Dpc Cirrus, Inc.

Cirrus Diagnostics, Inc.

Personal Diagnostics, Inc.

Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Gmbh

Thomas Palmieri

Arthur L Babson

Peter M Meserol

Anthony P Montalbano

Eric C Fleischer

Douglas R Olson

Greg A Montalbano

Chris P Montalbano

Philip A Bernstein

Ilya Malyarov

Rita C Prodell

Arthur L Rabson

Robert W Holt

A test vessel agitator assembly that agitates test vessels and the contents therein within an immunoassay automated analyzer system. The test vessels are transported along an element that is comprised of ridges and troughs such that the test vessel is moved in a directions that is approximately perpendicular to the direction of transportation.

Vessel agitator assembly

A rotary luminometer subsystem presents test vessels to a detection mechanism to be read as part of the automated immunoassay analyzer system. The rotary luminometer provides a read station separate from that of the transportation element of the luminometer. Within the read station, a housing and shield eliminates light leakage from the sample under test. In addition, the read station regulates the intensity of the light by providing an attenuation capability.

Rotary luminometer

An improved automated immunoassay analyzer including a high throughput automated immunoassay system which can perform high volume testing on a broad range of analytes while selecting from among a diverse set of immunoassays for any given sample. The immunoanalyzer has the capacity to perform a wide range of different types of immunoassays by facile storage and automated combination aboard the instrument among a wide variety of different types of reagents and heterogenous immunoassay beads stored on-board the instrument. The automated design allows reduced user interface (e.g., tests are performed automatically from computer input) including the ability to order, perform and reassay tests reflexively based on test results without operator intervention. Further, the inventive analyzer is not sample tube specific; that is, an instrument that can accept sample tube sizes within a broad size range. The inventive automated immunoassay analyzer also provides a re-useable sample dilution well, and a high speed bead washing station that eliminates the need for assay tubes having integral, waste fluid collection chambers.

Automated immunoassay analyzer

A tube washing system including a tube spinning station having a rotatable chuck and a waste chamber surrounding the chuck for capturing and draining tube fluids expelled from a spun tube driven in rotation by the chuck. The chuck has a body portion and a plurality of spaced apart teeth defining intervening grooves extending through the body portion with at least one of the grooves permitting passage of fluid through the body portion and at least one other of the grooves receives and mechanically connects a projection on an open end of a tube. A pipette for dispensing wash water into a tube is located centrally within the chuck. There is also a tube elevating device located beneath the tube spinning station, the tube elevating device comprising a freely rotatable tube holder, and lift drive motor provided to vertically move the tube holder towards and way from the chuck. The tube used in the washing system has at least one projection provided on its open end which can interlock with a chuck groove. The invention also relates to a method of using the tube washing system to rapidly and efficiently wash a tube and its contents.

Tube washing system

Self-sealing reagent container, and a system of same on a carousel, related to a vessel having a plurality of separate compartments, each compartment having an opening in an upper surface of the vessel, with a hinged lid member attached to said vessel having spring-like biasing to automatically reseal openings of the vessel after reagent extraction. The lid has a first arm that is normally biased such that its caps cover the compartment openings, but external force can be applied to said first arm to permit the first arm to be translated so as to displace the caps from covering the compartment openings whereby reagent in the compartments can be accessed and withdrawn. Once the reagent extraction is completed and the compartment opening cleared of the extraction device, the normal biasing acting on the first arm of the lid causes it to move back to reseal the caps over the compartment openings. The lid member is used with a ramp guide means to ensure alignment of openings and caps and provide vertical clearance of the first arm relative to the cover of the reagent vessel when displaced by external force.

Self-sealing reagent container and reagent container system

An improved pipette probe in an automated chemical analysis system is provided, along with a pipette tip wash protocol to reduce carryover. The pipette tip comprises an elongated stainless-steel barrel which houses a polytetrafluoroethylene tube. The non-wettable properties of polytetrafluoroethylene inhibit fluid adhesion and thereby reduce carryover. The pipette tip is swaged at a fluid dispensing end to a restrictive diameter for good pipetting precision and accuracy. A novel wash protocol is also provided which includes a novel wash solution comprising quantities of Triton X-100 nonionic detergent, Diethanolamine, and NaCl.

Low carryover pipette probe

A centrifuge vessel for performing immunoassays, affinity chromatography, and like experiments includes a center tube and an outer waste chamber. A biomaterial is held within the center tube and is capable of binding specific analytes in test samples. In operation the centrifuge vessel is rotated at high speed about its longitudinal axis, thereby causing all fluid within the center tube to be transported into the outer waste chamber while the analyte of interest remains bound to the biomaterial positioned within the center tube In the centrifuge vessel, a cap connected to the outer waste chamber and extending over the center tube includes structure for preventing waste fluid expelled to the waste chamber from re-entering the center tube. In a first embodiment, the cap is either constructed from or the inside surface is coated with a hydrophobic material which repels fluids back into the waste chamber. In a second embodiment, the cap includes a dam which allows fluid to pass into the waste chamber but blocks the migration of waste fluid back to the center tube. In a third embodiment, the cap includes a sponge that allows fluids in the center tube influenced by the intense centrifugal forces generated during high speed rotation to pass into the waste chamber, but which prevents fluids in the waste chamber, which are influenced by relatively weaker forces, from returning to the center tube.

Centrifuge vessel with coaxial waste chamber having cap to prevent waste

An instrument (50) automatically determines the concentrations of HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol and triglycerides for a sample (80) of whole, anticoagulated blood placed in a doughnut shaped container (10). The sample (80) is first separated into its blood cell and plasma (84) constituents using high speed centrifugation (54) and a thixotropic gel (82). Part of the plasma (84) is then deposited in an HDL separation chamber (14) where LDL cholesterol and VLDL cholesterol are precipitated by a reagent and the precipitant is sedimented by high speed centrifugation (54) against V-shaped grooves (40) in the outermost wall (38) of the HDL separation chamber (14). Part of the plasma (84) is diluted ten-fold. The supernatant in the HDL separation chamber is then placed in a cuvette reaction chamber (b 18) where it reacts with a cholesterol reagent. The diluted plasma is placed in two other cuvette reaction chambers (18) where it reacts with chloesterol and triglycerides reagents, respectively. Calibration reagents, stored in storage chambers (20), react in two other cuvette reaction chambers (18) to establish a reference absorbance. A pipettor (58) handles all the fluid transfers in the doughnut shaped container (10) and operates in conjunction with a slow speed motor (56) that precisely moves the spindle (52) on which the doughnut shaped container (10) is mounted. A colorimetric measuring system (70, 72, and 74) monitors the absorbance of chemical reactions occurring in the cuvette chambers (18).

Multichambered container and instrument for performing diagnostic tests

An optical analyzer for determining an analyte in a fluid of interest such as a body fluid of interest satisfying the foregoing need and embodying the present invention may include a housing; combination optically transparent cuvette and lancet mounted removably in the housing, the cuvette may receive an optically transparent reagent test system for reacting with the body fluid to produce a change in at least one optical transmissive characteristic of the system indicative of the analyte; a cuvette carrier mounted slidably in the housing and for removably receiving the cuvette; a spring actuator mounted in the housing and connected to the cuvette carrier, the spring actuator may be compressed and released to advance the carrier and thereby advance the lancet into engagement with a portion of a body to produce the body fluid; depth control apparatus for controlling the depth of penetration of the lancet into the body portion; an electrooptical system mounted in the housing in optical engagement with the cuvette and for passing a light beam through the cuvette and the reagent system and for receiving the light beam modified by the change in optical transmissive characteristic of the system and for transmitting computation signals indicative of the analyte to a computer; a computer mounted in the housing for receiving the computation signals and for comparing the computation signals against predetermined data to produce display signals indicative of the analyte; a display mounted in the housing and for receiving the display signals and for providing a vehicle display indicative of the analyte; and control switches mounted in the housing and connected to the computer for controlling the operation of the computer.

Optical analyzer

Apparatus for and process of facilitating reaction between analyte contained in a sample and test reagent system at least one of which sample and test reagent system is a liquid, wherein the liquid one of the sample and test reagent system is placed in a reservoir, the other of the analyte and test reagent system is placed in capillary means dimensioned for entry into the reservoir, the reservoir and capillary means being mounted for at least relative movement towards each other and entry of the capillary means into the reservoir to draw by capillary attraction the liquid one of the sample and test reagent system from the reservoir into the capillary means and to bring the analyte and test reagent system into contact in the capillary means and facilitate the reaction.

Apparatus and processes for facilitating reaction between analyte and

Cuvette with or without a lancet secured thereto and extending therefrom for producing skin puncture to produce body fluid of interest, the cuvette is made of optically transparent material and is provided with a shape and a plurality of optical elements such as integrally formed optical elements for causing a light beam to pass therethrough by total internal reflectance and for causing the beam of light to be reflected back along a line different from the direction of the line of entry of the beam of light into the cuvette such as back along a line generally parallel to the line of entry of the beam of light into the cuvette and in the opposite direction to the direction of entry of the beam of light into the cuvette.

Growing community of inventors

Paramus, NJ, United States of America

Thomas Palmieri