Tecan Trading Ag

Werner Hälg

Nikolaus Ingenhoven

Adi Zuppiger

Robert Liebhard

Anne R Kopf-Sill

Travis Lee

Marc Nathan Feiglin

Michael J Kennedy

Tiffany Lay

Daniel Hoffmeyer

Michael Vogeser

Michael Trosch

John Greene

Roland Geyer

Torleif Ove Björnson

A rotary valve comprises a stator member with a stator face, the stator member having at least two stator channels for conducting a fluid and opening into the stator face; a rotor member with a rotor face facing and in contact with the stator face, the rotor member having a rotor channel in the rotor face, wherein the rotor member is rotatable with respect to the stator member about a rotation axis, such that in a conducting position, the rotor channel interconnects the at least two stator channels to be in fluid communication; and a rotary encoder assembly adapted for determining a rotary position of the rotor member, the rotary encoder assembly comprising an encoder member and an encoder module, which is adapted to sense a rotary position of the encoder member. The encoder member is rigidly connected to the rotor member and surrounds the rotor member.

Rotary valve with encoder on rotor

A disposable cartridge used in a digital microfluidics system has a bottom layer with first hydrophobic surface, a rigid cover plate with second hydrophobic surface, and a gap there-between. The bottom layer is a flexible film on an uppermost surface of a cartridge accommodation site of a system, attracted to and spread over the uppermost surface by an underpressure. A lower surface of the plate and the flexible bottom layer are sealed to each other. The assembled cartridge is removed from the cartridge accommodation site in one piece and potentially includes samples and processing fluids. The system has a base unit and a cartridge accommodation site with an electrode array of individual electrodes and a central control unit for controlling selection of individual electrodes and for providing these electrodes with individual voltage pulses for manipulating liquid droplets within the gap by electrowetting.

Disposable cartridge for microfluidics systems

Test method checks and compensates ion yield variances in a mass spectrometer and includes feeding an eluate of a chromatographic separation to the spectrometer, continuously ad-mixing a separate target analyte solution at known concentration and constant flow rate to the eluate, injecting the mixture into the spectrometer and generating a detector signal for the mixture. A spectrogram is captured which includes an integration line and a mass-spectrographic peak of the target analyte, the integration line being a lasting background signal underlaid to the mass-spectrometric analysis of the eluate, then evaluating the spectrogram by capturing an integrated mass-spectrographic peak area above the integration line and an area which is found under the integrated peak area of the target analyte by perpendicular drop lines from the peak integration line and forming a mathematical relationship from the determined mass-spectrographic areas.

Functional check and variance compensation in mass spectrometry

A method of selecting pipetting parameters of a pipetting device for dispensing or pipetting a specific volume of a liquid sample, includes a fluid column of a fluid chamber of the pipetting device set into oscillation at the beginning of the aspiration, the pressure is monitored with the pressure transducer in the fluid chamber, and the pressure changes generated during aspiration into measuring signals are recorded. These measuring signals are processed by a computer or micro-processor and reproduced as a pressure curve, which is characteristic for the fluid column with the aspirated liquid sample, and which is compared with known pressure curves. Based on this comparison, pipetting parameters of the pipetting device are selected for the dispense or for pipetting a specific volume of the liquid sample. Selectable pipetting parameters include a speed of a movement of a pump piston of the pipetting device.

Method for selecting pipetting parameters for a liquid

The present invention relates to a method for classifying a liquid () in a known pipetting system for this liquid (), the method being characterized in that the changes of a selected, measurable, and physically founded virtual parameter are detected as a data set typical for this liquid (); this typical data set of the selected virtual parameter is compared to corresponding data sets of known liquids, and the liquid () is classified on the basis of this comparison. An especially preferred method and a device for classifying a liquid () relate to a device which comprises a fluid chamber (), to which a measuring chamber () is connected, whose internal pressure is monitored using a pressure transducer (). At least a first part () of this fluid chamber () may be brought into fluid connection with a sample () of this liquid ().

A method, a device, and a test kit for performing this method for determining the volume of a sample of the liquid. In the method, a specific concentration of a chromophoric indicator is provided in this liquid, a sample is separated from the liquid, the optical absorption of the separated sample is measured, and the volume of the separated sample is determined by correlation of the measured optical absorption with the concentration of indicator in this liquid. Ions that generate a color in the sample by complexing with a specific ligand are used as the indicator to stain the liquid.

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Mannedorf, Switzerland

Werner Hälg