WO2002000348A1 - Dispositif de collecte et de distribution dosees de liquides, procede de fabrication dudit dispositif, et procede de collecte et de distribution de liquides - Google Patents

Dispositif de collecte et de distribution dosees de liquides, procede de fabrication dudit dispositif, et procede de collecte et de distribution de liquides Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2002000348A1
WO2002000348A1 PCT/NL2001/000476 NL0100476W WO0200348A1 WO 2002000348 A1 WO2002000348 A1 WO 2002000348A1 NL 0100476 W NL0100476 W NL 0100476W WO 0200348 A1 WO0200348 A1 WO 0200348A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
metering
liquid
metering element
capillary channel
elements
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/NL2001/000476
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Gerardus Johannes Burger
Job Elders
Vincentius Laurentius Spiering
Original Assignee
Renne-Industries B.V.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Renne-Industries B.V. filed Critical Renne-Industries B.V.
Priority to AU2001269609A priority Critical patent/AU2001269609A1/en
Publication of WO2002000348A1 publication Critical patent/WO2002000348A1/fr

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01L—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE
    • B01L3/00—Containers or dishes for laboratory use, e.g. laboratory glassware; Droppers
    • B01L3/02—Burettes; Pipettes
    • B01L3/0241—Drop counters; Drop formers
    • B01L3/0244—Drop counters; Drop formers using pins
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01L—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE
    • B01L3/00—Containers or dishes for laboratory use, e.g. laboratory glassware; Droppers
    • B01L3/02—Burettes; Pipettes
    • B01L3/0241—Drop counters; Drop formers
    • B01L3/0244—Drop counters; Drop formers using pins
    • B01L3/0248—Prongs, quill pen type dispenser
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N35/00—Automatic analysis not limited to methods or materials provided for in any single one of groups G01N1/00 - G01N33/00; Handling materials therefor
    • G01N35/10—Devices for transferring samples or any liquids to, in, or from, the analysis apparatus, e.g. suction devices, injection devices
    • G01N2035/1027—General features of the devices
    • G01N2035/1034—Transferring microquantities of liquid
    • G01N2035/1037—Using surface tension, e.g. pins or wires
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N35/00—Automatic analysis not limited to methods or materials provided for in any single one of groups G01N1/00 - G01N33/00; Handling materials therefor
    • G01N35/10—Devices for transferring samples or any liquids to, in, or from, the analysis apparatus, e.g. suction devices, injection devices
    • G01N35/1065—Multiple transfer devices

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a device for metered collection and dispensing of liquids, 5 comprising: at least one metering element for collecting and dispensing liquid, which metering element is provided with at least one capillary channel, a holder for carrying the metering element, and a control system for controlling the position of the metering element.
  • the invention also relates to a method for manufacturing such a device.
  • the invention further relates to methods for collecting and dispensing liquids.
  • a drawback of the known metering elements is that they can only collect and/or dispense larger quantities of liquid in precise manner.
  • Another drawback of the known metering elements is that a suction element frequently has to be coupled to the metering element, whereby liquid is drawn actively into the metering element.
  • liquid for metering has an order of magnitude of 10 nanolitres with a standard deviation of about 10%.
  • a drawback of the known metering elements is that liquid volumes which are about a factor 100 smaller than the heretofore metered quantity of liquid of 10 nanolitres cannot be metered, while some (bio)chemical micro-analyses do require such 'pico'-doses.
  • the invention has for its object to provide a device with which it is possible to collect and dispense liquid in orders of magnitude of picolitres in metered manner while still retaining the advantages of the prior art.
  • the relative positioning of the capillary channel and the opening for collecting liquid is co-determined by the production process of the device. Since known precision mechanics are unable to produce devices of very small size (or hardly so), with which liquid volumes in the order of magnitude of picolitres can be metered, the devices are preferably manufactured using etching techniques. Another significant advantage of the device according to the invention is that the mutual distance between two adjacent capillaries (also referred to as the "pitch") can be kept very small. Both the capillary channel and the opening can be manufactured in a single production run. If the properties of the liquid for drawing up are known, the control system can actuate the holder, and therefore also the metering element connected to the holder, such that a predetermined exact quantity of liquid can be collected or dispensed. Such devices can be applied particularly in (bio)chemical micro-analyses where an exactly determined 'pico- volume' of liquid is of great importance and wherein the positions for sampling are situated at very small mutual distances. ⁇ -
  • the opening is preferably dimensioned such that it is adapted to contain a liquid volume lying between 10 and 200 picolitres.
  • a liquid volume lying between 10 and 200 picolitres.
  • Such small volumes for containing or storing liquid are not known in the prior art.
  • the liquid collected by the device adheres to sides surrounding the opening owing to cohesive action.
  • the quantity of liquid to be collected in the opening is so small that no droplet formation occurs in the liquid, thereby simplifying controlled collection and dispensing of liquid. Only part of the opening will generally be used to hold liquid.
  • the device is preferably provided with a plurality of metering elements which are arranged in a row, or one-dimensionally, relative to each other.
  • This plurality of metering elements can be manufactured from a single material part (monolithic), for instance by means of making use of lithographic techniques which enable precise, controlled and very small mutual distances between the metering elements. A plurality of samples located at a very small mutual distance can thus be sampled simultaneously.
  • the device is provided with a plurality of metering elements which " are arranged two-dimensionally " (matrix or array ' form). Rows of the above discussed metering elements joined together in rows can be assembled for this purpose. This can be realized particularly accurately when the rows of metering elements manufactured from a single material part are also provided with fitting holes with which they are joined together.
  • the position of the metering element relative to the holder can preferably be changed. This can for instance be realized in that the metering element is connected to the holder via a support structure.
  • the holder is also provided with an aligning element for co-action with mating alignment means forming part of a metering element, rapid exchange of one or more metering elements then becomes relatively simple.
  • the removed metering elements can be replaced by other metering elements. All metering elements (for instance a matrix) will generally be exchanged simultaneously. Multiple types of sampling can therefore be carried out using the same control system and holder.
  • the invention also provides a metering element for collecting and dispensing liquids, comprising: at least one capillary channel, and an opening connected to the capillary channel for storing collected liquid, which opening is at least accessible from at least one direction perpendicular to the direction of transport of the liquid through the capillary channel.
  • the metering element preferably comprises a resilient element, which resilient element is deformable in a direction parallel to the capillary channel. A resilient suspension of the metering element is deemed of great importance, since the metering elements can hereby be brought into a certain contact with a surface when a plurality of metering elements are displaced simultaneously by a common carrier, even when the surface is not wholly flat. Damage to the metering elements can thus also be prevented.
  • the metering element is preferably manufactured from a single material part. Since the metering element is dimensioned such that a high accuracy and precision is required at the time of manufacture of the metering element, it can be advantageous or even necessary to manufacture the metering element integrally.
  • a resilient element is an open ring shape, which in the loading situation can be compressed in radial direction.
  • Such a resilient element can be manufactured by means of for instance etching technique/lithography simultaneously with etching of the capillary channel and the liquid holder.
  • the invention further provides an assembly of metering elements as described above, characterized in that a plurality of metering elements arranged in a row relative to each other are mutually connected via a support structure, and the metering elements and the support structure are manufactured from a single material part.
  • the support structure is preferably provided herein with at least one opening adapted for co-action with an aligning element.
  • a plurality of metering elements can thus be manufactured at a very short distance from each other and this furthermore only requires a single production run. Neither the very small mutual distance of the metering elements nor the accuracy of their mutual distance can be realized with the existing metering elements. In the case of a plurality of support structures positioned relative to each other, these can be accurately positioned relative to each other in simple manner by means of the fitting openings.
  • the invention also provides a method for manufacturing an assembly of metering elements as described above by manufacturing a plurality of metering elements simultaneously from one material part by means of an etching technique, and a support structure such that the metering elements are connected to the support structure.
  • the support structure is preferably provided with at least one (fitting) opening.
  • the metering element can be manufactured from silicon or quartz. Quartz has the advantage of being obtainable in very pure form and being chemically relatively inert compared to other types of (at room temperature) solid materials, whereby the quartz is very suitable for analytic (bio)chemical applications.
  • the metering element can also be manufactured from a silicon, for instance in the form of a wafer.
  • the silicon is less chemically inert than the quartz and can therefore advantageously be provided with a coating, such as for instance a coating formed by polysilicon, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, teflon and so on.
  • a coating has the advantage that the design freedom of the metering element is not limited in respect of for instance design, dimensions and production options, while a metering element with a relatively inert surface is still available.
  • the metering element is manufactured using an etching and/or lithography technique.
  • a production method has the advantage that metering elements provided with small openings and capillary channels can be manufactured with high precision, with which volumes of one or several picolitres can be metered and which can furthermore be accurately positioned at a small mutual distance.
  • the invention further provides a method for collecting liquid with such a device, comprising the following steps of: A) determining material properties of the bulk liquid for collection, B) inputting the material properties of the bulk liquid into the control system, C) causing the capillary channel of the metering element to make contact with the bulk liquid for a length of time determined by the control system, and D) ending the contact between the metering element and the bulk liquid.
  • A) determining material properties of the bulk liquid for collection B) inputting the material properties of the bulk liquid into the control system
  • D) ending the contact between the metering element and the bulk liquid Inputting of the material properties of the liquid into the control system enables the exact quantity of bulk liquid for collection to be related to the contact time of the metering element with the bulk liquid.
  • Processing steps A) and B) can both be performed by the control system, whereby both processing steps can in fact be integrated into each
  • the collecting of liquid using the device can also take place in non-controlled manner by immersing the openings connected to the capillary channels in the liquid. Although the collected volume of liquid is not known here, this nevertheless does not have to form a problem in metering controlled volumes of liquid. This is elucidated hereinbelow with reference to a method for metering liquid in controlled manner which also forms part of the present invention.
  • the invention further comprises a method for dispensing liquid with such a device, comprising the following steps of: A) determining material properties of the bulk liquid for collection, B) inputting the material properties of the bulk liquid into the control system, E) causing the capillary channel of the metering element to make contact with a delivery surface for a length of time determined by the control system, and F) ending the contact between the metering element and the delivery surface.
  • the liquid situated in the opening of the metering element can be delivered wholly or only partly to the delivery surface.
  • the processing steps C) and D) are carried out before processing steps E) and F) are performed. This method is applicable particularly advantageously when the delivery surface is manufactured from an absorbent material.
  • the shape of a tip of a capillary channel and the surface area of such a tip can however also be indicative of a volume of liquid for metering.
  • Figure 1 shows a preferred embodiment of an assembly of a carrier 1 manufactured from a single material part and a plurality of metering elements 2 connected to carrier 1.
  • Carrier 1 is provided with two positioning openings 3, which positioning openings 3 serve as assist means in alignment of carrier 1 relative to other carriers 1 in order to thus form an accurate matrix of metering elements 2.
  • Each metering element 2 is provided with a capillary channel 4 and an opening 5 connected to one side of capillary channel 4 for storing collected liquid.
  • the capillary channel 4 is positioned in or close to a point or tip 6 of metering element 2. Tip 6 is designed such that it tapers toward the free outer end.
  • Metering elements 2 are also provided with a resilient suspension construction 7 in the form of an open ring.
  • Carrier 1 is further provided with stop surfaces 9 which define the maximum deformation of resilient suspension constructions 7. For a proper operation, a guaranteed contact with a delivery surface, the tips 6 of capillary channels 4 protrude beyond (in the figure below) stop surfaces 9 in the unloaded situation.
  • Figure 2 shows the metering element 2 according to figure 1.
  • liquid can be collected in opening 5 of metering element 2. It is also possible to fill opening 5 with liquid by immersing metering element 2 in a liquid.
  • a temporary deformation of suspension construction 7 ensures a correct positioning of tip 6 as well as an action damping the impact which occurs when contact is made between metering element 2 and the other object.
  • FIG. 3 shows metering element 2 according to figures 1 and 2 filled with liquid 8.
  • Opening 5 of metering element 2 is only partly filled with liquid 8.
  • liquid 8 is displaced from opening 5 to the delivery surface.

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  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Clinical Laboratory Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Micromachines (AREA)
  • Sampling And Sample Adjustment (AREA)
  • Automatic Analysis And Handling Materials Therefor (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un dispositif de collecte et de distribution dosées de liquides, qui comprend au moins un élément doseur (2) servant à collecter et distribuer des liquides, ledit élément doseur (2) étant muni d'au moins un canal capillaire (4). Le dispositif comprend également un support de l'élément doseur, et un élément de commande pour régler la position de l'élément doseur. L'invention concerne en outre un procédé de fabrication dudit dispositif et un procédé de collecte et de distribution de liquides.
PCT/NL2001/000476 2000-06-26 2001-06-26 Dispositif de collecte et de distribution dosees de liquides, procede de fabrication dudit dispositif, et procede de collecte et de distribution de liquides WO2002000348A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU2001269609A AU2001269609A1 (en) 2000-06-26 2001-06-26 Device for metered collection and dispensing of liquids, method for manufacturing such a device and methods for collecting and dispensing liquids

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL1015523 2000-06-26
NL1015523A NL1015523C1 (nl) 2000-06-26 2000-06-26 Inrichting voor het manipuleren van kleine hoeveelheden vloeistof, en werkwijze voor de vervaardiging daarvan.

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2002000348A1 true WO2002000348A1 (fr) 2002-01-03

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/NL2001/000476 WO2002000348A1 (fr) 2000-06-26 2001-06-26 Dispositif de collecte et de distribution dosees de liquides, procede de fabrication dudit dispositif, et procede de collecte et de distribution de liquides

Country Status (3)

Country Link
AU (1) AU2001269609A1 (fr)
NL (1) NL1015523C1 (fr)
WO (1) WO2002000348A1 (fr)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2839662A1 (fr) * 2002-05-16 2003-11-21 Centre Nat Rech Scient Dispositif de depot localise d'au moins une solution biologique
EP1748846A2 (fr) * 2004-04-30 2007-02-07 Bioforce Nanosciences, Inc. Proc d et appareil pour le d pôt d'un mat riau sur une surface
CN100427951C (zh) * 2003-05-09 2008-10-22 财团法人工业技术研究院 分段收集液体的装置及其方法
US8071168B2 (en) 2002-08-26 2011-12-06 Nanoink, Inc. Micrometric direct-write methods for patterning conductive material and applications to flat panel display repair

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2211111A (en) * 1987-10-21 1989-06-28 Saxon Micro Limited Micropipette and method of operation
EP0725267A2 (fr) * 1995-02-01 1996-08-07 Forschungszentrum Rossendorf e.V. Micro-pipette actionnée électriquement
US5770151A (en) * 1996-06-05 1998-06-23 Molecular Dynamics, Inc. High-speed liquid deposition device for biological molecule array formation
US5957167A (en) * 1997-12-18 1999-09-28 Pharmacopeia, Inc. Article for dispensing small volumes of liquid

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2211111A (en) * 1987-10-21 1989-06-28 Saxon Micro Limited Micropipette and method of operation
EP0725267A2 (fr) * 1995-02-01 1996-08-07 Forschungszentrum Rossendorf e.V. Micro-pipette actionnée électriquement
US5770151A (en) * 1996-06-05 1998-06-23 Molecular Dynamics, Inc. High-speed liquid deposition device for biological molecule array formation
US5957167A (en) * 1997-12-18 1999-09-28 Pharmacopeia, Inc. Article for dispensing small volumes of liquid

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2839662A1 (fr) * 2002-05-16 2003-11-21 Centre Nat Rech Scient Dispositif de depot localise d'au moins une solution biologique
WO2003097238A1 (fr) * 2002-05-16 2003-11-27 Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique Dispositif de depot localise et controle activement d'au moins une solution biologique.
US8079832B2 (en) 2002-05-16 2011-12-20 Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique Device for the actively-controlled and localised deposition of at least one biological solution
US8617406B2 (en) 2002-05-16 2013-12-31 Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique Device for the actively-controlled and localized deposition of at least one biological solution
US8071168B2 (en) 2002-08-26 2011-12-06 Nanoink, Inc. Micrometric direct-write methods for patterning conductive material and applications to flat panel display repair
CN100427951C (zh) * 2003-05-09 2008-10-22 财团法人工业技术研究院 分段收集液体的装置及其方法
EP1748846A2 (fr) * 2004-04-30 2007-02-07 Bioforce Nanosciences, Inc. Proc d et appareil pour le d pôt d'un mat riau sur une surface
EP1748846A4 (fr) * 2004-04-30 2009-08-05 Bioforce Nanosciences Inc Proc d et appareil pour le d pôt d'un mat riau sur une surface
US7690325B2 (en) 2004-04-30 2010-04-06 Bioforce Nanosciences, Inc. Method and apparatus for depositing material onto a surface

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
NL1015523C1 (nl) 2001-12-28
AU2001269609A1 (en) 2002-01-08

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