Claims
- 1. A high-throughput system for processing samples and screening for solid forms of a compound-of-interest, which comprises:
a) removable containers, each of which contains a compound-of-interest and optionally one or more additional compounds; b) a block made of a thermally conductive material having an array of holes, each hole having a top and a bottom, the top having an opening for receiving the removable container and the bottom having an access hole; c) a thermal processing system for heating and cooling multiple blocks simultaneously; and d) an imaging device for detecting solid forms.
- 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the imaging device comprises a CCD camera.
- 3. The system of claim 1 which further comprises a computer configured to recognize images of solids.
- 4. The system of claim 1 wherein the compound-of-interest is an active pharmaceutical ingredient and the optional additional compound is a solvent or excipient.
- 5. A method for the high-throughput processing and screening of samples, which comprises:
a) providing a system for processing a sample comprising:
i) removable containers; and ii) a block having an array of holes, each hole having a top and a bottom, the top having an opening for receiving a container and the bottom having an access hole; b) placing the containers in the holes; c) dispensing a controlled amount of a compound-of-interest and optionally one or more additional compounds in each container to provide an array of samples; d) processing the array; and e) screening the samples for the presence or absence of solid forms using an imaging device.
- 6. The method of claim 5 wherein the compound-of-interest is an active pharmaceutical ingredient and the optional additional compound is a solvent or excipient.
- 7. The method of claim 5 wherein the screening comprises:
a) imaging the contents of the containers; and b) analyzing the images for a desired experimental result.
- 8. The method of claim 5 which further comprises prescreening containers prior to the processing of the array.
- 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the prescreening comprises:
a) imaging the contents of the containers; and b) analyzing the images for a desired experimental result.
- 10. The method of claim 5 which further comprising re-arraying the containers which contain the desired experimental results into an output block.
- 11. The method of claim 5 wherein processing comprises raising or lowering the temperature of containers in the array.
- 12. An automated high throughput method for screening for solid forms of a compound-of-interest, wherein the compound-of-interest is a biologically active small organic molecule, which comprises:
a) preparing an array of samples, each of which comprises the compound-of-interest and optionally one or more additional compounds; b) processing the array so as to generate solid forms; c) prescreening the array for solid formation using a digital imaging camera; d) identifying samples with solid formations for further analysis; e) rearranging and reprocessing samples with solids, and optionally repeating steps (b) to (d).
- 13. A method of evaluating experiments which comprises:
a) providing a system for evaluating experiments comprising:
i) a plurality of containers, each of which contains a compound-of-interest and optionally one or more additional compounds; ii) a block containing an array of holes for receiving the containers; and iii) an imaging device; b) positioning the block near the imaging device; c) producing images of the contents of each of the containers; d) analyzing the images for the presence of a desired experimental result; and e) identifying containers with the desired experimental result.
- 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the contents of the containers are analyzed for birefringence.
- 15. The method of claim 13 wherein the contents of the containers are analyzed for the scattering of laser light.
- 16. The method of claim 13 wherein the contents of the containers are subjected to processing.
- 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the processing is heating, cooling, mixing, changing pH, changing pressure, changing the concentration of the compound-of-interest, or placing the compound-of-interest in contact with one or more additional compounds.
- 18. The method of claim 16 wherein the containers without the desired result are subjected to further processing.
- 19. The method of claim 13 wherein the identified containers having the desired experimental result are re-arrayed to an output block for further analysis.
- 20. The method of claim 13 wherein the compound-of-interest is an active pharmaceutical ingredient and the optional additional compound is a solvent, excipient, or additive.
- 21. The method of claim 13, wherein the experiment is a crystallization or precipitation experiment.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application Nos. 60/318,152, 60/318,157, and 60/318,138, each of which was filed on Sep. 7, 2001, and each of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
Provisional Applications (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60318152 |
Sep 2001 |
US |
|
60318157 |
Sep 2001 |
US |
|
60318138 |
Sep 2001 |
US |