Contamination barrier
AssigneeQiagen GmbH
InventorsThomas Rothmann, Markus Sprenger-Haussels, Petra Benkel, Sabine Hermes, Friederike Wilmer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention concerns a contamination barrier 5 that permits an efficient and reproducible processing of a high number of samples with the prevention of contamination of aqueous solutions 3 in open and/or automated systems, especially in the ppm range, in that it comprises at least one water immiscible hydrocarbon compound. In addition a method for the prevention of contamination during the processing of aqueous solutions 3 in open and/or automated systems is disclosed.
Claims9
A method for reducing contamination during the processing of aqueous solutions in an automated system comprising a robotic or automated pipetting system, the method comprising:
- a) providing a plurality of open sample vessels, the sample vessels comprising an aqueous solution;
- b) covering said aqueous solutions with a contamination barrier comprising at least one water immiscible hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon mixture to completely form a film on the aqueous solutions, wherein the at least one water immiscible hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon mixture comprises branched or unbranched alkanes of from 8 to 12 carbon atoms;
- c) pipetting and processing the aqueous solutions under the contamination barrier by penetrating the contamination barrier with the robotic or automated pipetting system;
- and
- d) obtaining a plurality of processed aqueous solutions with reduced cross-contamination between the aqueous solutions as compared to processed aqueous solutions that do not have the contamination barrier present, wherein said cross-contamination is reduced by at least a factor of two.
A method for reducing contamination during the processing of aqueous solutions in an automated system comprising a robotic or automated pipetting system, the method comprising:
- providing a plurality of open sample vessels, the sample vessels comprising an aqueous solution;
- b) covering said aqueous solutions with a contamination barrier comprising silicone oil to completely form a film on the aqueous solutions;
- c) pipetting and processing the aqueous solutions under the contamination barrier by penetrating the contamination barrier with the robotic or automated pipetting system;
- and
- d) obtaining a plurality of processed aqueous solutions with reduced cross-contamination between the aqueous solutions as compared to processed aqueous solutions that do not have the contamination barrier present, wherein said cross-contamination is reduced by at least a factor of two.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.