Automated Sample Preparation Device for Point-of-Care Diagnostics
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current molecular diagnostics face challenges in efficiently preparing patient samples for analysis due to low concentrations of analytes, requiring time-consuming and cumbersome sample preparation processes that often necessitate laboratory settings and trained personnel, making point-of-care analysis difficult.
Innovation Solution
A device with a housing and actuator system that sequentially mixes a patient's sample with reagents, including a lysing agent, to enhance analyte concentration, featuring a receiving chamber, reagent reservoir, and actuator for controlled reagent release and mixing, allowing for sample preparation outside a laboratory setting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional sample preparation processes are used to concentrate analytes and purify samples, then detection sensitivity is improved, but the process becomes time-consuming and requires laboratory settings with trained personnel
Solution Approach 1:
The device divides the sample preparation process into distinct functional chambers (receiving chamber, mixing chamber, incubation chamber, detection chamber) that guide the sample through sequential processing steps. This segmentation allows complex preparation tasks to be broken down into automated, easy-to-follow stages that do not require specialized training while maintaining detection sensitivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The device performs sample preparation automatically once the sample is loaded, eliminating the need for continuous manual intervention. The system self-manages mixing, incubation, and concentration steps through integrated actuators and protocols, making the process as simple as loading a sample while achieving laboratory-quality preparation.
2Measurement precision
If multiple sample preparation steps are performed to increase analyte concentration, then detection accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple preparation functions (mixing, incubation, concentration, separation) are merged into a single integrated device with unified control. The device combines magnetic particle manipulation, fluid handling, and thermal control in one system, reducing the need for multiple separate instruments and simplifying the overall setup while maintaining detection accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The device is designed to perform multiple sample preparation functions using a single platform. The same device handles liquid sample reception, solid sample processing, magnetic particle-based separation, and concentration enhancement, making it a universal solution that reduces device complexity compared to using specialized equipment for each step.
3Reliability
If manual sample preparation procedures are used to ensure reliable results, then result reliability is improved, but the need for trained personnel increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device incorporates sensors and control systems that monitor sample preparation progress and adjust parameters automatically. This feedback mechanism ensures that critical steps (mixing duration, incubation temperature, separation timing) are precisely controlled, maintaining result reliability while eliminating the need for trained personnel to manually monitor and adjust these parameters.
Solution Approach 2:
The device is pre-programmed with optimized preparation protocols that automatically execute the correct sequence of steps with precise timing and parameters. This preliminary configuration of optimal conditions ensures reliable results without requiring users to have specialized training in sample preparation techniques.
4Productivity
If rapid sample processing is implemented to reduce preparation time, then productivity is improved, but mixing and incubation effectiveness may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The device implements continuous automated processing where sample transfer, mixing, incubation, and separation occur in an unbroken sequence without manual intervention between steps. This continuous operation maintains processing speed while ensuring that each step receives the exact duration and conditions needed for effectiveness, as the automated system precisely controls transition timing between chambers.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device simplifies and streamlines sample preparation, enabling efficient analyte concentration and preparation for analysis at the point-of-care, reducing user errors and the need for trained personnel, while maintaining effective sample processing.
Implementation Method 1
The actuator is movable relative to the housing and is configured for sequentially closing the receiving chamber and putting in contact the reagent received in the reagent reservoir with the sample of the receiving chamber
Implementation Method 2
The liquid can have lysis activity
Data Source
AI summary
A device is provided comprising a receiving chamber for receiving a patient's sample, a first reagent reservoir and a second reagent reservoir. The receiving chamber may be configured for receiving at least an end portion of a sample collecting element, with the patient's sample being collected by that sample collecting element. The first reagent reservoir may generally be configured to accommodate a liquid reagent which may include a lysing agent, i.e. the liquid may be a kind of a lysis buffer. Likewise, the second reagent reservoir may generally be configured to accommodate a dry reagent which may include magnetic particles. The device may further comprise at least one of the following two actuators, a first actuator for supplying a first reagent from the first reagent reservoir to the sample and a second actuator for supplying a second reagent from the second reagent reservoir to the resulting mixture.