Cartridge for dispensing particles and a reagent fluid

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018071740-A1
Application number	US-201715819165-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 21, 2017
Priority date	May 29, 2015
Publication date	Mar 15, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method of dispensing a particle mixture and a reagent fluid cartridge are presented. The cartridge comprises a first reservoir partially filled with reagent fluid, a second reservoir partially filled with particles, a pumping chamber, a first pumping chamber conduit connecting the first reservoir and the pumping chamber, a second pumping chamber conduit connecting the second reservoir and the pumping chamber, an outlet for dispensing reagent fluid and particles from the cartridge, an outlet conduit connecting the outlet to the pumping chamber, and a valve sealing the outlet conduit. The method comprises closing the valve, applying a force to the plunger to transport a first defined volume of reagent fluid and second defined volume of particles into the pumping chamber to form a mixture of reagent fluid and particles, opening the valve, and forcing the mixture from the pumping chamber using the plunger to dispense the mixture from the outlet.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A method of performing a measurement on a sample containing an analyte using a cartridge, wherein the cartridge comprises a first reservoir at least partially filled with a reagent fluid, a second reservoir at least partially filled with particles, a pumping chamber, wherein the pumping chamber is formed from a cavity, wherein the cartridge further comprises a plunger mounted within the pumping chamber, wherein the plunger is configured for changing the volume of the pumping chamber, wherein the cartridge further comprises at least one first pumping chamber conduit connecting the first reservoir and the pumping chamber, at least one second pumping chamber conduit connecting the second reservoir and the pumping chamber, an outlet for dispensing the reagent fluid and the particles from the cartridge, an outlet conduit connecting the outlet to the pumping chamber, and a valve for sealing the outlet conduit, the method comprising:
closing the valve; applying a force to the plunger to transport a first defined volume of reagent fluid and a second defined volume of particles into the pumping chamber to form a mixture of reagent fluid and particles; opening the valve; forcing the mixture in the pumping chamber using the plunger to dispense the mixture from the outlet into a fluid receptacle for mixing with the sample containing an analyte; and performing the measurement on the sample containing an analyte using an analytical unit.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein applying a force to transport a first defined volume of reagent fluid and a second defined volume of particles into the pumping chamber to form a mixture of reagent fluid and particles comprises expanding the volume of the pumping chamber with the plunger, and wherein forcing the mixture in the pumping chamber to dispense the mixture comprises reducing the volume of the pumping chamber with the plunger.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein expansion of the pumping chamber with the plunger causes simultaneous transport of reagent fluid and particles into the pumping chamber during at least a portion of the expansion of the pumping chamber.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plunger has a stroke, wherein motion of the plunger along at least a portion of the stroke causes the simultaneous transport of reagent fluid and particles into the pumping chamber.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a single expansion of the pumping chamber causes transport of both reagent fluid and particles into the pumping chamber.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein during a first part of the single expansion of the pumping chamber only one of the reagent fluid and the particles is transported into the pumping chamber, wherein during a second part of the single expansion of the pumping chamber both of the reagent fluid and the particles are transported into the pumping chamber.

7 . A cartridge for an automatic analyzer, the cartridge comprising:
a first reservoir at least partially filled with a reagent fluid; a second reservoir at least partially filled with particles; a pumping chamber, wherein the pumping chamber is formed from a cavity; a plunger mounted within the pumping chamber, wherein the plunger is configured for changing the volume of the pumping chamber; at least one first pumping chamber conduit connecting the first reservoir and the pumping chamber; at least one second pumping chamber conduit connecting the second reservoir and the pumping chamber; an outlet for dispensing the reagent fluid and the particles from the cartridge; an outlet conduit connecting the outlet to the pumping chamber; and a valve for sealing the outlet conduit.

8 . The cartridge of claim 7 , wherein applying a force to transport a first defined volume of reagent fluid and a second defined volume of particles into the pumping chamber to form a mixture of reagent fluid and particles comprises expanding the volume of the pumping chamber with the plunger, and wherein forcing the mixture in the pumping chamber to dispense the mixture comprises reducing the volume of the pumping chamber with the plunger.

9 . The cartridge of claim 8 , wherein expansion of the pumping chamber with the plunger causes simultaneous transport of reagent fluid and particles into the pumping chamber during at least a portion of the expansion of the pumping chamber.

10 . The cartridge of claim 7 , wherein the plunger has a stroke, wherein motion of the plunger along at least a portion of the stroke causes the simultaneous transport of reagent fluid and particles into the pumping chamber.

11 . The cartridge of claim 7 , wherein a single expansion of the pumping chamber causes transport of both reagent fluid and particles into the pumping chamber.

12 . The cartridge of claim 11 , wherein during a first part of the single expansion of the pumping chamber only one of the reagent fluid and the particles is transported into the pumping chamber, wherein during a second part of the single expansion of the pumping chamber both of the reagent fluid and the particles are transported into the pumping chamber.

13 . The cartridge of claim 7 , wherein the particles are mixed within a buffer solution within the second reservoir and wherein the particles have a first specific gravity, wherein the buffer solution has a second specific gravity, and wherein the first specific gravity is greater than the second specific gravity, wherein the buffer solution is the reagent fluid, wherein the first reservoir and the second reservoir are separated by a porous divider to allow the transfer of fluid between the first reservoir and the second reservoir.

14 . The cartridge of claim 13 , wherein the reservoir comprises a funnel structure, wherein the funnel structure at least partially forms the at least one second pumping chamber conduit.

15 . The cartridge of claim 13 , wherein the valve is configured for sealing the at least one first pumping chamber conduit and the at least one second pumping chamber conduit when the pumping chamber is connected to the outlet conduit , wherein the valve is configured for sealing the outlet conduit when the at least one first pumping chamber conduit connects the first reservoir to the pumping chamber, wherein the valve is configured for sealing the outlet conduit when the at least one second pumping chamber conduit connects the second reservoir to the pumping chamber.

16 . The cartridge of claim 15 , wherein the valve is a throttle valve configured to change the effective cross-section of the first pumping chamber conduit and/or of the second pumping chamber conduit.

17 . The cartridge of claim 7 , wherein the cartridge comprises a first pumping chamber valve connected to the first pumping chamber conduit configured to change the effective cross-section of the first pumping chamber conduit and/or a second pumping chamber valve connected to the second pumping chamber conduit configured to change the effective cross-section of the second pumping chamber conduit.

18 . The cartridge of claim 7 , wherein the cartridge comprises multiple first pumping chamber conduits and/or wherein the cartridge comprises multiple second pumping chamber conduits.

19 . The cartridge of claim 18 , wherein the valve is configured for selecting one of the multiple first pumping chamber conduits to connect the first reservoir with the pumping chamber and/or wherein the valve is configured for selecting one of the multiple second pumping chamber conduits to connect the second reservoir with the pumping chamber.

Assignees

• Roche Diagnostics Operations Inc

Inventors

• Brueckner Thorsten
• Losleben Nadine
• Oranth Norbert

Classifications

• B01L2400/0622

  distribution valves, valves having multiple inlets and/or outlets, e.g. metering valves, multi-way valves · CPC title

• B01L2200/04

  Exchange or ejection of cartridges, containers or reservoirs · CPC title

• B01L2400/0478

  pistons · CPC title

• G01N2035/00574

  Means for distributing beads · CPC title

• G01N33/5304

  Reaction vessels, e.g. agglutination plates (for solid-phase systems G01N33/543) · CPC title