Chemical apparatus and process disinfecting – deodorizing – preser – Analyzer – structured indicator – or manipulative laboratory... – Sample mechanical transport means in or for automated...
Patent
1996-07-29
1998-12-15
Le, Long V.
Chemical apparatus and process disinfecting, deodorizing, preser
Analyzer, structured indicator, or manipulative laboratory...
Sample mechanical transport means in or for automated...
422 63, 422 64, 422 67, 422 8205, 436 43, 436 47, 436 48, 436 49, 436165, G01N 3502
Patent
active
058492470
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to apparatus for immunological assay of various substances in biological samples, and suitable for fully automating the assay methods in use, which methods are of the following types: ELISA, RIA, FIA, LIA, FPIA, CLIA, etc.
Apparatus of this type has already been described in international application WO 91/07662, to which reference may be made for a more detailed description of the assays performed, that known apparatus essentially comprising three turntables respectively carrying about 100 reaction wells, reagents, and samples to be analyzed, means enabling samples and reagents to be taken and placed in the reaction wells, means for reading the results of the assay optically, and a controlling computer system enabling preprogrammed analysis cycles to be performed, which cycles require two complete revolutions of the turntable carrying the reaction wells when performing single-reagent type assays, and three complete revolutions of said turntable when performing dual-reagent type assays, thereby enabling throughput at a rate of about 100 assays per hour, which result is already quite remarkable compared with the competition.
The present invention seeks in particular to increase the performance of that known apparatus very considerably.
To this end it provides an automatic immunological assay apparatus, comprising reaction wells, means for supporting samples to be analyzed, means for supporting reagents, means for taking determined quantities of samples and of reagents and depositing them in the reaction wells, means for reading assay results, and means for displacing the wells stepwise past the means for taking samples and reagents and the means for reading the results, the apparatus being characterized in that the reaction wells are grouped in modules each formed as a single piece and comprising a certain number of longitudinally juxtaposed reaction wells, the modules being supported and guided by fixed elements defining an open loop track along which there extends a chain or belt that engages the side faces of the modules to move them from one end of said track to the other end, automatic module feed means and module ejection means being provided respectively at the upstream end and at the downstream end of said track.
In this way, the modules in which the reaction wells are formed are entrained in the apparatus of the invention from one end to the other of a displacement track whose length is determined as a function of the maximum duration of the assays to be performed, thereby avoiding any need to pass the wells two or three times in succession through the same places.
When the reaction wells are advanced by one step every 10 seconds, the known apparatus described in the above-mentioned PCT international application operates at about 120 assays per hour, whereas the apparatus of the invention operates at 360 assays per hour, so its throughput is three times greater than that of the known apparatus.
Advantageously, the track on which the modules move is U-shaped.
The wells are thus moved in one direction along one of the branches of the U-shape, and then in the other direction along the other branch of the U-shape, thereby making it possible to halve the total length of the apparatus and thus reduce its overall size.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the fixed elements for supporting and guiding the modules are rails between which the wells extend vertically, and the means for displacing the modules comprise a cog belt or chain engaging with the side faces of the modules, the modules being driven in translation and being displaced by sliding over the above-mentioned rails or fixed elements.
An important advantage of the invention is that the modules formed with the reaction wells are easily mass-produced at very low price, which makes it possible to discard them after a single use.
Further, these modules are easier to store, to handle, to move, and to guide than are individual reaction wells, and they are also stackable in one another, thereby facilitating packagi
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Gicquel Thierry
Uzan Michel
Le Long V.
Merck S.A.
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