The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 02, 2003
Filed:
Aug. 03, 2000
David D. Clark, Longmont, CO (US);
Jeffrey W. Steaffens, Lafayette, CO (US);
John Dorson, Lafayette, CO (US);
Ian Wells, Escondido, CA (US);
Alan J. Fujii, Newport Beach, CA (US);
James E. Maynard, Boulder, CO (US);
James Baker, Dorchester, MA (US);
John Zeis, San Marcos, CA (US);
Charles Bickoff, Sharon, MA (US);
Richard D. McEachern, Escondido, CA (US);
Kunio Kohga, Fujisawa, JP;
Andrew Ghusson, Northboro, MA (US);
John C. Balsavich, Jr., Foxborough, MA (US);
Thermo Biostar, Inc., Louisville, CO (US);
Abstract
The present invention relates to cost effective analytical instruments for determining the presence or amount of an analyte in a sample. The analytical instruments utilize an assay cartridge which has a sample receiving port and a rotatable carousel containing a plurality of reagent wells. Each reagent well includes a piston element for delivery of reagent to a test surface. The instrument is capable of indexing the assay cartridge to deliver sample and reagents to a test surface in a predetermined and flexibile manner, thus providing an assay protocol which is specific to the type of sample under analysis. The invention also relates to components, features, disposables, reagent delivery systems, accessories, and methods for using such instruments. Appropriate applications include infectious disease testing, cancer detection and monitoring, therapeutic drug level monitoring, allergy testing, environmental testing, food testing, diagnostic testing of human and veterinary samples, and off-line process testing.