Pipette Tip Retainer for Automated Reagent Dissolution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for storing and reconstituting solid reagents, such as lyophilized biological reagents, are inefficient and prone to loss or incomplete dissolution due to the manual and time-consuming process of adding a diluent, which complicates automated mixing and leads to stability issues.
Innovation Solution
A pipette tip container design featuring a lumen with a retainer that prevents the solid pellet from moving while allowing fluid passage, facilitating automated dissolution and mixing by attaching the pipette tip to a pipette body and drawing solvent to dissolve the pellet, with a method that includes repeated solvent drawing and emptying until complete dissolution is achieved.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of stationary object
If solid reagents are stored in brown glass bottles with rubber septum under vacuum or neutral gas, then long-term stability is improved, but the process of adding diluent and mixing becomes manual and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the reagent storage system into separate functional components: the solid reagent pellet is contained in a reservoir with a defined opening, and the diluent is delivered through a pipette tip with a lumen. This segmentation allows automated manipulation of each component independently, enabling robotic systems to accurately deliver diluent to the pellet without manual intervention in the sealed storage container.
Solution Approach 2:
The pipette tip acts as an intermediary device between the automated liquid handling system and the reagent pellet. It delivers the diluent precisely to the pellet location and facilitates mixing through controlled aspiration and dispensing cycles, eliminating the need for manual opening of the storage bottle and manual mixing operations.
2Ease of operation
If manual dilution is performed by opening and closing the bottle, then reconstitution is achieved, but reagent loss occurs and the process is delicate
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the diluent addition and mixing operations from the sealed storage container environment. By delivering diluent through a pipette tip to the external surface of the pellet or into the reservoir opening, the system avoids the need to open the main storage bottle, thereby preventing reagent loss through spillage, contamination, or incomplete transfer that occurs during manual handling.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service reconstitution where the automated liquid handling device performs all operations—delivering diluent, mixing, and transferring the reconstituted solution—without requiring human manipulation of the storage container. The pellet itself serves as the mixing vessel, eliminating the need for separate mixing containers and reducing transfer losses.
3Extent of automation
If syringe needle passes through septum for solution transfer, then automated transfer is possible, but dissolved reagent remains unreachable in the bottle
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the spatial arrangement by placing the pellet in a reservoir with a defined opening that is accessible from the top, rather than requiring needle access through the side or bottom of a sealed bottle. The pipette tip delivers diluent vertically onto the pellet surface and performs mixing through vertical aspiration and dispensing motions, accessing all reagent material without leaving residue on container walls.
Solution Approach 2:
The pipette tip lumen acts as a temporary holding chamber that copies the reconstituted solution from the reservoir. By repeatedly aspirating and dispensing the solution through the tip, the system ensures complete transfer of the reagent mixture, with the tip's narrow lumen allowing thorough wetting and recovery of all dissolved material that would otherwise remain adhered to the walls of a larger storage container.
4Measurement precision
If precise volume of diluent is introduced manually, then correct concentration is achieved, but the process is delicate and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces manual mechanical operations of measuring and dispensing diluent with an automated liquid handling system. The pipette tip, controlled by a robotic system, precisely measures and delivers the required volume of diluent through programmed aspiration and dispensing cycles, eliminating manual measurement errors while significantly reducing the time required for the dilution process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs periodic aspiration and dispensing cycles to achieve both precise dilution and complete mixing. Multiple cycles of drawing diluent into the tip, dispensing onto the pellet, drawing the mixture, and dispensing into the final container ensure accurate volume delivery while thoroughly reconstituting the pellet, completing the process faster than manual single-step operations.
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 solution enables efficient, automated, and reliable reconstitution of solid reagents into a homogeneous liquid form, reducing contamination risks and experimental errors, while ensuring accurate reproducibility and reliability.
Implementation Method 1
a proximal end arranged such that a portion of its periphery maintains the retainer in the lumen by friction with the inner wall of the lumen
Implementation Method 2
drawing into the pipette tip a volume of solvent of said soluble material up to at least said distal end of said retainer; and after at least a portion of said pellet was dissolved
Data Source
AI summary
A pipette tip container comprising a pipette tip having a lumen extending between a proximal opening of a first diameter and a distal orifice of a second smaller diameter; a pellet arranged in the lumen of the pipette tip between said proximal opening and distal orifice, the second diameter being too narrow to let the pellet pass; and a retainer arranged between the pellet and the proximal opening and arranged to prevent the pellet from moving past the retainer in the lumen but to let fluid move past the retainer in the lumen; the retainer having a distal end such that a portion of its periphery does not contact the inner wall of the lumen, a proximal end such that a portion of its periphery maintains the retainer in the lumen by friction with the inner wall of the lumen; and a radial opening between the distal and proximal ends.