Nucleic acid amplifier and nucleic acid inspection device employing the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10512915-B2
Application number	US-201113696444-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 28, 2011
Priority date	May 7, 2010
Publication date	Dec 24, 2019
Grant date	Dec 24, 2019

Abstract

A nucleic acid amplifier comprises a holder 3 which is provided with a plurality of temperature control blocks 10 each designed to hold at least one reaction vessel 105 storing a reaction solution. The temperature of the reaction solution in each reaction vessel 105 is controlled individually by using temperature control devices 14 and 15 arranged in each of the temperature control blocks 10. The temperature that is set in each temperature control block 10 and the timing for temperature changes are controlled independently of the temperatures of other temperature control blocks 10. This configuration makes it possible to provide a nucleic acid amplifier and a nucleic acid inspection device (employing the nucleic acid amplifier) capable of processing multiple types of samples differing in the protocol in parallel (parallel processing) and starting a process for a different sample even when there is a process in execution.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A nucleic acid amplifier for amplifying nucleic acid in a reaction solution as a mixture of a sample and a reagent, comprising:
a holder that is provided with a plurality of temperature control blocks each configured to hold at least one reaction vessel storing a reaction solution;
a temperature control device that is provided in each of the temperature control blocks and is programmed to control a temperature of the reaction solution, such that temperature control is performed at a different temperature and time in each of the temperature control blocks; wherein
the holder has a disk-shaped base arranged with its central axis pointing upward and is rotatable in the circumferential direction;
the temperature control blocks are arranged in a circumferential direction on an outer surface of a periphery of the disk-shaped base, and
the temperature control device includes a plurality of Peltier elements, each having first and second heat exchanging surfaces, arranged so that the first heat exchanging surfaces adhere to the temperature control blocks and the second heat exchanging surfaces adhere to the outer surface of the periphery of the disk-shaped base; and
the disk-shaped base includes a fan and a radiation fin arranged at a center of the disk-shaped base.

2. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid amplifier is configured such that reaction vessels each storing a reaction solution as a mixture of a sample and a reagent can be successively loaded into the temperature control blocks.

3. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid amplifier is configured such that each reaction vessel for which a prescribed time has passed can be unloaded from the temperature control blocks.

4. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the temperature control blocks is configured such that it can be controlled at a constant temperature during the nucleic acid amplification.

5. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid amplifier is configured such that at least one of the temperature control blocks can perform a thermal cycle corresponding to PCR amplification.

6. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 1 , wherein the reaction vessels are arranged separate from each other.

7. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 1 , wherein the reaction vessels are thermally insulated from each other.

8. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 1 , wherein each temperature control block is detachable from the base member.

9. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the temperature control blocks is configured so that a reaction vessel in a different shape can be set therein.

10. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the temperature control blocks differ in material and in the temperature control device.

11. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 1 , further comprising a cover which blocks external light.

12. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 11 , wherein the cover is provided with a loading part to be used for loading the reaction vessels into the inside of the cover.

13. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 1 , wherein: the nucleic acid amplifier is configured such that a position for loading in the reaction vessels can be preset, and the base member rotates to the preset loading position when a reaction vessel should be loaded in.

14. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid amplifier is configured such that each reaction vessel can be loaded in an arbitrarily specified reaction vessel setting position.

15. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one fluorescence detector which detects fluorescence caused by irradiation of the reaction solution in the reaction vessel with excitation light emitted from a light source;
wherein the temperature control blocks are arranged to be movable with respect to the fluorescence detector.

16. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 15 , comprising a plurality of fluorescence detectors which perform the fluorescence detection independently from each other.

17. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 15 , wherein the fluorescence detector is arranged to be movable with respect to the temperature control blocks.

18. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 15 , wherein the temperature control blocks are arranged to be relatively movable with respect to the fluorescence detector that is movable.

19. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 1 , wherein the base member is formed of members excelling in heat insulating properties compared to the temperature control blocks.

20. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 1 , wherein the base member is formed of members excelling in heat conductivity.

21. A nucleic acid amplifier for amplifying nucleic acid in a reaction solution as a mixture of a sample and a reagent, comprising:
a holder that is provided with a plurality of temperature control blocks each configured to hold at least one reaction vessel containing a reaction solution;
a temperature control device that is provided in each of the plurality of temperature control blocks and is programmed to control a temperature of the reaction solution, such that temperature control is performed at a different temperature and time in each of the temperature control blocks; wherein
the holder has a ring-shaped base arranged with its central axis pointing upward and is fixed to a base of the nucleic acid amplifier,
the plurality of temperature control blocks are arranged in a circumferential direction on an outer surface of a periphery of the ring-shaped base on an uppermost surface of the ring-shaped base, and
the temperature control device includes a plurality of Peltier elements, each having first and second heat exchanging surfaces, arranged so that the first heat exchanging surfaces adhere to the temperature control blocks and the second heat exchanging surfaces adhere to the ring-shaped base; and
a plurality of fluorescence detectors arranged around a periphery of a rotatable detector base inside of the ring-shaped base of the holder; and
the ring-shaped base includes a fan and a radiation fin arranged at a center of the ring-shaped base.

22. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 20 , wherein heat capacity of the base member is larger than that of the temperature control blocks.

23. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 1 , further comprising a temperature control unit which controls the temperature of the base member.

24. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 23 , wherein the temperature control unit controls the temperature of the base member at temperatures lower than temperature control ranges of the temperature control devices of the temperature control blocks.

25. The nucleic acid amplifier according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of temperature control blocks are arranged with an open space between adjacent temperature control blocks to allow for airflow therebetween.

Assignees

• Sano Minoru
• Shoji Yoshiyuki
• Ishizawa Masato
• Sugiyama Kimikazu
• Hitachi High Tech Corp

Inventors

• Sano Minoru
• Shoji Yoshiyuki
• Ishizawa Masato
• Sugiyama Kimikazu

Classifications

• G01N2035/00366

  Several different temperatures used · CPC title

• B01L2300/1822

  using Peltier elements · CPC title

• B01L7/5255

  by moving sample containers · CPC title

• B01L7/52 Primary

  with provision for submitting samples to a predetermined sequence of different temperatures, e.g. for treating nucleic acid samples · CPC title

• B01L7/525

  with physical movement of samples between temperature zones · CPC title