Cell Tissue Coating Device With Coordinated Droplet Positioning

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing methods for culturing cell and tissue tissues face issues with adherence to well walls due to static electricity and positional deviations, leading to incomplete coverage and collapse of application solutions, resulting in reduced reproducibility and throughput.

Innovation Solution

A method and device that supply first and second application solutions with precise positioning, ensuring a distance relationship between their centers and dimensions to maintain accurate coverage, using a mechanism that moves in pre-simultaneous and simultaneous supply steps to enhance reproducibility and reduce production time.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If the second application solution is dripped close to the inner wall of the well using a dispenser, then the throughput is improved, but the second application solution adheres to the inner wall with static electricity or deviates from target position, resulting in incomplete coverage

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovethroughputVSAvoidposition accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces the mechanical dispenser system with an inkjet-based application mechanism that uses controlled droplet ejection. This substitution eliminates the static electricity adhesion problem associated with mechanical contact and provides precise positional control through digital addressing of droplet placement locations, thereby maintaining high throughput while improving position accuracy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent employs a pre-simultaneous supply movement mechanism where the stage position is pre-calculated and coordinated with the inkjet application positions. This copying approach ensures that the relative positions between multiple application solutions are maintained with high precision, allowing multiple wells to be processed simultaneously without sacrificing position accuracy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

2Productivity

If multiple application solutions are supplied simultaneously to increase throughput, then the productivity is improved, but the coordination and positioning complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovethroughputVSAvoidcoordination complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the stage movement control with the inkjet application control into a unified coordinate system. The pre-simultaneous supply movement step combines multiple stage positions into a single coordinated movement sequence, allowing multiple application solutions to be supplied simultaneously across different wells while maintaining simple control logic through integrated position management.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

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

The method achieves high reproducibility and accuracy in cell tissue production with improved throughput by ensuring precise application solution positioning and reduced production time.

Implementation Method 1

the second application solution adheres to the inner wall of the well with static electricity or deviates from a target position. As a result, it is likely that the second application solution cannot completely cover the first application solution and the first application solution collapses.

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectSurface tension: Surface Tension

Data Source

PatentEP4596676A1Cell tissue production method, coating method and coating device
Publication Date: 2025.08.06 NTN CORP
  • EP4596676A1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4596676A1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4596676A1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

In a step of supplying a second application solution (BB) in a cell tissue production method, if a first dimension of each of N first application solutions (AA) is represented as r1n (n is a natural number of 1≤n≤N), a second dimension of each of M second application solutions is represented as r2m (m is a natural number of 1≤m≤M), and the distance between the center of any first application solution, a first dimension of which is rln, selected out of the N first application solutions and the center of any second application solution, a second dimension of which is r2m, selected out of the M second application solutions is represented as Dn, m, the any first application solution (AA) and the any second application solution (BB) are supplied such that one of (Math. 1) Dn,m<r2m−r1n and (Math. 2) Dn,m>r2m+r1n holds between the any first application solution (AA) and the any second application solution (BB).