Flow cell, analysis equipment and analysis method using same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9429507-B2
Application number	US-201314390276-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 13, 2013
Priority date	Apr 3, 2012
Publication date	Aug 30, 2016
Grant date	Aug 30, 2016

Abstract

All of bio-related substances, such as cells or bacteria, are placed at single and independent positions. A flow cell according to the present invention is used for analyzing a bio-related substance and includes a flow passageway and an injection opening and a discharge opening that are connected to the flow passageway. The flow passageway is provided with trapping structural members for trapping the bio-related substance. The trapping structural members include a structure forming a dead water region in which the bio-related substance is trapped.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A flow cell used for analyzing a bio-related substance, the flow cell comprising:
a flow passageway, and an injection opening and a discharge opening that are connected to the flow passageway,
wherein the flow passageway is provided with a trapping structural member that traps the bio-related substance, the trapping structural member including a structure forming a dead water region in which the bio-related substance is trapped,
wherein the trapping structural member includes a slit member having a slit that passes the bio-related substance, and an accommodating member disposed on a downstream side of the slit member and facing the slit member to accommodate the bio-related substance.

2. The flow cell according to claim 1 , wherein the accommodating member has a U-shaped curved shape.

3. The flow cell according to claim 2 , wherein the accommodating member includes a recess at a position facing the slit.

4. The flow cell according to claim 1 , wherein:
the trapping structural member is arranged in a matrix including a fluid of flow direction and a direction perpendicular to the fluid flow direction;
the trapping structural member is disposed at regular intervals in a row direction; and
a trapping structural member of an odd-numbered row is placed at substantially the center of adjacent trapping structural members placed at even-numbered rows.

5. The flow cell according to claim 1 , wherein that the trapping structural member has a height equal to a height of the flow passageway.

6. The flow cell according to claim 1 , wherein:
the trapping structural member includes a pair of parallel curved waveform structural members, the curved waveform shape having periodicity, the waveform of each period being symmetrical; and
one of the pair of structural members includes a slit on an upper end, and the other includes a slit on a lower end, each of the slits having a predetermined interval.

7. The flow cell according to claim 1 , wherein the trapping structural member has an increasingly higher trap rate toward the downstream side.

8. The flow cell according to claim 7 , wherein the trapping structural member has an increasingly greater size toward the downstream side.

9. The flow cell according to claim 7 , wherein the slit member has an increasingly greater slit interval toward the downstream side.

10. The flow cell according to claim 8 , wherein the trapping structural member has an increasingly greater number of rows toward the downstream side.

11. An analysis method for analyzing a bio-related substance using a flow cell including a flow passageway and an injection opening and a discharge opening that are connected to the flow passageway,
wherein the method comprises a step of forming a dead water region by a trapping structural member disposed in the flow passageway to trap the bio-related substance, wherein the trapping structural member includes a slit member having a slit that passes the bio-related substance, and an accommodating member disposed on a downstream side of the slit member and facing the slit member to accommodate the bio-related substance, and the slit has a large interval with respect to the bio-related substance, the interval being greater than the interval of a gap between the slit member and the accommodating member;
and a step of trapping the bio-related substance in the dead water region.

12. The analysis method according to claim 11 , wherein the bio-related substance is a bacterium, a cell, or a bound body of at least one of the bacterium and the cell and a fine particle.

13. The analysis method according to claim 11 , wherein the method comprises a step of detecting the trapped bio-related substance.

14. The analysis method according to claim 13 , wherein the step of detecting uses Raman, a bright field, a dark field, a phase difference, differential interference, fluorescence, light emission, or an electronic microscope.

15. The analysis method according to claim 13 , wherein the method comprises, after the step of detecting, a step of collecting the bio-related substance by varying a solution sending speed, or the solution sending speed and a solution sending direction.

16. An analysis device used for analyzing a bio-related substance, the analysis device comprising:
a flow cell including a flow passageway and an injection opening and a discharge opening that are connected to the flow passageway;
an injection mechanism that injects a sample via the injection opening; and
a detection mechanism that detects the bio-related substance trapped in the flow cell,
wherein the flow passageway is provided with a trapping structural member that traps the bio-related substance, wherein the trapping structural member includes a structure forming a dead water region in which the bio-related substance is trapped, and wherein the trapping structural member includes a slit member having a slit that passes the bio-related substance, and an accommodating member disposed on a downstream side of the slit member and facing the slit member to accommodate the bio-related substance.

Assignees

• Hitachi High Tech Corp

Inventors

• Matsui Takuya
• Maeshima Muneo

Classifications

• G01N15/1404 Primary

  Handling flow, e.g. hydrodynamic focusing · CPC title

• C12M41/36

  of biomass, e.g. colony counters or by turbidity measurements (electrooptical investigation of individual particles G01N15/14, flow cytometers G01N15/1404) · CPC title

• B01L2400/086

  using baffles or other fixed flow obstructions · CPC title

• C12M47/02

  Separating microorganisms from the culture medium; Concentration of biomass (separating microorganisms from their culture media C12N1/02) · CPC title

• G01N33/4833

  of solid biological material, e.g. tissue samples, cell cultures (tissue in vivo A61B5/00; cell suspensions G01N33/48735) · CPC title