Sterile Protection Attachment for Liquid-Handling Tips
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing liquid-handling systems face challenges in maintaining sterility, especially when operating in nonsterile environments, as they are prone to contamination due to the complexity and spatial limitations of sterile housing requirements, particularly in bioreactor sampling and substance addition processes.
Innovation Solution
A sterile protection attachment for liquid-handling device tips, featuring a protective bell with a sterile air supply line, creates a sterile air curtain around the tip, allowing it to be used in nonsterile environments without contaminating vessels, using a self-closing diaphragm or seal to prevent ambient air entry and maintaining sterility through continuous flushing with sterile air.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If liquid-handling systems are operated in nonsterile environments, then ease of operation and spatial requirements are improved, but sterility reliability deteriorates due to contamination risks
Solution Approach 1:
A protective bell is introduced as an intermediary component that creates a sterile microenvironment around the tip. The bell is connected to a sterile air supply that continuously flushes the interior, establishing a sterile barrier between the tip and the nonsterile external environment, thereby enabling operation in nonsterile settings while maintaining sterility.
Solution Approach 2:
The protective bell creates a controlled inert atmosphere using sterile air flow. By continuously flushing the bell's interior with sterile air, a sterile microenvironment is established that protects the tip from contamination, allowing the liquid-handling system to operate in nonsterile environments without compromising sterility reliability.
2Reliability
If sterile housing is used to prevent contamination, then sterility reliability is improved, but device complexity and spatial dimensions increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of enclosing the entire liquid-handling system in a sterile housing, the invention extracts and isolates only the critical tip area with a protective bell. This localized approach maintains sterility where needed while avoiding the complexity and spatial requirements of a fully enclosed sterile system.
Solution Approach 2:
The sterile protection is segmented to apply only to the specific region requiring sterility (the tip area) rather than the entire system. The protective bell creates a localized sterile zone around the tip, separating the sterile requirement from the rest of the liquid-handling system, thereby reducing overall device complexity.
3Reliability
If sterile housing is used to prevent contamination, then sterility reliability is improved, but spatial dimensions and handling flexibility are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the sterile protection function from a large sterile housing and concentrates it in a compact protective bell that fits over the tip. This dramatically reduces the spatial footprint while maintaining sterility reliability, improving handling flexibility and accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of protecting the entire liquid-handling system in a large horizontal sterile enclosure, the invention uses a vertical protective bell that extends upward from the tip. This dimensional change allows sterile protection in a compact vertical space, preserving horizontal workspace and improving accessibility.
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 automated sterile operations in nonsterile environments, preventing contamination during filling or withdrawal from bioreactors, and allows for flexible use with various liquid-handling devices and bioreactors without the need for sterile workstations or closed systems.
Implementation Method 1
A protective bell, within which the tip can be continuously flushed with sterile air. A sterile air curtain is thus established within the protective bell.
Data Source
AI summary
A sterile protection attachment for a tip of a liquid-handling device, including a mount for fastening the sterile protection attachment to the liquid-handling device, a protective bell arranged in the mount and having an inner cavity, and a supply line for sterile air connected to the inner cavity, in which the protective bell has an opening at a lower end and has a receiver for the tip at an upper side opposite the lower end and within which the tip can be flushing with sterile air.