This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2005-0025974, filed on Mar. 9, 2005 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiautomatic operating device for a microchip having at least one micro-channel capable of making the performance of biochemical reaction experiments using the microchip easier.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional micro-channels and microchips including chambers in which a biochemical reaction can occur are well known. An example of a microchip is a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) chip in which a micro-channel and a reaction chamber are formed. In conventional microchips, injection equipment such as a pipette is used to inject reaction reagents directly into a reagent inlet of the microchip. However, when a multi-channel PCR chip having a plurality of reaction chambers is used, such a manual operation can cause a large error due to confusing channels of the PCR or shaking of the hands.
In addition, the microchip must be sealed after a PCR reagent is injected so that the PCR reagent is not lost by, for example, evaporation while a PCR is performed. An example of a conventional method of sealing the microchip is adhering an optical tape to the reagent inlet and outlet of the PCR chip. In this case, a conventional reaction experiment using the microchip is inconvenient since the PCR reagent must be manually injected and the reagent inlet and outlet sealed using a separately prepared sealing material such as tape.
Therefore, a semiautomatic operating device for a microchip in which a reaction solution can be simply and accurately injected and a reagent inlet and outlet can be easily sealed after injecting the reaction solution by a simple manipulation of the device regardless of the level of the skill of a user is required.
The present invention provides a microchip unit which opens a reagent inlet of a micro-channel, guides a pipette tip that injects a reaction solution into the reagent inlet, and includes a slider which seals the reagent inlet and an outlet of the micro-channel after the injection, and a semiautomatic operating device for the microchip unit which can slide the slider to an injection location or a sealing location through a simple manipulation.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiautomatic operating device for a microchip on which at least one micro-channel with a reagent inlet is formed. The semiautomatic operating device includes: a base which accommodates the microchip; a slider with injection inlets corresponding to the reagent inlets that reciprocally move parallel to the base; and a slider moving unit which selectively moves the slider to a first location at which the microchip is opened, after the injection inlet of the slider and the reagent inlet are aligned, and to a second location where the microchip is sealed by a bottom surface of the slider covering the reagent inlet.
Hereinafter, the base accommodating the microchip and a portion including the slider will be referred as a “microchip unit” for convenience. The microchip unit is disclosed in more detail in Korean Patent Application No. 2004-0079957 filed by the present applicant prior to the filing of the present application, and the present invention provides the microchip unit and the semiautomatic operating device for a microchip, which accurately moves the slider of the microchip to the first and second locations through a simple manipulation.
The term “microchip” used throughout the specification includes a micro-channel and a chamber that is connected to the micro-channel and can be opened and closed from the micro-channel. The microchip can perform various chemical reactions in the chamber using a small amount of a reaction solution. Such a microchip is well known to those skilled in the prior art related to the present invention. An example of the microchip is a PCR chip in which a micro-channel and a reaction chamber that can be connected to the micro-channel are formed.
The PCR chip used in the present invention as an example of the microchip is well known to those skilled in the prior art related to the present invention.
Generally, a “PCR chip” refers to a device including a micro-channel and a micro chamber in which a micro PCR can be performed. The PCR chip may be a single PCR chip having a single channel and chamber, or a multi-channel PCR chip having a plurality of channels and chambers.
Throughout the specification, “PCR,” an acronym for a polymerase chain reaction, is a process in which a target nucleotide is amplified from a pair of primers specifically binded to the target nucleotide using the polymerase. In PCR, an enzyme related polymerization, a primer, a template, and a solution including other subsidiary elements (a.k.a. “PCR mixture”) are injected into a chamber. Then, the contents of the chamber are maintained at an annealing temperature at which the primer and the template are annealed, a polymerizating temperature at which polymerization occurs by the polymerase, and a denaturizing temperature at which the polymerized double strands are denatured into single strands for a predetermined periods of time. A target nucleotide is amplified by repeating the temperature cycle mentioned above. PCR is also known as thermal cycling reaction. The PCR chip used in the present invention may represent every sort of PCR chips ever known in the art.
According to the present invention, an accommodating unit for accommodating the microchip and slider guides which allow the sliders to slide parallel to the base are formed on the base. Any fixing element may fix the base and the microchip. The slider guides on the base and the sliders may be connected by grooves in the shape of horizontal straight lines and protrusions in the shape of horizontal straight lines corresponding to the grooves so that the sliders can slide.
According to the present invention, the sliders have injection inlets corresponding to each of the reagent inlets of the microchip. The bottom surfaces of the sliders adjacent to the injection inlets are formed to be able to open or close the reagent inlets. The sliders may include a pressurizing sealing element to maintain inside the microchip airtight while the reagent inlets are closed. The sliders cannot slide perpendicular to the base by being guided by the slider guides of the base, they can slide between first and second locations in a parallel direction to the base.
The first location is where the injection inlets are aligned with each of the reagent inlets of the microchip to open the microchip. The second location is where the pressurizing sealing element seals the reagent inlets and outlets of the microchip to close the microchip. The pressurizing sealing element may be made of any material having elasticity and little reaction, and is not limited to a specific material. However, the pressurizing sealing element may be made of rubber or PDMS, and may be made of PDMS.
The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:
The present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.
The semiautomatic operating device includes a stopper 304 formed as a single body with the base 300 as a first location limiting element which stops the slider 100 from sliding after the slider 100 reaches a first location P1 while sliding in the direction indicated in
The semiautomatic operating device includes second location limiting elements 320 and 422 which stop the slider 100 sliding from the first location P1 after injecting the PCR reagent when the slider 100 reaches a second location P2. The second location limiting element can be an elastic stopper which includes an elastic protrusion 320 formed on the base 300 and a groove 422 formed on one side of the shuttle 420 at a location corresponding to the elastic protrusion 320. In
Here, the elastic protrusion 320 is forced into a recess in the base 300 when the slider 100 is at the first location P1, and is restored to its original shape and inserted into the groove 422 when the slider 100 is at the second location P2. The location of the elastic protrusion 320 relative to the groove 422 does not change until an external force large enough to retransform the elastic protrusion 320 is applied to the shuttle 420. Therefore, the elastic protrusion 320 and the groove 422 need not be limited as illustrated in
The semiautomatic operating device according to the present embodiment includes the bolt 431 formed on one end of the rotatable handle 430 and the shuttle 440 having an internal screw 442 formed on one end thereof corresponding to the bolt 431. The location of the slider 100 is fixed at a first location P1 or a second location P2 by limiting the sliding of the shuttle 440 in the same manner as in the previous embodiment, except that first and second location limiting elements can directly limit the rotation of the rotatable handle 430 in the present embodiment.
When providing an automatic operating device, the rotatable handle 430 can be rotated by a motor, and of course, the displacement of the shuttle 440 can be limited by a position control motor.
Here, the first moving unit includes a first interceptor 410 that is pressed until the slider 100, pushed by one end 411 of the first interceptor 410, reaches the first location P1. The second moving unit includes a second interceptor 520 which is pressed to a predetermined location at a right angle to the direction in which the first interceptor 410 is pressed and a dependent element 550 which moves at a right angle to the direction in which the second interceptor 520 is pressed, indicated by an arrow in
The mechanism of moving the slider 100 using the second interceptor 520 is not limited to that described above. Any cam structure that fixes the slider 100 at the second location P2 by converting the maximum displacement to which the second interceptor 520 is pressed to movement of the slider 100 at a right angle to the displacement is sufficient.
The movement range of the first and second interceptors 410 and 520 can be limited by first and second stoppers 304 and 305 formed on the base 300 as a single body.
In addition, the semiautomatic operating device includes a pair of first interceptors 410 and 410′ to move the pair of sliders 100 and 100′ to a first location through a single symmetrical operation and a pair of second interceptors 510 and 510′ to move the pair of sliders 100 and 100′ from the first location to a second location through a single symmetrical operation.
The first interceptors 410 and 410′ face each other and are symmetrically pressed to a predetermined maximum location. As a result, the sliders 100 and 100′ can be moved to the first location. The second interceptors 510 and 510′ are disposed at right angles to the first interceptors 410 and 410′. The second interceptors 510 and 510 move the sliders 100 and 100′ to a second location when pressed to the maximum displacement via a predetermined mechanism. In the predetermined mechanism, front ends of the second interceptors 510 and 510′ are respectively connected to a pair of inclined elements 540 and 540′ via a pair of connecting loads 530 and 530′, and the displacement of the second interceptors 510 and 510′ is converted into the displacement of the inclined elements 540 and 540′ at right angles to the direction to which the second interceptors 510 and 510′ are pressed.
For example, the mechanism may be composed of the pair of inclined elements 540 and 540′ and the pair of connecting loads 530 and 530′. Surfaces 542 and 542′ of the inclined elements 540 and 540′ respectively correspond to surfaces of the sliders 100 and 100′ facing each other, and surfaces 541 and 541′ of the inclined element 540 opposite the surfaces 542 and 542′ are respectively inclined with respect to the surfaces 542 and 542′. The surfaces 541 and 541′ face each other between the sliders 100 and 100′. First ends of the connecting loads 530 and 530′ are rotatably connected to the inclined elements 540 and 540′, respectively, and second ends of the connecting loads 530 and 530′ are rotatably connected to the second interceptors 510 and 510′, respectively, thereby transmitting the force form the first and second interceptors 510 and 510′ to the inclined elements 540 and 540′.
The mechanism through which the sliders 100 and 100′ are moved using the second interceptors 510 and 510′ is not limited to that described above. Any mechanism which moves the sliders 100 and 100′ to the second location P2 by converting the displacement of the second interceptors 510 and 510′ into displacement of the sliders 100 and 100′ at a right angle to the direction in which the second interceptors 510 and 510′ are pressed can be used.
According to the present invention, a semiautomatic operating device for a microchip provides a microchip unit including a slider which guides a pipette for injecting a reaction solution into a reagent inlet of a micro-channel and seals the reagent inlet and outlet of the micro-channel after the reaction solution is injected. Also, regardless of a user's dexterity, the slider can be fixed to a position for an injection mode or a sealing mode through a simple operation of the semiautomatic operation device.
In addition, as described above, by using the semiautomatic operation device which can simply and accurately operate the microchip unit, possibilities of failure due to manual operation are eliminated and the microchip can be further miniaturized and integrated.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2005-0025974 | Mar 2005 | KR | national |