Sample container for analyses

#This application is a U.S. National Stage filing under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Application No. PCT/EP2004/000311, filed Jan. 16, 2004, which claims priority to German Patent Application No. 103 02 341.0, filed Jan. 17, 2003, and also claims priority to German Patent Application No. 103 21 042.3, filed May 10, 2003. The contents of the aforementioned applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Priority to the aforementioned applications is hereby expressly claimed in accordance with 35U.S.C. §§ 119, 120, 365 and 371 and any other applicable statutes.

#The present invention relates to a sample container for analyses, specifically a biochip platform comprising a platform plate having at least one reaction chamber (compartment) that is suitable for use in medical diagnostics or for screening for pharmaceutically active compounds.

#Microplates for the titration of biological or chemical materials or for performing measurements of fluorescence, luminescence, or other measurements are known in the art. Microplates in the form of multicuvettes are used specifically in research, and in clinical and industrial applications, for example to perform blood group serology, antibiotics test series, complement titrations, and other laboratory work in which, for example, geometric dilution series are necessary. The standard size for biochemical and cellular biological tests is a microtiter plate having 96 wells (“sample wells” or depressions) with a reaction volume of up to 500 μl per well. There is a growing trend to use microtiter plates having 384 wells or even 1536 wells. This trend to increasing miniaturization is mainly being driven by combinatorial chemistry and by HTS (high-throughput screening). Both areas are currently among the pillars of screening for modern pharmaceutically active chemical compounds.

#The biochip platform of the invention is explained below on the basis of typical examples and the corresponding figures.

#The drawing shows:

#FIG. 1 A schematic diagram of a biochip platform of the invention seen in a top view,

#In the following section, parts, elements, or devices that have similar construction or function have the same reference numbers.

#FIG. 1 shows in schematic form a biochip platform 1 with a rectangular platform plate 3 that in places has keyed corners 17. A reaction chamber 5 that is formed by the bottom 7 having the hatched surface F and the side walls 9 that laterally define or enclose the bottom 7 is located on the platform plate 3. The reaction chamber 5, which has a square contour, is open in the upward direction. The platform plate 3 has two keyed corners 17 that permit the biochip platform 1 to be uniquely oriented, for example when inserted into a microtiter plate.

#FIG. 2 shows in schematic form a cross section through two alternative embodiments of the biochip platform 1 of the invention. FIG. 2a shows an embodiment of the biochip platform 1 of the invention in which the bottom 7 of the reaction chamber 5 is formed by the platform plate 3. The side walls 9 of the reaction chamber 5 having a height H are formed as raised areas on the platform plate 3. The reaction chamber 5, which is open in the upward direction, has an opening 15. In this embodiment, the upper edge 11 of the reaction chamber 5 lies in a plane above the upper edge 13 of the platform plate 3. FIG. 2b shows an embodiment of the biochip platform 1 of the invention in which the upper edge 11 of the reaction chamber 3 and the upper edge 13 of the platform plate 3 lie in the same plane. In this embodiment the reaction chamber 5 is disposed as a depression inside and/or below the platform plate 3, and the opening 15 of the reaction chamber 5 terminates at the upper edge 13 of the platform plate 3.