Forensic Pipette With Integrated Cannula Wetting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sample carriers, such as cotton wool swabs, face issues with wetting, stability, and contamination during DNA analysis, as they require manual external wetting, are prone to mechanical instability, and lack direct inscription or barcode capabilities, leading to potential sample mixing and degradation.
Innovation Solution
A forensic pipette with a pipette body composed of screwable parts and a syringe, where a cannula connects the syringe interior to the sample collector within the pipette tip, allowing internal wetting and featuring a fine advancement drive and knurled screw for controlled fluid delivery, along with a discharger for handling and repeated use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual external wetting of sample carriers is used, then wetting can be achieved, but contamination risk increases and operation becomes cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a liquid reservoir and wick system as an intermediary mechanism between the liquid source and the sample carrier. The wick automatically transports liquid from the reservoir to the sample carrier tip, eliminating the need for manual external wetting and reducing contamination risk through a closed system design.
Solution Approach 2:
The sample carrier is equipped with an integrated liquid reservoir and wick system that enables self-wetting. The device automatically delivers liquid to the sample carrier tip through capillary action, making the system self-sufficient and eliminating the need for external manual intervention.
2Length of moving object
If swabs with long shafts are used, then handling reach is improved, but mechanical stability deteriorates due to breaking points
Solution Approach 1:
The swab shaft is segmented into modular sections that can be screwed together or separated. This allows the shaft to maintain structural integrity without predetermined breaking points, while still providing sufficient length for handling reach. The segmented design enables flexible configuration based on specific application needs.
3Loss of information
If swabs are stored in labelled test tubes or boxes, then sample identification is possible, but sample mixing risk increases after removal
Solution Approach 1:
The sample carrier integrates multiple functions: it serves as both the sampling tool and the storage container. The conical receptacle at the tip of the swab shaft provides a built-in storage compartment that maintains sample identification labels and prevents mixing, eliminating the need for separate test tubes or boxes.
4Adaptability or versatility
If cotton wool carriers are used, then sample collection capability is provided, but long-term storage stability deteriorates due to DNA degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter of the sample carrier from organic cotton wool to inorganic synthetic absorbent material. This material substitution provides chemical stability for long-term storage while maintaining effective sample collection capabilities, preventing DNA degradation that occurs with organic materials.
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
Enables efficient, controlled wetting and handling of sample carriers, preventing contamination and sample mixing, while allowing for long-term storage and barcode attachment, facilitating precise and stable sample collection and processing.
Implementation Method 1
the syringe piston is mechanically connected with a fine advancement drive and further with a control element in form of a knurled screw for a dosed force exertion onto the syringe content
Implementation Method 2
in said screwed state a cannula is guided from the outlet of said pipette's lower part through a screw connection into said pipette middle part and thus into the interior of the syringe body
Implementation Method 3
the syringe piston is mechanically connected with a fine advancement drive and further with a control element in form of a knurled screw for a dosed force exertion onto the syringe content
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
Forensic pipette for wetting and handling sample carriers on the basis of a micro litre pipette tip having a pipette body composed of screwed together a pipette's upper, middle, and lower parts (1, 2 and 3) and a syringe inserted into the pipette's middle part (2), characterized in that in said screwed state a cannula (8) is guided from an outlet (5) of said pipette's lower part (3) through a screw connection (4.2) into said pipette's middle part (2) and thus into the interior of the syringe body (9), wherein said connection of the cannula (8) with the interior of the syringe can be established during a screwing operation by piercing the syringe body (9), in that in the region of the outlet (5) a sample carrier (6) is provided with a sample collector (7) having the basic shape of a known micro litre pipette tip, and in that said syringe piston (10) is mechanically connected with a fine advancement drive (11) and further with a control element in form of a knurled screw (12) for a dosed force exertion onto the syringe content.