Thermocooler with thermal breaks that thermally isolate a thermocycling region from at least one guard heat region
AssigneeAnalogic Corporation
InventorsAndrew Alvino, John M. Cavacas, Keith Crowe
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sample processing apparatus includes a sample carrier receiving region configured to receive a sample carrier carrying at least one sample, at least one sample processing station that processes the at least one sample, and a thermal control system that controls thermocycling of the sample during processing of the sample by the at least one sample processing station, wherein the thermal control system includes a heating and/or cooling substrate with a thermocycling region, at least one guard heat region, and at least one thermal break between the thermocycling region and the at least one guard heat region.
Claims21
A sample processing apparatus, comprising:
- a sample carrier receiving region configured to receive a sample carrier carrying at least one sample;
- at least one sample processing station that processes the at least one sample;
- and
- a thermal control system that controls thermocycling of the at least one sample during processing of the at least one sample by the at least one sample processing station, wherein the thermal control system includes:
- a thermoelectric cooler device;
- and
- a heating and/or cooling substrate affixed to the thermoelectric cooler device, wherein the heating and/or cooling substrate includes a thermocycling region, at least one guard heat region, and at least one thermal break between the thermocycling region and the at least one guard heat region, and wherein both the thermocycling region and the at least one guard heat region are affixed to the same thermoelectric cooler device.
A method, comprising:
- thermocycling a sample carrier carrying a sample during processing of the sample using a heating and/or cooling substrate that includes a thermocycling region, at least one guard heat region, and at least one thermal break, wherein the thermocycling region and the at least one guard heat region are affixed to a same thermoelectric cooler device, and wherein the at least one guard heat region and the at least one thermal break thermally isolates the thermocycling region from the at least one guard heat region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.