This application claims the priority benefit of China application no. 201710256374.3, filed on Apr. 19, 2017. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
The invention is directed to a detection apparatus and an inlet structure thereof and more particularly, to an inlet structure capable of destroying a surface tension of a fluid and a detection apparatus applying the inlet structure.
To satisfy demands of emphasis on preventive medicine, early diagnosis and early treatment in medical treatment, demands on automated testing environment, point of care (POC) or near patient testing and molecular diagnosis have increased. Currently, most of the blood samples are still separated in the centrifuge, and fluids to be tested after the separation are further taken therefrom to a detection apparatus for testing. The detection apparatus may be, for example, a detector instrument or a rapid-screening cassette.
In a conventional detection apparatus, when a fluid is dropped into an inlet of the detection apparatus, the behavior of the fluid is influenced by the surface tension easily and has difficulty of being guided into the inlet. Thus, an absorbent material has to be additionally used to guide and absorb the fluid to allow the fluid to pass through the inlet and enter into the detection apparatus. In this way, production cost of the detection apparatus is increased.
The invention provides an inlet structure capable of destroying a surface tension of a fluid to cause the fluid to flow into a microchannel by a capillary action.
The invention provides a detection apparatus capable of allowing a fluid to flow into an inlet structure and a microchannel without the use of any absorbent material, which benefits in cost reduction.
An inlet structure of the invention is adapted to be connected to a microchannel. The inlet structure includes an inlet portion and at least one micro structure. The inlet portion has an inner surface. The micro structure is disposed in the inlet portion and connected with the inner surface. When a fluid is injected into inlet portion, the micro structure destroys the surface tension of the fluid to cause the fluid to flow into the microchannel by a capillary action.
A detection apparatus of the invention includes at least one inlet structure and at least one microchannel. The inlet structure includes an inlet portion and at least one micro structure. The inlet portion has an inner surface. The micro structure is disposed in the inlet portion and connected to the inner surface. The microchannel is connected to the inlet structure. When a fluid is injected into the inlet portion, the micro structure destroys a surface tension of the fluid to cause the fluid to flow into the microchannel by a capillary action.
In an embodiment of the invention, the micro structure is a convex-shaped micro structure protruding from the inner surface of the inlet portion.
In an embodiment of the invention, the micro structure is a concaved-shaped micro structure buried into the inner surface of the inlet portion.
In an embodiment of the invention, when the number of the micro structure is plural, the plurality of micro structures are arranged and spaced equidistantly.
In an embodiment of the invention, the inlet portion further has an inclined surface and a bottom surface. The inner surface is connected between the inclined surface and the bottom surface, and the inner surface is perpendicularly or inclinedly connected to the bottom surface.
In an embodiment of the invention, a side of the micro structure is located at a junction between the inclined surface and the inner surface.
In an embodiment of the invention, a vertical spacing is between a lower surface of the micro structure and the bottom surface of the inlet portion.
In an embodiment of the invention, a lower surface of the micro structure is aligned with the bottom surface of the inlet portion.
In an embodiment of the invention, a top-viewed shape of the inlet portion is circular, and a diameter of the microchannel is less than or equal to a diameter of the inlet portion.
In an embodiment of the invention, a top-viewed shape of the micro structure is polygonal, arcuate or irregular-shaped.
Based on the above, in the inlet structure of the invention, because at least one micro structure is disposed therein, and when the fluid is injected into the inlet portion of the inlet structure, the micro structure can destroy the surface tension of the fluid to cause the fluid to flow into the microchannel by the capillary action. In this way, the inlet structure can guide the fluid to flow inward without the use of any absorbent material. Moreover, the detection apparatus of the invention includes the aforementioned inlet structure which can achieve demands for cost reduction as the use of the absorbent material is not required.
Several exemplary embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below to further describe the invention in details.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present invention.
To be specific, each of the inlet structures 200 of the detection apparatus 100 of the present embodiment includes an inlet portion 210 and at least one micro structures 220 (which five are schematically illustrated in
To be more specific, referring again to
Additionally, in the present embodiment, the plurality of micro structures 220 are arranged and spaced equidistantly, wherein the micro structures 220 are convex-shaped micro structures, namely, the micro structures 220 are disposed on the inner surface 212 in a manner of protruding therefrom. As illustrated in
As the inlet structure 200 of the present embodiment are disposed with the micro structures 220, when the fluid F is injected into the inlet portion 210 of the inlet structure 200, the micro structures 220 are capable of destroying the surface tension of the fluid F to cause the fluid F to flow to the microchannel 300 connected to the inlet structure 200 by the capillary action. In this way, the inlet structure 200 can guide the fluid F to flow into the inlet structure 200 and the microchannel 300, without the use of any absorbent material. In other words, the detection apparatus 100 of the present embodiment can satisfy the demand for cost reduction.
In addition, the microchannel 300 of the present embodiment are connected to the inlet structure 200, thereby guiding the fluid F to flow into a reaction tank (which is not shown) of the detection apparatus 100 for subsequent analysis. Preferably, a diameter W of the microchannel 300 is less than or equal to a diameter D (which refers to an inner diameter of the inner surface 212 in this case) of the inlet portion 210 to cause the fluid F to flow into the microchannel 300 more easily by the capillary action.
It should be noted that the reference numerals and a part of the contents in the aforementioned embodiment are used in the following embodiments, in which identical reference numerals are adopted to represent identical or similar components, and repeated descriptions of the same technical contents are omitted. For detailed descriptions of the omitted parts, a reference can be found in the aforementioned embodiment, and repeated descriptions thereof are omitted in the following embodiments.
It is to be mentioned that the structural shapes of the micro structures 220, 220a and 220b are not limited by the invention, and it falls within the scope of protection by the invention as long as a non-smooth surface can be defined by the micro structures 220, 220a and 220b and the inner surface 212 of the inlet portion 210. Based on the above design principle, the top-viewed shape of the micro structures 220, 220a and 220b may not only be polygonal, but also arcuate or other irregular-shapes in other embodiments that are not shown.
In view of the foregoing, the detection apparatus of the invention has the inlet structure, and the inlet structure is disposed with the micro structures. Thus, when the fluid is injected into the inlet portion of the inlet structure, the micro structures can destroy the surface tension of the fluid to cause the fluid to flow into the microchannel connected to the inlet structure by the capillary action. In this way, the inlet structure of the invention can guide the fluid to flow into the microchannel without the use of any absorbent material. On the other hand, as the detection apparatus of the invention does not need any absorbent material, the detection apparatus of the invention can satisfy the demand for cost reduction.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the disclosure cover modifications and variations of this specification provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201710256374.3 | Apr 2017 | CN | national |