Centrifuge including a magnetic element and method for centrifuging a reaction vessel unit
AssigneeYantai Ausbio Laboratories Co., Ltd.
InventorsZhaoqiang Wang, Wolfgang Mann, Wolfgang Heimberg
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A centrifuge for cleaning a reaction vessel unit, having a rotor for holding at least one reaction vessel unit with its opening(s) directed outwardly, a motor for rotating the rotor around a rotation axis, a housing having a substantially cylindrical inner surface, wherein a drain is provided for discharging fluid expelled from the reaction vessel unit, wherein a gap is provided between the inner surface and the rotor so that by rotating the rotor a wind is generated which drives the expelled fluid on the inner surface to the drain wherein an aspiration pump is connected to the drain for discharging fluid.
Claims23
A centrifuge for washing magnetic beads in a plurality of reaction vessels of a reaction vessel unit in which the plurality of reaction vessels are arranged in a two-dimensional array and in which each reaction vessel includes at least one opening, the centrifuge comprising:
- a housing;
- a rotor disposed within the housing, the rotor being configured to rotate around a horizontal rotation axis and to hold the reaction vessel unit with respective openings of the plurality of reaction vessels directed radially outwardly relative to the horizontal rotation axis of the rotor;
- a motor coupled with the rotor to rotate the rotor around the horizontal rotation axis of the rotor;
- and
- one or more magnetic elements arranged in the rotor to apply a magnetic field to the plurality of reaction vessels in the two-dimensional array of reaction vessels of the reaction vessel unit that the rotor is configured to hold;
- wherein the motor is configured to rotate the rotor around the horizontal rotation axis at a speed of rotation sufficient to wash, by centrifugation, the magnetic beads in the plurality of reaction vessels of the reaction vessel unit that the rotor is configured to hold;
- and
- wherein the magnetic field applied by the one or more magnetic elements is sufficient to retain during centrifugation the magnetic beads in the plurality of reaction vessels of the reaction vessel unit that the rotor is configured to hold with respective openings of the plurality of reaction vessels directed radially outwardly relative to the horizontal rotation axis of the rotor.
A reaction vessel unit carrier for releasably carrying a reaction vessel unit including a plurality of reaction vessels which are arranged in a two-dimensional array and in which each reaction vessel includes at least one opening, the reaction vessel unit carrier comprising:
- a frame configured to be slid into and out of a rotor of a centrifuge, the frame further being configured to releasably hold the reaction vessel unit with respective openings of the reaction vessels facing radially outward relative to a rotation axis of the rotor when the frame is held by the rotor;
- and
- one or more magnetic elements arranged in the frame and configured to apply a magnetic field to the plurality of reaction vessels of the reaction vessel unit that the reaction vessel unit carrier is configured to hold, wherein the magnetic field applied by the one or more magnetic elements is sufficient to retain during centrifugation magnetic beads contained in the plurality of reaction vessels of the reaction vessel unit held with respective openings facing radially outward relative to the rotation axis during centrifugation of the reaction vessel unit.
A method for washing magnetic beads in a reaction vessel unit with a centrifuge, wherein the centrifuge comprises a rotor with a horizontal rotation axis, the reaction vessel unit comprises a plurality of reaction vessels, each of the plurality of reaction vessels comprises at least one opening, and magnetic beads are disposed in the plurality of reaction vessels, the method comprising:
- holding the reaction vessel unit with the rotor such that the at least one opening of each of the plurality of reaction vessels is directed radially outwardly relative to the horizontal rotation axis of the rotor;
- centrifuging the reaction vessel unit held by the rotor by rotating the rotor around the horizontal rotation axis at a speed of rotation sufficient to wash, by centrifugation, the magnetic beads in the plurality of reaction vessels of the reaction vessel unit;
- and
- while centrifuging the reaction vessel unit, retaining the magnetic beads in the plurality of reaction vessels by applying a magnetic field to the plurality of reaction vessels with one or more magnetic elements arranged in the rotor;
- and
- wherein the magnetic field applied by the one or more magnetic elements is sufficient to retain during centrifugation the magnetic beads in the plurality of reaction vessels of the reaction vessel unit held by the rotor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.