Cartridge Vessel Interface for Complete Sample Transfer
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for processing samples in laboratory and clinical settings often fail to transfer the entire sample from a container to a cartridge, leading to loss of clinically relevant material and compromised test sensitivity, especially when dealing with low concentrations of targets, which can result in delayed or improper diagnosis and treatment.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that utilize a cartridge/vessel interface to ensure maximum sample transfer by introducing a fluid from the cartridge into the vessel to rinse and force any remaining sample into the cartridge, using pneumatic or fluidic communication, thereby reducing the need for sample enrichment and minimizing the risk of losing critical sample material.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If sample is introduced into a cartridge via pipetting or tubing, then the sample transfer process is simple and quick, but sample is lost during the transfer process and not all clinically relevant sample is transferred
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of transferring sample from the collection vessel to the cartridge using external pipetting or tubing, the invention inverts the approach by using the cartridge system itself to transfer fluid back into the collection vessel. This reverse transfer mechanism ensures complete drainage of the vessel into the cartridge while minimizing sample loss, as the fluid is drawn through the same interface that will be used for processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces an intermediary fluid transfer mechanism through the cartridge/vessel interface. This interface serves as a mediator that enables complete sample transfer by allowing the cartridge system to actively draw fluid back into the collection vessel, ensuring that even sample adhering to the vessel walls is transferred into the cartridge for processing.
2Measurement precision
If enrichment steps are performed to increase target concentration, then the likelihood of detecting targets increases, but a significant amount of time is required and test sensitivity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The invention performs preliminary action by ensuring complete sample transfer into the cartridge before processing begins. By maximizing the amount of sample transferred through the reverse fluid transfer mechanism, the system eliminates the need for subsequent enrichment steps, as sufficient target material is already present in the processed sample for sensitive detection.
3Loss of substance
If the entire sample is transferred into the cartridge, then clinically relevant sample is not lost, but the cartridge/vessel interface requires complex fluid introduction mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The cartridge/vessel interface is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as the sample introduction pathway and as the mechanism for complete sample transfer. The same interface used to introduce the sample initially is also used to introduce fluid that draws the remaining sample into the cartridge, eliminating the need for separate complex transfer mechanisms while ensuring complete sample retention.
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
This approach ensures that substantially all clinically relevant sample is transferred and processed, reducing the need for enrichment steps and preventing failures in target isolation, thereby facilitating quicker and more effective treatment by ensuring complete sample transfer and processing.
Implementation Method 1
A cartridge/vessel interface is provided that places a vessel containing a sample in pneumatic or fluidic communication with a cartridge
Implementation Method 2
A drive mechanism is provided that transfers a fluid from a chamber in the cartridge and into the vessel through the cartridge/vessel interface
Data Source
AI summary
The invention generally relates to methods and devices for transferring a sample into a cartridge for processing. Methods of the invention include providing a vessel containing a sample, coupling the sample to a cartridge configured to process the sample at an interface, in which the interface is configured to provide communication between the vessel and the cartridge, introducing a fluid, capture particles, or both from the cartridge into the vessel, and transferring the sample, fluid, and capture particles from the vessel and into the cartridge for processing.