Rotational Sample Analysis Substrate with Gravity-Driven Liquid Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current substrate technologies for sample analysis struggle with performing complex reaction steps, such as assay techniques involving enzymatic and immunoreactions, which require multiple wash processes, often requiring manual operation or large, complex equipment.
Innovation Solution
A substrate with a rotation axis, featuring chambers and channels that allow for the transfer of liquids through rotational motion, enabling the substrate to incline at an angle greater than 0° but not more than 90°, facilitating the transfer of specific amounts of liquids between chambers using gravity and centrifugal forces, thereby automating multiple wash processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If manual operation or large equipment is used for multiple wash processes, then the wash processes can be performed, but the device complexity and operation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate is divided into multiple independent chambers (first chamber, second chamber, third chamber) that can be selectively filled and emptied. Each chamber serves a specific function in the assay process, allowing complex multi-step wash operations to be performed through simple rotational movements rather than requiring complex automated washing equipment
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate is designed to rotate around a rotation axis, dynamically changing the position of chambers relative to gravity. By rotating the substrate to different angles, liquids are transferred between chambers using gravitational force, enabling automated wash processes without complex mechanical pumping or valve systems
2Productivity
If the substrate rotates at high speed for liquid transfer, then liquid transfer efficiency improves, but centrifugal force may prevent precise control of liquid amounts
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate rotation angle is used as a controllable parameter to precisely control liquid transfer. By rotating to specific angles (e.g., 0°, 45°, 90°), the system can control exactly how much liquid moves between chambers, combining gravitational force with angular position control to achieve both efficient transfer and precise amount control
Solution Approach 2:
The wash process uses periodic rotation of the substrate through specific angles. The substrate rotates to transfer liquids, then returns to a starting position, creating a periodic cycle that efficiently moves liquids through multiple chambers in sequence while maintaining precise control over transfer amounts through angle-based control
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 and automated multiple wash processes, supporting complex assay techniques by transferring liquids between chambers at different times, enhancing the analysis of components within an analyte through complicated reaction steps without the need for manual operation or large equipment.
Implementation Method 1
when the substrate is rotated by an angle A1 from an arbitrary predetermined reference angle at which the first liquid and the second liquid retained in the first chamber and the second chamber are not transferred to the third chamber via the first channel and the second channel, respectively
Implementation Method 2
a substrate for sample analysis on which transfer of liquids is to occur with rotational motion
Data Source
AI summary
A substrate for sample analysis on which transfer of liquids is to occur with rotational motion, includes a substrate having a rotation axis; a first chamber and a second chamber being located in the substrate and respectively having a first space and a second space for retaining a first liquid and a second liquid; a third chamber being located in the substrate and having a third space for retaining the liquids to be discharged from the first chamber and the second chamber; a first channel having a path connecting the first chamber and the third chamber to transfer the first liquid; and a second channel having a path connecting the second chamber and the third chamber to transfer the second liquid.