Panasonic Corporation

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

The Ritsumeikan Trust

Nobuhiko Ozaki

Hiroaki Oka

Hirokazu Sugihara

Masaya Nakatani

Tomohiro Yamamoto

Tetsuo Yukimasa

Hidenobu Yaku

Yukari Hataoka

Maki Yotsuhashi

Toshihiko Yoshioka

Satoshi Konishi

Shuhei Tanaka

Ryuta Ogawa

Shinki Kojima

Airi Takagi

An instrument is provided for pharmacologic measurement capable of detecting a very small and short time change in electric signal caused by a pharmacologic action of a biologic specimen with quickness and a high sensitivity by steeply decreasing an external disturbance component mixed into the system while dropping/exchange of medicinal solutions is conducted in a batch mode. The pharmacologic measurement instrument detects a change in electric signal caused by a pharmacologic action or electrophysiologic action of a biologic specimen, and includes an electrically conductive box having an opening section at the top surface thereof and a well vessel disposed in the opening section thereof, wherein the well vessel includes a base having recesses in which the biologic specimens are put; measurement electrodes formed on the bottom surfaces of the respective recesses; and reference electrodes electrically insulated from the respective measurement electrodes, and the reference electrodes together with the electrically conductive box electrostatically shields the well vessel.

Instrument and system for pharmacologic measurement and well vessel used therein

A substrate including a channel part having a chamber in which a liquid can be fed stepwise from a chamber to another chamber at the channel part formed in the substrate, depending on the rotational speed of the substrate. A first chamber, a second chamber, a third chamber, and a channel interconnecting them are formed at the channel part formed in the substrate. Furthermore, the width and/or the depth of the first chamber is set smaller than the width and/or the depth of the second chamber. Consequently, the volume of solution subjected to centrifugal force in the first chamber is larger than the volume of solution subjected to centrifugal force in the second chamber.

Substrate including channel part having chamber, and multistage liquid feed device comprising the same

Provided is a measuring chip, which can spot a specimen liquid of a minute quantity for an immune agglutination easily and precisely to the measuring chip and which can prevent the flow of the specimen liquid and the contamination of the specimen. The measuring chip comprises at least two substrates, a spacer arranged between the substrates, at least one passage made of the substrates and the spacer into a hollow shape and having two open ends, counter electrodes for applying an electric field, and a specimen-spotted portion to be spotted with the specimen. The specimen-spotted portion has a structure made of a square, circular, elliptical or sector shape by that spacer. Moreover, the specimen-spotted portion has two open ends, one of which is connected to one open end of that passage.

Measuring chip

A sensing element for measuring extracellular potential including a substrate, a well provided in a substrate, a guide section provided on the wall of the well, and a detective electrode formed at a lower surface of the substrate. The guide section is for guiding drug. The well is provided at the bottom with a depression, and a first throughhole penetrating through the depression and the lower surface of the substrate. The well is for mixing a subject cell, a culture solution and the drug together. The above-configured sensing element accurately measures a change generated by a subject cell.

Extracellular potential sensing element, device for measuring extracellular potential, apparatus for measuring extracellular potential and method of measuring extracellular potential by using the same

A substrate having a channel portion in which a liquid transfers, wherein, even if the channel portion has no micro-channel interconnecting chambers, a liquid can transfer stepwise from one region to the next region according to the speed of rotation of the substrate. The substrate can be rotated about a rotation axis as the center, and has the channel portion including the chambers formed therein. The inner wall of each chamber has a first area including an area intersecting with a centrifugal direction from the center; and also has a second area placed at a position farther from the center than the first area, and including a surface intersecting with the centrifugal direction from the center. Further, the first area has a region for holding a droplet of a liquid provided; and also has a region where a contact with the droplet expands when the substrate is rotated, and that communicate with the second area.

Substrate having channel portion including chambers, and method of transferring liquid by using the substrate

Apparatus for measuring extracellular potential

A chamber chipis provided with a pre-branching chamber, branching chamber, and a guiding fluid passagefor these chambers. The branching chamberhas a separation wallwhich defines two branching compartmentsA andB. A wall surface of the branching chamber positioned at a side of the rotary shafthas a spread angle &#x3b8;e from an outlet end sectionof the guiding fluid passagewhich is an obtuse angle. The rotation of the chamber chipabout the rotary shaftcauses a liquidto flow from the pre-branching chamberthrough the guiding fluid passageinto the branching chamber. By a Coriolis force acting in an opposite direction to a rotation direction R, Rabout the rotary shaft, the liquidis selectively supplied to any one of the branching compartmentsA andB.

Liquid delivery apparatus and liquid delivery method

A probe for measuring an electric potential of a cell includes a plate having a surface having a first cavity provided therein, and a sensor element provided in the first cavity. A second cavity is provided in the bottomsurface of the first cavity. The first flow passage having first and second openings is provided in the plate. The first and second openings of the first flow passage open to the second cavity and outside the plate, respectively. The sensor element includes a thin plate, and a supporting substrate provided around the thin plate and in the first cavity of the plate. The thin plate has a through-hole therein having a first opening and a second opening communicating with the second cavity of the plate. The first flow passage allows fluid to flow therein. A sucking device is coupled with the second opening of the first flow passage as to suck the fluid flowing in the first flow passage. This probe can measure an electric potential of a cell floating in solution as it is in this environment.

Probe for measuring electric potential of cell

An instrument is provided for pharmacologic measurement capable of detecting a very small and short time change in electric signal caused by a pharmacologic action of a biologic specimen with quickness and a high sensitivity by steeply decreasing an external disturbance component mixed into the system while dropping/exchange of medicinal solutions is conducted in a batch mode. The pharmacologic measurement instrument detects a change in electric signal caused by a pharmacologic action or electrophysiologic action of a biologic specimen, and includes an electrically conductive box having an opening section at the top surface thereof, and a well vessel disposed in the opening section thereof, wherein the well vessel includes a base having recesses in which the biologic specimens are put; measurement electrodes formed on the bottom surfaces of the respective recesses; and reference electrodes electrically insulated from the respective measurement electrodes, and the reference electrodes together with the electrically conductive box electrostatically shields the well vessel.

A reaction of a sample mixture liquid is detected accurately, by allowing a solid reagent to be dissolved and reacted in a liquid sample quickly and accurately. A disc main body, and at least one sample mixing unit provided at the disc main body are provided, and the sample mixing unit is provided with: a liquid sample reserve unit; a reagent chamber capable of disposing a plurality of the solid reagents; and a measurement chamber to which a sample mixture liquid containing a liquid sample and a solid reagent mixed in the reagent chamber is supplied. The reagent chamber has a form which allows a plurality of the solid reagents to be disposed in the direction substantially parallel to the radial direction of the disc in which centrifugal force is generated, or in the direction substantially perpendicular to the radial direction of the disc.

Sample-liquid analysis disc and method for analyzing sample mixture liquid

The present invention provides an apparatus for measuring activity signals of a biological sample comprising: a measurement chamber (A) storing a target liquid containing a biological sample; a porous insulating substrate () provided with a measurement electrode () on at least one side; and a conveying device () which conveys the target liquid stored in the measurement chamber (A) and passes the target liquid through the porous insulating substrate () from the measurement electrode () side, wherein the conveying device () is operated to trap the biological sample contained in the target liquid onto the measurement electrode (), so that the activity signals of the biological sample are measured through the measurement electrode (). According to the apparatus, activity signals emitted from the biological sample can be detected easily, rapidly and accurately.

Apparatus and method for measuring activity signals of biological samples

A liquid delivery apparatushas a rotary substrate. The substrateformed with a fluid passageA for communicating a supply chamberA and target chamberA. An inlet end portionat which the fluid passageA is connected to the chamberA extends in a clockwise direction Rof rotational directions of the substrate. The inlet end portionholds a liquidin the chamberA by a capillary force. The rotation drive unitrotates the substrateso that an inertial force exceeding the capillary force and directed to the clockwise direction Racts on the liquidin the inlet end portion. Delivery behavior control of microfluid with a high degree of flexibility can be achieved.

A measurement deviceincludes a measurement cell. The measurement cellincludes a substratesand a substrateformed on the substrate. The substratesandare bonded to each other. Thus, a flow passis formed in the measurement cell. As shown in FIG., on the substrateof the measurement cell, provided are a concave well, a protruding microelectrodeconnected to a terminaland formed on a side wall surface of the well, communicating tubesandconnected to both of side surfaces of the well(i.e., the flow pass) to face to each other, resistance bathsandconnected to the communicating tubesand, thin film resistorsandarranged in the resistance bathsand, and a reference electrodeconnected to a terminal

Measurement device and method for measuring electric signal from biological sample

Device for measuring extracellular potential

The present invention provides a blood processing apparatus that can introduce a metered quantity of a blood sample into a chamber and does not require an opening linked to the chamber to be closed after the introduction of the blood sample. An introducing chamber, an injection port, and an air port are formed in a rotatable platform of a blood processing apparatus. The injection port links the introducing chamber with the outside of the rotatable platform. A blood sample is introduced from the injection port into the introducing chamber. A blood coagulant is held on the port wall surface of the air port and/or around a portion of the surface of the rotatable platform where the air port is open.

Growing community of inventors

Nara, Japan

Nobuhiko Ozaki