Microarraying head and microarryer
AssigneeThk Co., Ltd.
InventorsTouji Nakazawa, Akihiro Iimura
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A microarraying head 51 has a base portion 57 and a plurality of needles 53. The needles 53 are arranged in parallel with one another on the base portion 57. The needles 53 place a solution on substrates 3 with the top ends of the needles 53 touching substrates 3. Then, the needles 53 retain the solution including biological samples and form spots of the solution on the substrates 3. A space 58 for supplying cleansing fluid or the like is provided in the base portion 57 so as to extend all over the plurality of needles 53. Since the plurality of needles 53 can be all cleansed with substantially uniform pressure applied thereto, all the plurality of needles 53 can cleansed surely in a short time.
Claims10
A microarraying head for retaining a solution including biological samples, and forming spots of said solution on substrates, said microarraying head comprising:
- a base portion;
- and
- a plurality of placing portions arranged in parallel with one another on said base portion and for placing said solution on said substrates with top ends of said placing portions touching said substrates;
- wherein a space for supplying cleansing fluid is provided in said base portion so as to extend all over said plurality of placing portions.
A microarrayer comprising:
- a solution reservoir portion for retaining a solution including biological samples;
- a working table on which a plurality of substrates can be arrayed;
- a solution retaining unit for retaining said solution taken in from said solution reservoir portion, and forming spots of said solution on said substrates;
- a cleansing and other treatment portion for carrying out cleansing and other treatment on said retaining unit;
- a moving unit for moving said retaining unit close to/far from said substrates and making said retaining unit form spots on said substrates;
- and
- a conveying unit for conveying said retaining unit in an area including said solution reservoir portion, said working table and said cleansing and other treatment portion, and providing two-dimensional coordinates for said retaining unit;
- wherein said retaining unit has a base portion, and a plurality of placing portions arranged in parallel with one another on said base portion and for placing said solution on said substrates with top ends of said placing portions touching said substrates;
- and
- wherein a space for supplying cleansing fluid is provided in said base portion so as to extend all over said plurality of placing portions.
A microarrayer comprising:
- a solution reservoir portion for retaining a solution including biological samples;
- a working table on which a plurality of substrates can be arrayed;
- a plurality of retaining units for retaining said solution taken in from said solution reservoir portion, and forming spots of said solution on said substrates;
- a cleansing and other treatment portion for carrying out cleansing and other treatment on one of said retaining units;
- a conveying unit for conveying one of said retaining units in an area including said solution reservoir portion, said working table and said cleansing and other treatment portion, and providing two-dimensional coordinates for said retaining unit;
- wherein said conveying unit has a first conveying unit for conveying one of said retaining units onto said cleansing and other treatment portion, and a second conveying unit for conveying one of said retaining units onto said working table;
- and
- wherein said retaining units are delivered between said first conveying unit and said second conveying unit.
A microarraying process for sequencing spots of a solution of biological samples on substrates, comprising:
- a stamping step of taking in and retaining a solution, using a second conveying unit to convey a microarraying head for forming spots of said solution on said substrates, and forming spots of said solution of biological samples on said substrates;
- a cleansing step of using a first conveying unit to convey said microarraying head, and carrying out cleansing and other treatment on said microarraying head;
- and
- a delivering step for delivering microarraying heads between said first conveying unit and said second conveying unit, one of said microarraying heads being supported by said first conveying unit, the other being supported by said second conveying unit;
- wherein said stamping step and said cleansing step are carried out simultaneously.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.