Apparatus and method for electrophysiological testing
First Claim
1. A method for running a plurality of tests to obtain electrophysiological data, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a plurality of recording stations, each of said recording stations capable of containing at least one test subject;
(b) introducing at least one test subject into a first one of said plurality of recording stations;
(c) introducing at least one test subject into a second one of said plurality of recording stations;
(d) assessing the viability of said at least one test subject in said first one of said plurality of recording stations;
(e) assessing the viability of said at least one test subject in said second one of said plurality of recording stations;
(f) introducing at least one test material into at least one of said plurality of recording stations that contains a viable test subject as determined by the assessment made in steps (d) and (e), wherein a movable applicator introduces said at least one test material of step (f) directly into at least one of said plurality of recording stations;
(g) replacing said at least one test subject in said first one of said plurality of recording stations if said at least one test subject in said first one of said plurality of recording stations fails to respond adequately to a control or if the electrophysiological data of said at least one test subject in said first one of said plurality of recording stations exceeds a user-defined set point;
(h) replacing said at least one test subject in said second one of said plurality of recording stations if said at least one test subject in said second one of said plurality of recording stations fails to respond adequately to a control or if the electrophysiological data of said at least one test subject in said second one of said plurality of recording stations exceeds a user-defined set point; and
(i) collecting said electrophysiological data from each of said plurality of tests, wherein the steps (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), and (i) are carried out without substantial intervention by a human operator, further including the step of disabling said first one of said recording stations if said first one of said recording stations has a higher than expected number of failures, the expected number of failures being defined by the user.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for running a plurality of tests concurrently to obtain data relating to the electrophysiological properties of receptors and channels in biological membranes of test subjects, such as, for example, Xenopus oocytes. The invention further provides software for controlling, acquiring, and recording data relating to electrophysiological properties of receptors and channels in biological membranes of test subjects, such as, for example, oocytes. This invention increases the throughput rate for experiments and assays employing receptors and ion channels expressed in biological membranes of test subjects, such as, for example, oocytes. In the case of an oocyte, these receptors and channels may be natively expressed (endogenous), may be placed into the oocyte (exogenous), or may be expressed from other RNA or DNA previously placed into the oocyte (exogenous).
The invention provides a means for a sole researcher to operate a plurality of electrophysiological test stations in the time and space conventionally required by a single electrophysiological test station. The invention automates these stations and provides a means for a sole individual to perform large sets of experiments that would be physically and mentally exhausting in the absence of this invention. In addition, this invention provides efficient database and data analysis software integrated with the data acquisition software, thereby increasing the user'"'"'s data-handling productivity to keep pace with the augmented data generation capacity.
17 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method for running a plurality of tests to obtain electrophysiological data, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a plurality of recording stations, each of said recording stations capable of containing at least one test subject; (b) introducing at least one test subject into a first one of said plurality of recording stations; (c) introducing at least one test subject into a second one of said plurality of recording stations; (d) assessing the viability of said at least one test subject in said first one of said plurality of recording stations; (e) assessing the viability of said at least one test subject in said second one of said plurality of recording stations; (f) introducing at least one test material into at least one of said plurality of recording stations that contains a viable test subject as determined by the assessment made in steps (d) and (e), wherein a movable applicator introduces said at least one test material of step (f) directly into at least one of said plurality of recording stations; (g) replacing said at least one test subject in said first one of said plurality of recording stations if said at least one test subject in said first one of said plurality of recording stations fails to respond adequately to a control or if the electrophysiological data of said at least one test subject in said first one of said plurality of recording stations exceeds a user-defined set point; (h) replacing said at least one test subject in said second one of said plurality of recording stations if said at least one test subject in said second one of said plurality of recording stations fails to respond adequately to a control or if the electrophysiological data of said at least one test subject in said second one of said plurality of recording stations exceeds a user-defined set point; and (i) collecting said electrophysiological data from each of said plurality of tests, wherein the steps (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), and (i) are carried out without substantial intervention by a human operator, further including the step of disabling said first one of said recording stations if said first one of said recording stations has a higher than expected number of failures, the expected number of failures being defined by the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for running a plurality of tests to obtain electrophysiological data, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a plurality of recording stations, each of said recording stations capable of containing at least one test subject; (b) introducing at least one test subject into a first one of said plurality of recording stations; (c) introducing at least one test subject into a second one of said plurality of recording stations; (d) assessing the viability of said at least one test subject in said first one of said plurality of recording stations; (e) assessing the viability of said at least one test subject in said second one of said plurality of recording stations; (f) introducing at least one test material into at least one of said plurality of recording stations that contains a viable test subject as determined by the assessment made in steps (d) and (e), wherein a movable applicator introduces said at least one test material of step (f) directly into at least one of said plurality of recording stations; (g) replacing said at least one test subject in said first one of said plurality of recording stations if said at least one test subject in said first one of said plurality of recording stations fails to respond adequately to a control or if the electrophysiological data of said at least one test subject in said first one of said plurality of recording stations exceeds a user-defined set point; (h) replacing said at least one test subject in said second one of said plurality of recording stations if said at least one test subject in said second one of said plurality of recording stations fails to respond adequately to a control or if the electrophysiological data of said at least one test subject in said second one of said plurality of recording stations exceeds a user-defined set point; and (i) collecting said electrophysiological data from each of said plurality of tests, wherein the steps (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), and (i) are carried out without substantial intervention by a human operator, further including the step of disabling said second one of said recording stations if said second one of said recording stations has a higher than expected number of failures, the expected number of failures being defined by the user. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification