Chemical apparatus and process disinfecting – deodorizing – preser – Analyzer – structured indicator – or manipulative laboratory... – Means for analyzing liquid or solid sample
Patent
1998-08-06
2000-12-12
Chin, Christopher L.
Chemical apparatus and process disinfecting, deodorizing, preser
Analyzer, structured indicator, or manipulative laboratory...
Means for analyzing liquid or solid sample
422 50, 422 70, 422 99, 422103, 436518, 436501, 210656, 210767, 2101982, 210203, 210263, G01N 1506, G01N 3300, G01N 33543
Patent
active
061594261
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
PRIOR FOREIGN APPLICATIONS
This application is a 35 USC .sctn.371 filing of PCT/GB97/00334, filed Feb. 6, 1997, and claims priority from GB Patent Application Number 9602635.6, filed Feb. 9, 1996.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method of performing assays and apparatus therefor, in particular but not exclusively to a method and apparatus for immunoassays.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is well known to perform assays where aliquots of a sample are tested to see if the sample contains a particular substance by reaction with one or more reagents to form a complex such as an antigen/antibody complex which may then be detected.
A great number of different techniques exist for performing assays and the instances in which assay techniques are used are becoming more widespread. An overview of currently used techniques is given in the article "Update on immunoassay automation" Proc. UK NEQAS Meeting 1994:1:163-170; Wheeler, Michael J. For example, various types of immunoassays are now commonly used to test blood and other samples for a great number of different compounds. Yet, even a large hospital would not have a large number of different assay machines and so the apparatus must be capable of performing a range of different tests on different samples. The versatility of any assay technique must necessarily increase as the number of tests that can be requested on samples increases. The growing desire that assays can be performed directly in places such as Doctors Surgery's, rather than sending the samples away for analysis by a laboratory in a hospital further increases the demand for versatile machinery.
In conjunction with the growth of the assay systems, it has become necessary that any particular assay is performed ever more precisely. The importance of the accuracy of the test will be apparent, as, for example, a patient's treatment may be determined based on the result of the assay and so an inaccurate result may lead to inappropriate treatment of the patient.
The growth in assay techniques being used has led to a large number of systems on the market. Presently, most systems are semi-automated or automated systems, where after loading of the reagents and samples no further input is required from a human operator, unless a breakdown occurs.
As will be apparent from the aforementioned article by Wheeler, the majority of the devices presently on the market comprise a loading tray for loading multiple samples, for example between 20 and 100 samples, which are not necessarily of the same nature or having the same assay performed on them. There is also a reagent input tray which holds a number of reagent cartridges for the various different tests to be performed. In the machine the samples are transferred, normally by pipetting into an assay cell where the sample is combined with the necessary reagent or reagents. The assay cell is then transferred to a part of a machine where it can be held for sufficient time for the reagent and the sample to combine. Thereafter the sample cell is transferred to the detector which detects the presence of a known indicator to determine whether or not the sample contained a particular component and/or how much of that component was present in the assay. Normally a robotic arm is used for transferring the assay cell around the machine, for example from the loading area to the wash station, to the waiting after and onward to the detector. Whilst assay apparatus of this type can offer semi-automated functioning, problems do occur due to the mechanical movement of the samples. Furthermore, it is necessary to have pipettes with replaceable pipette tips or other means to ensure that one sample does not contaminate another sample when being. As each sample cell must be incubated with the appropriate reagents, a relatively large number of sample cells may have to be incubated at any one time and thus the size of the machine remains relatively large due to the space required for the waiting area.
Recently, it has been suggested to use flow injection tech
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French Martin Thomas
Palmer Derek Adeyemi
Chin Christopher L.
Kalibrant Limited
Pham Minh-Quan K.
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