Nucleic acid detection cassette and nucleic acid detection device

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention relates to a nucleic acid detection cassette which completely automatically performs the detection of a nucleic acid and its pretreatment step for a purpose of detecting a target nucleic acid, and a nucleic acid detection device by use of this nucleic acid detection cassette.

#2. Description of the Related Art

#FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing the whole constitution of a nucleic acid detection cassette in a first embodiment of the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of a section of the nucleic acid detection cassette in the first embodiment;

#FIG. 3 is a diagram showing details of the section of the nucleic acid detection cassette in the first embodiment;

#Embodiments will be described hereinafter with reference to the drawings.

#FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a nucleic acid detection cassette 100 in a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of a section of the nucleic acid detection cassette 100 of FIG. 1.

#The nucleic acid detection cassette 100 includes a cassette upper body 1, an elastic sheet 3, and a cassette lower body 2. The elastic sheet 3 is sandwiched between the cassette upper body 1 and the cassette lower body 2 to thereby form the nucleic acid detection cassette 100. At this time, the sheet is sandwiched with an appropriate pressure to thereby keep sealability in the nucleic acid detection cassette 100. The cassette upper body 1 has a channel 11 on its inner surface, that is, the surface of the body which is brought into contact with the elastic sheet 3. The cassette lower body 2 has a groove 21 on its inner surface, that is, the surface of the body which is brought into contact with the elastic sheet 3. The channel 11 is connected to the groove 21 through a hole formed in the elastic sheet 3. The elastic sheet 3 may be provided with a groove forming a channel. A shape of the groove 21 is not especially limited, but examples of the shape of a section of the groove include a square shape, a rectangular shape, a semicircular shape, and a shape obtained by combining these shapes. Examples of a material of the cassette upper body 1 and the cassette lower body 2 include resins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, and polycarbonate, but the material is not especially limited to them. Examples of a material of the elastic sheet 3 include a resin such as silicon rubber, but the material is not especially limited to the example.