Genvault Corporation

Mitchell D Eggers

John W Sadler

James C Davis

A system and method operative in accordance with the present disclosure facilitate storage and retrieval of individual or discrete samples of biological, non-biological, and chemical material stored on dry media. Sample material may be disposed upon or within a porous or solid (i.e., non-porous) sample storage medium and subsequently archived in, and retrieved from, storage elements such as multi-well plates, for example, using robotic devices or other automated apparatus. The disclosed system and method enable ejection of sample material from a sealed storage element into a specific well of a multi-well daughter plate, or into a specific cuvette, test tube, or similar container. In some embodiments, a sample carrier comprising a storage medium may be punched or ejected through a first seal of the storage element with an apparatus or implement such as a disposable piercing tip, for instance, inserted through a second seal of the storage element.

Sealed sample storage element system and method

Systems and methods of providing biological and non-biological samples, as well as selected analyses thereof, to a remote client are disclosed. In some embodiments, such systems and methods include some or all of the following: maintaining a sample archive comprising a plurality of discrete sample nodes; receiving a request for a sample or an analysis thereof from a remote client, the request including identification of a selected sample node from the plurality of discrete sample nodes and identification of a selected assay; retrieving the selected sample node from the archive; preparing the selected assay; and performing the selected assay for the selected sample node. As noted above, samples and results of analyses may be transmitted to the remote client. In some embodiments, a system and method may retrieve, prepare, and package in excess of 100, 200, or 500 samples per day.

Automated biological sample archive for storage, retrieval and analysis of large numbers of samples for remote clients

A sample archive method and system implement a plurality of sample carriers configured to support a plurality of sample nodes in a predetermined spatial relationship, sample storage devices for selectively placing the plurality of sample carriers in an archive, and sample node removal apparatus for locating and removing selected ones of the plurality of sample nodes. Alternative embodiments are disclosed wherein the sample node removal apparatus comprises a laser and a mechanical clipping tool, which may be manually operated or automated. An optical component may be operative to detect the location of selected sample carriers in the archive, selected ones of the plurality of sample nodes, or both. A positioning component may position the sample node removal apparatus responsive to signals transmitted by the optical component. Various apparatus and methods of archiving samples and preparing the same for analysis are also disclosed.

Growing community of inventors

Carlsbad, CA, United States of America

Mitchell D Eggers