Reagent consumable compatible with multi-channel liquid distributor and working process of reagent consumable

Abstract

Consumables for multi-channel liquid dispensing devices and multi-channel testing devices and use workflows of the devices are described. Consumables of the present disclosure may include multiple containers pre-loaded with reagents (e.g., known diluents of any reagents, such as standards, proteins, chemicals, or other desired materials). A multi-channel liquid dispensing device may be used to synchronously draw quantitative reagents from all containers of a consumable, and in turn to synchronously dispense the reagents into multiple rows of pores of a porous device, such as a microplate, for further downstream reaction and / or detection use. Downstream detection may be performed in a detection instrument, such as a spectrophotometer, fluorometer, or other instrument. The consumables of the present disclosure provide a variety of advantages, such as time savings as compared to preparing reagent diluents individually, measuring reagent / reagent diluents individually, and dispensing them into each individual well of a porous device for downstream reactions / assays. The consumables of the present disclosure may include a plurality of rows, each row including a consumable with a plurality of containers or cuvettes.

Description

Background Related Applications

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 434,099, filed on Dec. 21, 2022, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to consumables compatible with multi-channel liquid dispensing devices and workflows using these consumables. Background Art

[0003] Protein assays such as ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), BCA (bicinchoninic acid assay), and Bradford require specific standards to determine the relative protein concentration of a sample. For ELISA, the standards used match the protein to be assayed. General protein detection assays (such as the BCA assay) use a universal protein standard, which is typically BSA (bovine serum albumin) in most cases. These standards need to be assayed together with the sample to obtain a quantitative protein concentration value (e.g., mg / ml). A standard curve of the protein standard (such as BSA) is generated, and then the relative concentration of the protein in the assayed sample is calculated / determined by plotting the concentration of the protein in the sample obtained from the assay on the protein standard curve. Protein standards usually need to be made by the user or purchased from commercial suppliers and must be prepared as a dilution series to determine the effective range and sensitivity of the assay. The accuracy of preparing the standard solution is extremely important for the overall accuracy of protein content determination. Voice-of-the-customer surveys indicate that the preparation of standards is one of the common pain points in performing quantitative protein assays.

[0004] Users often incorrectly prepare the standards and / or make mistakes when transferring the standards to the appropriate assay containers. Typically, users use an 8×12 well (96 well) microplate and simply add 5 - 25 microliters of the standard to the microplate, repeating two or three times. The standard curve usually contains 7 - 8 points, representing 7 different concentrations of protein standards and a sample blank. In addition to the pipetting steps required to accurately prepare the protein standards, the user must accurately dispense 21 - 24 standards into the correct wells of the microplate. This is usually done using a single-channel pipette, which involves aspirating the standards from 7 - 8 different containers, increasing the chance of error due to selecting the wrong standard. These assays are typically performed in a high-throughput manner, which can lead to ergonomic problems when pipetting these standards separately into multiple microplates. Manually dispensing the standards into the microplate using a single-channel pipette can be time-consuming, especially when using multiple microplates. In cases where a large sample volume requires many microplates, it is usually necessary to automate these assays to save time and reduce the ergonomic burden on the personnel performing these assays.

[0005] Protein standards for ELISA, BCA, and Bradford protein assays are commercially available. In most cases, users purchase these ready-to-use standards and dilute them to a protein standard solution suitable for the assay according to the detection requirements. For some protein standards (such as BSA and bovine γ-globulin (BGG)), commercial suppliers go a step further and directly provide standards pre-diluted to the appropriate concentration required for each assay. These commercially available pre-diluted standards are provided in 1-3 mL screw-cap plastic bottles, individually labeled with the concentration, but still require opening each plastic bottle and tightening the cap after use. These pre-diluted protein standards also require users to manually pipette them into the microplate and are not compatible with multi-channel pipettes.

[0006] Attempts have been made to address accuracy and error issues by using electronic repeat pipettes, automated equipment, and a microplate guidance system that guides users to dispense the correct pre-diluted standards into the correct corresponding wells. However, the risk of user operation errors still exists. In addition, it has been found that some users skip steps and do not re-run the standard curve each time they perform an analysis, but instead use the previous standard curve data to determine the protein concentration of the sample. Therefore, the prior art still lacks an effective and accurate solution for preparing and dispensing diluted reagents, such as protein standards. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present disclosure provides multi-channel pipette-compatible reagent consumables and corresponding workflows that solve one or more of the problems described in the previous sections.

[0008] One embodiment of the present disclosure includes a consumable for use with a multi-channel liquid dispensing device. The consumable includes: a plurality of interconnected containers, where each container holds a reagent of a different dilution and each container is configured to receive a tip of the multi-channel liquid dispensing device to dispense the reagent; and one or more orientation markings configured to indicate the orientation to be adopted when placing the plurality of containers relative to the multi-channel liquid dispensing device.

[0009] Another embodiment of the present disclosure includes a consumable that includes multiple rows, where each row includes: a plurality of interconnected containers, where each container holds a reagent of a different dilution and each container is configured to fit a tip of the multi-channel liquid dispensing device to dispense the reagent; and one or more orientation markings configured to indicate the orientation to be adopted when placing the plurality of containers relative to the multi-channel liquid dispensing device. The consumables of the present disclosure may include one or more covers, including seals, caps, or lids. The plurality of containers of a consumable may include test tubes, vials, wells, trays, or any container or vessel with partition walls or surfaces to form the plurality of containers.

[0010] Another embodiment of the present disclosure includes a method of using consumables compatible with a multi-channel pipetting device. The method includes: 1) removing one or more caps from a plurality of containers that make up the consumables, each of the plurality of containers of the consumables containing a reagent at a different dilution, and each container including a top adapted for a multi-channel pipette tip of a multi-channel liquid dispenser; the consumables further including one or more orientation markings configured to indicate the orientation to be adopted when placing the plurality of containers relative to the multi-channel liquid dispenser; placing each multi-channel pipette tip of the multi-channel liquid dispenser into one of the plurality of containers respectively to aspirate reagents at different dilutions into the multi-channel pipette tips according to the one or more orientation markings. The method further includes dispensing the reagents at different dilutions from the multi-channel liquid dispenser into one or more wells of a multi-well container (and may include dispensing the reagents into one or more rows of wells of the multi-well container).

[0011] In some embodiments of a method according to the present disclosure, one or more wells of the multi-well container may contain one or more additional materials (such as substances, chemicals, biochemical substances or other reagents), the additional materials being capable of reacting with the reagents contained in the consumables and forming a detectable reaction; and the method may further include detecting the reaction formed in one or more wells of the multi-well container.

[0012] In some embodiments of a method according to the present disclosure, one or more wells of the multi-well container may contain one or more additional materials (such as substances, chemicals, biochemical substances or other reagents), the additional materials being capable of reacting with the reagents contained in the consumables and forming a detectable reaction. The method may further include detecting the reaction formed in one or more wells of the multi-well container.

[0013] Another embodiment of the present disclosure includes a method of detecting one or more substances or reagents in a multi-well plate. The method includes using a multi-channel liquid dispensing device to dispense a certain amount of a reagent into one or more wells of a multi-well container, the reagent being contained in consumables, the consumables including: a plurality of containers configured to fit the tips of a multi-channel liquid dispensing device, each container containing a reagent at a different dilution; and one or more orientation markings configured to indicate the orientation to be adopted when placing the plurality of containers of the consumables relative to the multi-channel liquid dispensing device. The method further includes adding one or more substances to one or more wells of the multi-well container to form a reaction between the reagent and the one or more substances; inserting the multi-well container into a container of a detection instrument; exciting the reaction in the plurality of wells of the multi-well container with one or more light sources. Subsequent steps may include measuring the output signal of the excited reaction. The measurement may include, for example, measuring: extinction, colorimetric properties, fluorescence intensity, luminescence intensity or chemiluminescence properties.

[0014] Another embodiment of the present disclosure includes a method for detecting one or more substances or reagents in a microplate. The method includes dispensing reagents from a consumable into a plurality of wells of the microplate, wherein the consumable includes: a plurality of interconnected containers, each of which contains reagents at different dilutions, and each container is configured to receive a tip of a multi-channel liquid dispensing device to dispense the reagents; and one or more orientation markings configured to indicate the orientation to be adopted when placing the plurality of containers relative to the multi-channel liquid dispensing device. The method further includes adding one or more substances to the microplate to form a reaction between the reagents and the one or more substances; inserting the microplate into a container of a detection instrument; exciting the reaction in the plurality of wells with one or more light sources; and measuring the excitation output. The excitation output can be used to detect or quantify one or more substances or the reagents. Measuring the excitation output can include measuring one or more of the following: absorbance; extinction; colorimetric properties; fluorescence intensity; luminescence intensity; and chemiluminescence properties. The detection instrument can include at least one of the following: a fluorometer; an ELISA reader; a photometer; a colorimeter; a chemiluminescence analyzer; and a spectrophotometer. In some embodiments of the method, detecting one or more substances or reagents includes detecting or quantifying the one or more substances or reagents.

[0015] Another embodiment of the present disclosure includes a method for detecting one or more substances in a microplate. The method includes dispensing reagents from a consumable into the plurality of wells of the microplate, wherein the consumable includes: a plurality of interconnected containers, each of which contains reagents at different dilutions, and each container is configured to receive a tip of a multi-channel liquid dispensing device to dispense the reagents; and one or more positioning markings configured to indicate the orientation to be adopted when placing the plurality of containers relative to the multi-channel liquid dispensing device. The method further includes adding one or more substances to the microplate to form a reaction between the reagents and the one or more substances; inserting the microplate into a container of a detection instrument; irradiating the reaction in the plurality of wells with one or more light sources; and measuring the reaction output. In some examples, the measurement can include measuring one or more of the following: absorbance; extinction; colorimetric properties; fluorescence intensity; luminescence intensity; and chemiluminescence properties. Additional steps can include obtaining a standard curve corresponding to different reagent dilutions by plotting the reaction and different reagent concentrations on the axes of a graph. Other additional steps can include dispensing a sample with an unknown reagent concentration into one or more empty rows of the microplate; mixing the sample with one or more substances in the one or more empty rows to facilitate a plurality of detectable reactions; and plotting the plurality of detectable reactions on the standard curve to infer the value of the sample with the unknown concentration. Thus, the reagent concentration can be detected and quantified by the method described herein, and the consumables of the present disclosure can facilitate the method.

[0016] This disclosure of the invention is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described below in the detailed description. This abstract is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to define the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0017] The features and technical advantages of the present disclosure have been outlined quite extensively above so that the following detailed description of the embodiments may be better understood. Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be set forth in the following description, some of which can be directly obtained from the description or learned by implementing the present disclosure. The features and advantages of the present disclosure can be achieved and obtained by means of the apparatus and combinations specifically pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following description and the appended claims, or can be learned by implementing the present disclosure set forth below. Those skilled in the art should understand that the disclosed concepts and specific embodiments can be easily used as a basis for modifying or designing other structures to achieve the same purpose as the present invention. Those skilled in the art should also understand that such equivalent technical solutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention defined by the appended claims. Reading the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings can more clearly understand the novel features of the present invention in terms of its structural composition and operating method, as well as other purposes and advantages of the present invention. However, it should be clearly understood that the purpose of providing the various figures is only for illustration and description, and is not intended to define the scope of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] To clarify the manner in which the advantages and features of the present disclosure (including those described above and other related advantages and features) are realized, the present disclosure will be described in detail below in connection with specific embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that these drawings only show typical embodiments of the present disclosure and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of protection of the present disclosure. The present disclosure will be described and explained in more specific and detailed manner below in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0019] Figures 1A to 1B An exemplary embodiment of the consumables of the present disclosure is shown;

[0020] Figures 2A to 2F An exemplary embodiment of the consumables of the present disclosure is shown;

[0021] Figure 3 An exemplary embodiment of the heat seal of the present disclosure is shown;

[0022] Figure 4 An exemplary embodiment of transferring the consumables to the porous plate of the present disclosure is shown;

[0023] Figure 5 An exemplary embodiment of the spectrophotometer of the present disclosure is shown;

[0024] Figure 6 Shows an exemplary workflow using consumables compatible with the multi-channel dispensing device of the present disclosure;

[0025] Figure 7 Shows an exemplary workflow for testing one or more substances in the microplate of the present disclosure; and

[0026] Figure 8 Shows a comparison of the time taken to generate a standard curve by existing methods with the exemplary workflow of the present disclosure. Detailed Description

[0027] Before describing the embodiments of the present disclosure in detail, it should be understood that the scope of protection of the present disclosure is not limited to the specific parameters of the following specifically illustrated systems, methods, devices, products, processes, kits, and / or examples, and such parameters may of course vary. Therefore, although certain embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail in connection with specific structures, parameters, components, and elements, such descriptions are only for illustrative purposes and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention defined by the claims. In addition, the terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing the embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention claimed.

[0028] The present invention describes consumables for multi-channel liquid dispensing devices and multi-channel testing devices, as well as the usage workflow of such devices. The consumables of the present disclosure include multiple containers pre-filled with reagents (such as known dilutions of any reagent, standards, proteins, chemicals, biochemicals, nucleic acids, or other required materials). The multi-channel liquid dispensing device can be used to synchronously withdraw a quantitative reagent from all containers of the consumables described in the present disclosure and further synchronously dispense the reagent into multiple wells and / or rows of wells of a porous container device (such as a microplate) for downstream reactions and / or detections. The downstream detections can be performed in a detection instrument, such as a spectrophotometer, a fluorometer, or other instruments. The consumables of the present disclosure offer various advantages, such as saving time compared to separately preparing reagent dilutions, separately measuring the reagent / reagent dilutions, and dispensing them into each individual well of a porous device for downstream reactions / detections. The consumables of the present disclosure can include multiple rows, and each row includes consumables having multiple containers or tubes.

[0029] Embodiments of the present disclosure include multi-channel pipette compatible (MCPC) tube consumables containing pre-diluted reagents, such as target protein standards for microplate-based protein assays (such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)), or nucleic acid standards for measuring nucleic acid concentration, or any other chemical or biochemical substance, including other detection standards that can be used in various assays and systems. These embodiments can address multiple challenges existing in the prior art. The features of certain embodiments may include one or more of the following: · The consumables and its multiple containers containing reagents can be appropriately spaced for direct picking up with a multi-channel pipette, or the sample can be directly dispensed into a standard microplate (usually including 96 wells). · The containers of the consumables of the present disclosure can be spaced apart to facilitate use in an automated liquid handler. · The consumables may have one or more orientation markings configured to indicate the orientation to be adopted when placing the multiple containers relative to a multi-channel liquid dispensing device. · The containers of the consumables of the present disclosure can be connected such that the concentration order of the reagents contained therein, such as pre-diluted reagents (e.g., protein standards or nucleic acid standards), is not disturbed. · The containers of the consumables of the present disclosure can be heat-sealed with foil to prevent leakage and evaporation. · The seal may include an aluminum foil tab to make the consumables easier to open and provide additional orientation indication for the loading order of the reagents (including reagent diluents) contained in the consumables. · The individual containers of the consumables can be easily opened and resealed with a single strip capping for multiple uses. · The consumables can be provided in a holder to facilitate aliquoting or pipetting from the individual containers of the consumables, thereby improving the convenience of aliquoting and pipetting.

[0030] Embodiments include consumables containing multiple containers (e.g., test tubes), which can simplify the process of adding reagents or other materials to the wells or other containers of a multi-well type device (e.g., a microplate). Then, the multi-well device can be inserted into a multi-channel detection device for further downstream processing of the added reagents and any other materials.

[0031] The consumable embodiments described herein are compatible with multi-channel pipette devices (manual or automated devices). Embodiments also include groups of consumables, such as groups of 10, 12, 16, 20 or more consumables connected together, each consumable including multiple containers. Such groups of consumables may also be referred to as consumables. Embodiments also include removable covers or caps for the consumables.

[0032] Embodiments also include methods of using the consumables of the present disclosure.

[0033] Examples of the multiple containers described herein may include, for example, an eight-well container, or a ten-well container, or a twelve-well container or more consumables, which are pre-encapsulated with reagents or materials (such as various dilutions of reagents or other materials). Such examples allow a multi-channel liquid dispensing device (such as a multi-channel pipette) to draw reagents or other materials from a test tube and dispense them into another multi-well container (such as a multi-well plate) in a single step. Currently commercially available pre-diluted standards are provided in individual screw-cap vials or single tubes and are not in a form compatible with multi-channel dispensers. The multi-channel dispenser-compatible form of the consumables of the present disclosure provides one or more advantages to the user, such as: continuously pipetting diluted reagents / materials from the consumables into a multi-well container for further downstream reactions with the reagents / materials, being able to perform assays that require pipetting / dispensing reagents / materials / reagent dilutions into multiple containers automatically or semi-automatically, reducing the time spent dispensing reagents, and reducing the error rate of transferring the correct dilution of the reagent / dilution of the reagent / material into multiple containers.

[0034] Figure 1A and Figure 1B An embodiment of the consumables of the present disclosure is shown. The consumables 100 include a plurality of containers, which are test tubes 110 in this embodiment. In the embodiment, eight test tubes 110 are connected together in a row. There may be other numbers of test tubes 110 (two, four, six, 10, 12, 16, 20, etc.), container types and combinations (single row, 4x2, 10x7, other arrangements). Each test tube 110 contains reagents 130 with different dilutions. The orientation identifier 150 is optional. The identifier 150 may include letters, numbers, shapes, arrows, colors, or other markings or physical components or devices for indicating how to orient the consumables using a multi-channel liquid dispensing device or how the user should insert a manual multi-channel pipetting device into the test tube 110. The identifier 150 may be located on one test tube 110, on all test tubes 110, on some test tubes 110, or on a cap or seal attached to the consumables 100 (not shown here). The identifier 150 may include tabs, holes, or other protrusions or deformations on the consumables 110 / cap. The multiple test tubes 110 are preferably connected to each other at a position such as the top or near the top. The test tubes 110 have open ends to enable liquid dispensing (e.g., pipetting).

[0035] Figure 2A - Figure 2F Various possible embodiments of the consumables of the present disclosure are shown.

[0036] Figure 2A A consumable 210 with multiple columns 212 is shown, and each column 212 includes, for example Figure 1A - Figure 1BThe consumables of consumable 100. Columns 212 can be all connected together, preferably enabling the user to easily separate individual columns 212 from other columns 212 by tearing off, cutting, or otherwise.

[0037] Figure 2B Consumable 220 is shown, where each container 223 has its own removable cap 225. The tab 227 may include orientation markings.

[0038] Figure 2C A consumable 230 is shown, which has an integral cap 235 provided with a plurality of dome-shaped structures 233 configured to fit and connect with respective containers 237. The tab 239 may include orientation markings, such as holes 238.

[0039] Figure 2D Consumable 240 with a tab 245 extending therefrom is shown. The hole 247 may include orientation markings. In consumable 240, individual test tubes 243 are connected together by a ferrule 241 that surrounds the upper half of the test tubes 243 to connect the test tubes 243 together. The ferrule 241 is physically integrated into the consumable 240.

[0040] Figure 2E A side view of consumable 250 is shown. In consumable 250, the test tubes 255 are connected together at the top surface 257 of each test tube 255.

[0041] Figure 2F Consumable 260 is shown. Consumable 260 helps to illustrate that the container 265 does not have to include test tubes as shown in other embodiments. Consumable 260 is more similar to a tray provided with a plurality of slots.

[0042] Figure 3 A heat seal 520 connected to the top of a consumable (not shown) including eight containers 515 is shown. The heat seal 520 may be provided with a protrusion 525 that facilitates the user's grasping and peeling the heat seal 520 from the consumable. The heat seal 520 may include various markings 530. The markings 530 may indicate the contents of the corresponding container 515, orientation markings, reagent type, or other information. The heat seal 520 may include an aluminum or other metal seal, or may include other materials. The heat seal 520 may be coupled to a single consumable (e.g., a row of eight test tubes) or multiple consumables (e.g., a set of five, eight, ten, or any number of consumables).

[0043] In a typical embodiment, a set of consumables with attached heat seals may be delivered to the customer. The consumables may include a plurality of containers, where a standard dilution of a reagent is pre-loaded. After the first use (and removal of the heat seal), the user can place a lid (e.g., Figure 2B cap 225 of Figure 2CThe cap 235) is connected to the consumable to protect the contents for subsequent use.

[0044] Figure 4 An embodiment of a consumable 660 is shown, and how it is used in conjunction with a multi-channel liquid dispensing / pipetting device 670 and a microplate 600. The consumable 660 has a plurality of containers 610 and may have markings (such as color codes, printed text, or numbers or symbols), physical features (such as holes or tabs), or any other markings to indicate different concentrations or dilutions of a given reagent. The markings may include orientation markings for the consumable. The microplate 660 may include typical multi-well containers for biological or chemical assay analysis. Such multi-well containers can be placed in spectrophotometers, fluorometers, photometers, microplate readers, and other types of assay instruments. The microplate 600 includes rows 630 and columns 625, each row having a plurality of wells 635 (in this case, and by way of example only, 8 wells in row 630 and 12 wells in column 625). The wells 635 may already contain assay materials, proteins, nucleic acids, biochemicals, chemicals, or other reagents, or other substances that can react with pre-diluted reagents in the consumable to form a detectable reaction. Alternatively, these materials can be added subsequently to the wells 635 of the microplate 600. The multi-channel pipetting device 670 can be manual or part of an automated machine. A user (manually or by automated means, such as programming a machine) may wish to pipette reagents from the consumable 660 into each row 630 of the microplate 600. In prior art methods, this would need to be done one pipette and one container 610 at a time. According to the present disclosure, the multi-channel pipetting device 670 can simultaneously aspirate reagents from each container 610 and then simultaneously dispense that reagent into the wells 635 of the rows 630 (or even columns 625) of the microplate 600. The multi-channel dispenser 670 compatible form of the present disclosure consumable 660 provides one or more advantages to the user, such as: consistently aspirating diluted reagents / materials from the consumable 660 into the multi-well container 600, which can be used for further downstream reactions with other assay materials / other reagents / substances. This also enables automated or semi-automated operation of assay analysis (where reagents / materials / diluted reagents need to be pipetted or dispensed into multiple containers), thereby significantly reducing the liquid dispensing time and reducing the error rate when pipetting the correct dilution concentration of reagents / materials into multiple containers.

[0045] In some cases where further downstream reactions are to be carried out, several assay rows 640 of the microplate 600 may be retained for standardization purposes. These assay rows 640 cannot be used with the second material and can only accept reagents from the consumable 660. When the assay rows 640 are assayed in an assay instrument (such as a spectrophotometer / fluorometer / etc.), the detected light / color / excitation change / characteristics should confirm the standard dilution gradient of the reagent, as indicated by the orientation markings. Test materials such as proteins, other reagents, or other substances may be added to each well 635 before or after aspirating the reagent from the consumable 660 to allow a reaction to form between the reagent from the consumable and the test material in the well to form a detectable reaction. Depending on the specific test required, additional substances / reagents / chemicals / stimulants and an incubation period may be required to form a detectable reaction. Figure 4 Shows the composition and steps of a workflow using a consumable compatible with the multi-channel liquid dispenser of the present disclosure.

[0046] Figure 5 An exemplary assay instrument is shown, described herein as an exemplary spectrophotometer 800 that can assay a microplate 820. The microplate 820 can be inserted into the spectrophotometer 800 for inspection after loading reagents and test materials or other desired substances from the consumable. The spectrophotometer can excite or illuminate each well and detect the output. However, according to the present disclosure, those skilled in the art will recognize that any other assay instrument, such as a fluorometer; an ELISA reader; a photometer; a chemiluminescence detector, etc., can be used instead of the spectrophotometer 800, which is used herein as an exemplary assay instrument to describe the workflow and method of the present disclosure. Continue Figure 4 And in the exemplary workflow and method embodiments described in the above and other sections, after a reaction is formed between one or more assay substances or materials added to or contained in the microplate 820 and the reagent of the consumable in one or more wells of the microplate 820, the microplate is inserted into the container of the assay instrument 800. The assay instrument 800 can be used to cause excitation of the reaction in multiple wells by one or more light sources and then measure the output of the reaction excitation. The excitation output can be used to detect or quantify one or more substances or the reagent. Measuring the excitation output may include measuring one or more of the following: absorbance; extinction; colorimetric characteristics; fluorescence intensity; luminescence intensity; and chemiluminescence characteristics. In some embodiments of the method, detecting one or more substances or reagents includes detecting or quantifying the one or more substances or reagents.

[0047] The embodiments described herein provide many benefits. One benefit is automation capabilities, where the consumables of the present disclosure can automate any microplate assay because the consumables can have any number and any shape of containers and can form any combination of rows, columns, and number of containers to match the form of any liquid handling device, any robotic liquid dispenser, and any multi-channel liquid dispenser. Another benefit is time reduction, which is embodied in the reduction of the number of liquid dispensing / transfer steps and the number of opening and closing steps for each individual standard container or test tube. Another advantage is accuracy, which is embodied in that pre-diluted reagents (e.g., protein standards, nucleic acid standards, chemical standards, etc.) can be prepared in a production environment with appropriate quality control specifications. In addition, pipetting errors can be significantly reduced: under the guidance of orientation markings, a multi-channel pipette can synchronously transfer all pre-diluted reagents from the consumables in a single step and accurately dispense them into the corresponding wells of a multi-well container (e.g., simultaneously transfer all protein standards required for a protein standard curve from the consumables of the present disclosure in one step and dispense them into the corresponding wells of a multi-well container in one step), thereby reducing the probability of incorrect dilution loading in wells caused by user operation errors in the following aspects: 1) aspiration, 2) dispensing, and 3) selecting an incorrectly diluted reagent, and reducing the number of pipetting steps. In an example where the pre-diluted reagent includes a protein standard, the protein standard can be marked with an identification indicating the highest (or lowest) protein concentration at the topmost container of the consumables to ensure the correct loading direction into the microplate.

[0048] Exemplary consumables can be pre-loaded with reagents and / or standard solutions. The detection standards used can be proteins, such as BSA, BGG, IgG (immunoglobulin G) proteins, enzymes, or other peptides, nucleic acids, and compounds for ELISA or other methods. For example, the consumables can be loaded with pre-diluted BSA standards with concentration ranges including, but not limited to, 2000 μg / mL, 1500 μg / mL, 1000 μg / mL, 750 μg / mL, 500 μg / mL, 250 μg / ml, and 125 μg / ml for any protein concentration detection assay, including, but not limited to, protein assays based on the BCA, Lowry, and Bradford methods. These amounts may vary by + / - 5%.

[0049] Another possibility is BSA standards in the range including, but not limited to, 10000 μg / ml, 5000 μg / ml, 2000 μg / ml, 1000 μg / ml, 500 μg / ml, 250 μg / ml, or 125 μg / ml ranges for determination.

[0050] Single-use consumables can hold solutions of various dilutions, e.g., from picograms per milliliter to milligrams per milliliter, and even up to grams per milliliter. In some embodiments, ELISA protein standards can be used, such as intracellular proteins or extracellular proteins. Examples of intracellular proteins include phosphorylated proteins, cyclins, and nuclear transcription factors. Examples of extracellular proteins can include cytokines or biomarkers found in whole blood, serum, or plasma. The chemical standards used can include glutathione for the Ellman reagent method, and N-ethyl maleimide for the detection of maleimide concentration. Other examples of pre-diluted reagents that can be loaded into the consumables of the present disclosure include protein-fluorophore conjugates, DNA standards, RNA standards (DNA and RNA standards are common in fluorescence assays, etc.), chemical standards, or others.

[0051] Figure 6 and Figure 7 A flowchart showing several possible method embodiments according to the present disclosure.

[0052] Figure 6 Method 900 in is a method of using a consumable compatible with a multi-channel pipetting device. Step 910 includes removing one or more caps from a plurality of containers of the consumable, each of the plurality of containers of the consumable containing a reagent of a different dilution, and each container including a top adapted for a multi-channel pipette tip of a multi-channel liquid dispenser; the consumable further includes one or more orientation markings configured to indicate the orientation to be used when placing the plurality of containers relative to the multi-channel liquid dispenser; step 920 includes placing each multi-channel pipette tip of the multi-channel liquid dispenser into one of the plurality of containers to aspirate reagents of different dilutions into the multi-channel pipette tips according to one or more orientation markings. Step 930 includes dispensing the different dilutions in the multi-channel liquid dispenser into one or more rows of a multi-well container.

[0053] Method 900 can cover a variety of variants and include additional or alternative steps. For example, one or more rows can contain one or more additional materials for promoting a detectable reaction with the reagent. In some embodiments, the method can further include dispensing one or more additional materials into one or more rows, which are configured to promote a detectable reaction with the reagent. The one or more additional materials can include one or more chemicals, other reagents, proteins, or other substances. The additional steps can include detecting the reaction within one or more rows / wells. In some embodiments, the detection can include one or more of the following: colorimetry; absorbance; fluorescence; luminescence; and chemiluminescence. These methods can be used to detect the presence of a reagent or a substance / material.

[0054] The method may optionally further include generating a standard curve by plotting detectable reactions corresponding to different dilutions of the reagent on a graph.

[0055] Some embodiments may also include dispensing a sample with an unknown reagent concentration into one or more empty rows of the porous container; mixing the sample with one or more substances in the one or more empty rows to facilitate a plurality of detectable reactions; plotting the plurality of detectable reactions on the standard curve to infer the value of the sample with the unknown reagent / substance concentration. These methods can be used to quantify the reagent or the substance.

[0056] In some cases, the method may include placing one or more caps on the plurality of containers, the one or more caps being connected together and configured to be connected to the plurality of containers after removal of one or more sealing layers. In some cases, detection can be performed by one or more of a fluorometer, an ELISA reader, a luminometer, a colorimeter, a chemiluminometer, and a spectrophotometer.

[0057] Figure 7 Method 1100 is a method for detecting one or more substances in a microplate. Step 1110 includes dispensing a quantity of a reagent into one or more wells of a porous container using a multi-channel liquid dispensing device, the reagent being contained in a consumable, the consumable including: 1) a plurality of containers configured to fit tips of the multi-channel liquid dispensing device, each container containing a different dilution of the reagent; and 2) one or more orientation markings configured to indicate the orientation to be adopted when placing the plurality of containers of the consumable relative to the multi-channel liquid dispensing device. Step 1120 is to add one or more substances to one or more wells of the porous container to form a reaction between the reagent and the one or more substances. Step 1130 is to insert the porous container into a container of a detection instrument. Step 1140 is to expose the reactions in the plurality of wells of the porous container to one or more light sources or to excite with one or more light sources. Step 1150 is to measure the output of the excitation (or irradiation). Examples of measuring the output generated by light irradiation or excitation include: absorbance; extinction; colorimetric properties; fluorescence intensity; luminescence intensity; or chemiluminescent properties.

[0058] Method 1100 can cover a variety of variant schemes and include additional or alternative steps. In some embodiments, the measurement can be performed by analyzing one or more of absorbance, colorimetric properties, fluorescence levels, luminescence, chemiluminescence properties, or another characteristic. The method can further include obtaining a standard curve corresponding to different dilutions of the reagent by plotting the reaction and different concentrations of the reagent on the axes of the graph. This can further include dispensing a sample with an unknown reagent concentration into one or more empty rows of the microplate; mixing the sample with one or more substances in the one or more empty rows to facilitate a plurality of detectable reactions; plotting the plurality of detectable reactions on the standard curve to infer the value of the sample with an unknown concentration. In some embodiments, the detection instrument can include at least one of a fluorometer, a microplate reader, a photometer, a spectrophotometer, or another type of detection instrument. List of Abbreviations for Defined Terms

[0059] To assist in understanding the scope and content of this written specification and the appended claims, several selected terms are directly defined below. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

[0060] As used herein, the terms “about,” “approximately,” and “substantially” mean an amount or condition that is close to the specifically noted amount or condition and that still performs the desired function or achieves the desired result. For example, the terms “about,” “approximately,” and “substantially” can refer to a deviation of less than 10%, or less than 5%, or less than 1%, or less than 0.1%, or less than 0.01% from the specifically noted amount or condition.

[0061] Various aspects of the disclosure, including apparatus, systems, methods, etc., may be described with reference to one or more exemplary embodiments or implementations. As used herein, the term “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration” and should not necessarily be construed as preferred or superior to other embodiments disclosed herein. Additionally, a reference to an “implementation” of the disclosure includes a particular reference to one or more of its embodiments and vice versa, and such reference is intended to provide illustrative examples without limiting the scope of the invention, the scope of the disclosure being indicated by the appended claims rather than the following description.

[0062] As used in the specification, words in the singular form encompass their corresponding plural forms, and words in the plural form encompass their corresponding singular forms, unless there is an implicit or explicit understanding or statement to the contrary. Thus, it should be noted that, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include plural referents. For example, when referring to a single referent (e.g., "widget"), it includes one, two, or more referents, unless there is an implicit or explicit understanding or statement to the contrary. Similarly, unless the context and / or content clearly dictates otherwise, a reference to plural referents should be construed to include a single referent and / or plural referents. For example, a reference to the plural form of a referent (e.g., "a plurality of widgets") does not necessarily require a plurality of such referents. Instead, it should be understood that, unless otherwise stated, the content described in this specification, regardless of the quantity to which it may be extended, encompasses the case of one or more corresponding objects.

[0063] As used herein, directional terms such as "top", "bottom", "left", "right", "up", "down", "upper", "lower", "near", "far", "adjacent", and the like are used herein only to indicate relative directions and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure or the invention claimed.

[0064] Furthermore, it should be understood that, unless there is an implicit or explicit understanding or statement to the contrary, for any given component or embodiment described herein, any possible candidates or alternatives listed for said component can generally be used individually or in combination with each other. Additionally, it should be understood that, unless there is an implicit or explicit understanding or statement to the contrary, any such list of candidates or alternatives is merely illustrative and not restrictive.

[0065] Furthermore, unless otherwise indicated, numbers expressing quantities, ingredients, distances, or other measurements used in the specification and claims should be understood to be modified by the term "about" as defined herein. Thus, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in this specification and the appended claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained from the subject matter presented herein. At the very least, and without attempting to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numerical parameter should be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding methods. While the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the subject matter presented herein are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as possible. However, any numerical value inherently contains certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in its corresponding testing measurements.

[0066] Any headings and subheadings used in this document are for organizational purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the specification or the claims.

[0067] The terms and expressions used herein are descriptive terms rather than limiting terms, and the use of such terms and expressions is not intended to exclude any equivalents or portions thereof of the features shown and described, provided that various modifications are recognized as possible within the scope of the invention described. It should thus be understood that although the invention has been specifically disclosed by way of preferred embodiments, exemplary embodiments and optional features, those skilled in the art may make modifications and variations to the technical concepts disclosed herein, and such modifications and variations should be considered to fall within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. The specific embodiments provided herein are examples of useful embodiments of the invention, and any changes and / or modifications to the features of the invention shown herein, as well as other applications that those skilled in the relevant art can envision based on the principles explained herein after mastering the present disclosure, can be made to the exemplary embodiments as long as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims, and should be considered to fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0068] It should also be understood that a system, apparatus, product, kit, method, and / or process according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure may include, incorporate, or otherwise encompass the attributes or features (such as components, members, elements, parts, and / or constituents) described in other embodiments disclosed and / or described herein. Accordingly, the various features of a given embodiment may be compatible with, combined with, incorporated into, and / or merged into other embodiments of the present disclosure. Therefore, the disclosure of certain features with respect to a particular embodiment of the present disclosure should not be construed as limiting the application or inclusion of such features to that particular embodiment. On the contrary, it should be understood that other embodiments may also include such features, members, elements, parts, and / or portions without necessarily departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0069] Furthermore, unless a feature is described as requiring another feature with which it is to be combined, any feature herein may be combined with any other feature of the same or a different embodiment disclosed herein. Additionally, to avoid obscuring aspects of the exemplary embodiments, various well-known aspects of illustrative systems, methods, devices, etc. are not described in particular detail herein. It is to be understood, however, that these aspects are also to be considered as falling within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0070] All references cited in this application are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, provided that they are not inconsistent with the disclosure of this application. It should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that methods, devices, device elements, materials, steps, and techniques other than those specifically described herein can be applied to the practice of the invention as broadly disclosed herein, provided that no undue experimentation is required. All known functional equivalents in the art of the methods, devices, device elements, materials, steps, and techniques specifically described herein are intended to be covered by this invention.

[0071] When a group of materials, compositions, components, or compounds is disclosed herein, all individual members of the group and all subgroups thereof are to be considered separately disclosed. When a Markush group or other grouping is used herein, all individual members of the group and all combinations and subcombinations that can be formed therefrom are to be considered separately incorporated within the scope of this disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated, each formulation or combination of components described or exemplified herein can be used to practice the invention. For any range given in the specification (e.g., a temperature range, a time range, or a composition range), all intermediate ranges, subranges, and each individual numerical value included within the range are to be considered to be included within this disclosure. All modifications that fall within the equivalent meaning and scope of the claims are to be covered within their scope. Examples Example 1

[0072] One exemplary embodiment demonstrates that using this workflow advantageously reduces setup time compared to other commercially available protein assays.

[0073] Using the Pierce Dilution-Free Rapid Gold BCA assay (including the workflow for generating the BSA standard curve of the present disclosure), the setup time can be reduced by up to 80% compared to other protein assays. Various assays (including Bradford assay and Pierce BCA protein assay) were performed in microplate format according to the manufacturer's protocol and compared with the Pierce Dilution-Free Rapid Gold BCA assay (including the dilution workflow according to the present disclosure). Five cell lysates and five pure proteins were prepared, for a total of ten samples. Standard curves for BCA and Bradford assays were generated by serial dilution of a 2 mg / mL bovine serum albumin (BSA) standard. The standard curve for the Pierce Dilution-Free Rapid Gold BCA assay was generated by using the Pierce Dilution-Free BSA protein standard (an embodiment of the present invention) encapsulated in a multi-channel pipette adapter tube. Four out of the ten samples were expected to have an initial concentration of >2 mg / mL, so sample dilution steps were required for BCA and Bradford assays, while the Dilution-Free Rapid Gold BCA assay did not require sample dilution. The samples were then mixed with the working reagents for each assay and incubated according to the manufacturer's instructions.

[0074] Table 1 and Figure 8 depict the results of the above experiment and show that the setup time of the Pierce Dilution-Free Rapid Gold BCA assay, including the workflow of the present disclosure, is significantly reduced compared to other commercially available protein assays. Standard curves were generated by serial dilution of a 2 mg / mL bovine serum albumin (BSA) standard for Pierce BCA protein assay and Bradford assay, which is different from the automated dilution workflow of the present disclosure used in the Pierce Dilution-Free Rapid Gold BCA assay.

[0075] Table 1:

[0076] Although the present invention has been described in detail with its advantages, it should be understood that various modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to the content herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. In addition, the scope of this application is not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments of the processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. It will be readily understood by those of ordinary skill in the art from the disclosure of the present invention that currently existing or future-developed processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, means, methods or steps, as long as they achieve substantially the same functions or produce substantially the same effects as the corresponding embodiments described herein, can be adopted in accordance with the present invention. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to include such processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, means, methods or steps within their scope.

Claims

1. A consumable for a multi-channel liquid dispensing device, comprising: A plurality of interconnected containers, each of which contains reagents of different dilutions, and each container is configured to be adaptable to a tip of a multi-channel liquid dispensing device to dispense the reagents; And One or more orientation markings configured to indicate the orientation to be adopted when placing the plurality of containers relative to the multi-channel liquid dispensing device.

2. The consumable according to claim 1, characterized in that, The plurality of containers of the consumable are connected by physical bonding on the outer surface.

3. The consumable according to claim 1, characterized in that, Further comprising one or more caps configured to be connected to the top surfaces of the plurality of containers.

4. The consumable according to claim 3, characterized in that, The one or more caps include a plurality of lids or seals connected in a row.

5. The consumable according to claim 3, wherein Further comprising a heat seal bonded to the top surfaces of the plurality of containers, and wherein the one or more caps are configured to be bonded to the plurality of containers after removing the heat seal.

6. The consumable according to claim 3, wherein The one or more caps are separable from each other.

7. The consumable according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The one or more orientation markings include one or more of the following: letters, text, numbers, symbols, shapes, arrows, colors, other markings or physical components.

8. The consumable according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The one or more orientation markings include one or more of the following: tabs; indentations; holes.

9. The consumable according to claim 7 or 8, wherein The one or more orientation markings are connected to one or more of the following: the plurality of containers; the one or more caps; the heat seal.

10. The consumable according to claim 1, characterized in that, The plurality of containers include eight test tubes, and the multi-channel liquid dispensing device includes eight channels.

11. The consumable according to claim 1, characterized in that, The plurality of containers include twelve test tubes, and the multi-channel liquid dispensing device includes twelve channels.

12. The consumable according to claim 1, characterized in that, The reagents include one or more of the following: assay standards; protein-fluorophore conjugates; DNA standards; RNA standards; protein standards, chemical standards.

13. The consumable according to claim 12, characterized in that, The assay standard is a protein assay standard.

14. The consumable according to claim 13, wherein The protein assay standard is at least one of the following: bovine serum albumin; bovine γ-globulin; enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay protein standard; and immunoglobulin G (IgG) standard.

15. The consumable according to claim 14, wherein The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay protein standard contains intracellular or extracellular proteins.

16. The consumable according to claim 15, wherein The intracellular proteins include one or more of the following: phosphorylated proteins; cyclins; and nuclear transcription factors.

17. The consumable according to claim 15, wherein The extracellular proteins include one or more of the following: cytokines; and biomarkers in whole blood, serum and plasma.

18. The consumable according to claim 12, characterized in that, The chemical standard includes one of the following: glutathione for the Ellman test; or N-ethylmaleimide for the determination of maleimide concentration.

19. The consumable according to claim 14, wherein The plurality of containers contain pre-diluted bovine serum albumin standards with a concentration range of about 10000 μg / mL, 5000 μg / mL, 2000 μg / mL, 1500 μg / mL, 1000 μg / mL, 750 μg / mL, 500 μg / mL, 250 μg / ml to about 125 μg / ml.

20. The consumable according to claim 14, wherein The plurality of containers contain pre-diluted bovine serum albumin or bovine γ-globulin standards with a concentration range of about 2000 μg / mL, 1000 μg / mL, 500 μg / mL, 250 μg / mL, 125 μg / mL.

21. The consumable according to claim 14, characterized in that, The plurality of containers are configured to be used in conjunction with one or more of the following: BCA protein assay; Bradford protein assay; Lowry protein assay or other protein assays.

22. The consumable according to claim 1, wherein, The plurality of containers include at least one of the following: containers, tubes, test tubes, microtubes, vials, multi-well tubes, multi-well vials.

23. The consumable according to claim 1, wherein, The plurality of containers contain diluents within one or more of the following ranges: picograms per milliliter; milligrams per milliliter; and grams per milliliter.

24. The consumable according to claim 1, wherein The multi-channel liquid dispensing device includes at least one of the following: multi-channel pipettes, automated multi-channel pipettes; manual multi-channel pipettes.

25. A consumable, comprising: A plurality of rows, where each row includes: A plurality of interconnected containers, where each container contains a reagent of a different dilution, and each container is configured to accommodate a tip of a multi-channel liquid dispensing device to dispense the reagent; and One or more orientation markings configured to indicate the orientation to be adopted when placing the plurality of containers relative to the multi-channel liquid dispensing device.

26. The consumable according to claim 25, wherein The one or more orientation markings include one or more of the following: letters, text, numbers, symbols, shapes, arrows, colors, tabs, indentations or holes.

27. The consumable according to claim 25, wherein Also included are one or more caps configured to be connected to the open ends of the plurality of containers.

28. The consumable according to claim 27, wherein, The one or more caps include one or more of the following: one or more heat seals; one or more closures.

29. The consumable according to any one of claims 25 to 28, characterized in that, Each of the plurality of containers is color-coded according to its dilution.

30. The consumable according to any one of claims 26 to 27, characterized in that, The one or more caps are color-coded according to the dilution of the corresponding container among the plurality of containers.

31. The consumable according to any one of claims 25 to 30, characterized in that, The plurality of rows include two or more rows.

32. The consumable according to any one of claims 25 to 31, characterized in that, The plurality of containers include eight test tubes, ten test tubes, twelve test tubes, sixteen test tubes or twenty test tubes.

33. The consumable according to any one of claims 25 to 32, characterized in that, Each row of the plurality of rows contains a set of the same different diluents at the same position.

34. A method of using a consumable compatible with a multi-channel pipette device, the method comprising: Removing one or more caps from a plurality of containers that make up the consumable, each of the plurality of containers of the consumable containing a reagent of a different dilution, and each container including a top that accommodates a multi-channel pipette tip of a multi-channel liquid dispenser; the consumable further including one or more orientation markings configured to indicate the orientation to be adopted when placing the plurality of containers relative to the multi-channel liquid dispenser; Placing each multi-channel pipette tip of the multi-channel liquid dispenser into one of the plurality of containers of the consumable to aspirate reagents of different dilutions into the multi-channel pipette tips according to one or more orientation markings; and Dispensing the reagents of different dilutions from the multi-channel liquid dispenser into one or more rows of a multi-well container.

35. The method according to claim 34, characterized in that, Also included is: Forming a detectable reaction in one or more rows of the multi-well container by reacting the reagent with a substance, material or additional reagent in the multi-well container.

36. The method according to claim 35, wherein Also included is: Detecting the reaction in one or more rows of the multi-well container.

37. The method according to claim 34, characterized in that, The one or more rows of the multi-well container contain one or more additional materials that react with the reagents contained in the consumable and form a detectable reaction.

38. The method according to claim 34, wherein Also included is: Dispense one or more additional materials into the one or more rows of the porous container, the one or more additional materials being configured to react with the reagent and form a detectable reaction.

39. The method according to any one of claims 37 or 38, characterized in that, The one or more additional materials include one or more of the following: chemicals; other reagents; or proteins.

40. The method according to claim 36, wherein The detection includes using one or more of the following: colorimetry; absorbance; extinction; fluorescence; luminescence; and chemiluminescence.

41. The method according to any one of claims 34 to 40, characterized in that Further comprising: Generate a standard curve by plotting detectable reactions corresponding to different dilutions of the reagent on a graph.

42. The method according to claim 41, characterized in that, Further comprising: Dispense a sample of unknown concentration of the reagent into one or more empty rows of the porous container; Mix the sample with one or more substances in the one or more empty rows to facilitate multiple detectable reactions; and Plot the multiple detectable reactions on the standard curve to infer the value of the sample of unknown concentration.

43. The method according to any one of claims 34 to 42, characterized in that, Further comprising: Place one or more caps on the multiple containers, the one or more caps being connected together and configured to be connected to the multiple containers after removal of one or more sealing layers.

44. The method according to claim 36, wherein The detection is performed using one or more of the following: fluorometer; microplate reader; photometer; and spectrophotometer.

45. A method for detecting one or more substances in a microplate, the method comprising: Using a multi-channel liquid dispensing device to dispense a quantity of a reagent into one or more wells of a porous container, the reagent being contained in a consumable, the consumable comprising: Multiple containers configured to fit tips of a multi-channel liquid dispensing device, each container containing a different dilution of the reagent; and One or more orientation markings configured to indicate the orientation to be adopted when placing the multiple containers of the consumable relative to the multi-channel liquid dispensing device; Add one or more substances to one or more wells of the porous container to form a reaction between the reagent and the one or more substances; Insert the porous container into a container of a detection instrument; Expose the reactions in the multiple wells to one or more light sources; and Measure the output generated by the exposure.

46. The method according to claim 45, characterized in that, The detection includes measuring one or more of the following: absorbance; extinction; colorimetric properties; fluorescence intensity; luminescence intensity; and chemiluminescent properties.

47. The method according to claim 45 or 46, characterized in that, Further comprising: Obtain a standard curve corresponding to different dilutions of the reagent by plotting the reaction against different dilutions of the reagent on an axis of a graph.

48. The method according to any one of claims 45 to 47, characterized in that, Further comprising: Dispense a sample of unknown concentration of the reagent into one or more empty rows of the microplate; Mix the sample with one or more substances in the one or more empty rows to facilitate multiple detectable reactions; and Plot the multiple detectable reactions on the standard curve to infer the value of the sample of unknown concentration.

49. The method according to any one of claims 45 to 48, characterized in that, The detection instrument includes at least one of the following: fluorometer; microplate reader; colorimeter; chemiluminometer; photometer; and spectrophotometer.

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