense nanoliter volumes of fluid from the capillary to the surface of the substrate aligned therewith; and mounting means for securing the robotic arm to the assembly. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53)
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Specification