CN116773281A

CN116773281A - Fluid sampling system

Info

Publication number: CN116773281A
Application number: CN202310768223.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 黄菘斌; 钟崴宇; 刘兴伦
Original assignee: Delta Electronics Inc
Current assignee: Delta Electronics Inc
Priority date: 2016-11-17
Filing date: 2016-11-17
Publication date: 2023-09-19
Also published as: CN108072766A

Abstract

The invention discloses a fluid sampling system for delivering a certain amount of fluid to a sampling container. The channel is connected with the buffer chamber and the sampling container, and the passive valve is connected with the buffer chamber and the transmission pipeline, wherein the passive valve has larger flow resistance than the transmission pipeline and is used for blocking the fluid in the transmission pipeline from entering the buffer chamber. When the sampling vessel is subjected to negative pressure, the fluid in the transfer line flows through the passive valve and into the buffer chamber.

Description

Fluid sampling system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to fluid sampling systems, and more particularly to a fluid sampling system having a passive valve.

Background

In the current common automated biological detection devices, the acquisition of a fixed amount of a target reagent from a specific reagent storage tank and the transfer of the target reagent to another reaction tank are an important ring in the whole detection process. On a conventional large-scale inspection machine, a mechanical arm is usually used to cooperate with a triaxial positioning platform and a sampler (sampler) to perform the foregoing sampling procedure, however, the foregoing manner has at least the following drawbacks: (1) The equipment is too large to be applied to the in-vitro diagnosis medical equipment (In Vitro Diagnostic Devices, IVD) market; (2) The reagent tank and the process of moving liquid are open, which is very likely to cause pollution and generate false positive/negative.

In view of this, it is an important issue to develop a small-sized, highly accurate and inexpensive bioassay wafer or other bioassay device.

Disclosure of Invention

One embodiment of the present invention provides a fluid sampling system for delivering a volume of fluid to a sampling vessel, the fluid sampling system comprising a transfer line, a buffer chamber, a channel, and a passive valve. The channel is connected with the buffer chamber and the sampling container, and the passive valve is connected with the buffer chamber and the transmission pipeline, wherein the passive valve has larger flow resistance than the transmission pipeline and is used for blocking the fluid in the transmission pipeline from entering the buffer chamber;

when the negative pressure is applied to the sampling vessel, the fluid in the transfer line flows through the passive valve into the buffer chamber, and when the negative pressure is applied to the sampling vessel again, the fluid flows from the buffer chamber through the channel into the sampling vessel.

In an embodiment, the fluid sampling system further includes a fluid storage tank and a waste liquid collection tank, the transmission pipeline is connected to the fluid storage tank and the waste liquid collection tank, wherein the fluid enters the transmission pipeline from the fluid storage tank, and the fluid in the transmission pipeline enters the waste liquid collection tank through the transmission pipeline.

In one embodiment, when the waste liquid collecting tank is applied with negative pressure, the fluid is sucked into the transfer line from the fluid storing tank, and when the waste liquid collecting tank is applied with negative pressure again, the fluid in the transfer line enters the waste liquid collecting tank through the transfer line.

In an embodiment, the fluid sampling system further includes a gas buffer tank connected to the fluid storage tank, wherein a retaining wall is formed between the gas buffer tank and the fluid storage tank for preventing the fluid in the fluid storage tank from overflowing to the gas buffer tank.

In an embodiment, the height of the fluid storage tank is higher or lower than the height of the transfer line.

In an embodiment, the fluid sampling system further includes a gas flow channel connected to the sampling container for exhausting the gas in the sampling container and forming a negative pressure in the sampling container.

In an embodiment, the bottom of the transfer line and the bottom of the passive valve are located on the same horizontal plane.

In an embodiment, the fluid sampling system further includes a plurality of corresponding passive valves, buffer chambers, channels, and sampling containers, wherein when the negative pressure is applied to the sampling containers, the fluid in the transmission line flows through the passive valves into the buffer chambers, respectively, and when the negative pressure is applied to the sampling containers again, the fluid flows through the channels from the buffer chambers into the sampling containers, respectively.

In one embodiment, the sampling containers are respectively applied with different negative pressures to respectively suck different volumes of the fluid into the sampling containers.

In one embodiment, the transfer line is simultaneously pressurized with a positive pressure to prevent the fluid in the buffer chambers from escaping into the transfer line when the sampling containers are pressurized to allow the fluid to flow through the channels and into the sampling containers.

The invention has the beneficial effects that the invention provides a fluid sampling system, which mainly utilizes the passive valve arranged between the buffer cavity and the transmission pipeline, when the negative pressure is applied to the sampling container, the fluid in the transmission pipeline can flow through the passive valve and enter the buffer cavity; then, when the residual fluid in the transmission pipeline is cleared, the negative pressure can be applied to the sampling container again, and the fluid can flow into the sampling container from the buffer chamber at the moment so as to achieve the accurate and quantitative fluid sampling procedure. Since the passive valve is not controlled by electric power or a driving mechanism, the manufacturing cost can be greatly reduced, and the miniaturization of the fluid sampling system can be realized.

On the other hand, the fluid sampling system of the present invention can further expand the number of sampling containers according to the need, wherein the above-mentioned special pipeline design is matched with the control sequence of the gas pump (pressure source), so as to provide the quantitative sample feeding requirement of the fluid sample of a single pipeline or multiple pipelines, especially for different pipelines with the same structure, the quantitative sample feeding function of the fluid sample of multiple pipelines can be realized by controlling the magnitude or time of the negative pressure applied to draw the fluid of different specific volumes in the transmission pipeline from different pipelines respectively. The fluid sampling system of the invention can not generate the problems of overlarge sampling errors among sampling containers and the like caused by different pressures at the front end and the rear end of the transmission pipeline, so that the efficiency and the accuracy of fluid sampling can be greatly improved compared with the traditional fluid sampling device system.

In order to make the above objects, features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, preferred embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

Drawings

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of a fluid sampling system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B shows a schematic diagram of the first, second, and third gas pumps P1, P2, P3 connected to the fluid sampling system of FIG. 1A.

Fig. 1C shows a partial cross-sectional view of the passive valves V1, V2, V3 blocking the flow of fluid in the transfer line 10 into the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3.

FIG. 1D shows a partial cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the fluid sampling system of FIG. 1A in another view, wherein FIG. 2 omits the fluid reservoir 20 and the waste collection tank 30.

Fig. 3 to 6 show schematic views of the fluid entering the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3 and the sampling containers T1, T2, T3 sequentially from the transfer line 10.

Wherein reference numerals are as follows:

transfer line 10

Inlet end 101

Outlet end 102

Fluid reservoir 20

Gas buffer tank 21

Catheters 201, 202, 211, 301

Waste liquid collecting tank 30

Gas flow channels 2021, C10, C20, C30

Channels C11, C21, C31

Liquid L

First gas pump P1

Second gas pump P2

Third gas Pump P3

Buffer chambers R1, R2, R3

Sampling containers T1, T2, T3

Passive valves V1, V2, V3

Retaining wall W

Detailed Description

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of a preferred embodiment, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The directional terms mentioned in the following embodiments are, for example: upper, lower, left, right, front or rear, etc., are merely references to the directions of the attached drawings. Thus, the directional terminology is used for purposes of illustration and is not intended to be limiting of the invention.

Referring to fig. 1A and 1B together, the fluid sampling system according to an embodiment of the present invention may be applied to a biochip or an automatic bio-detector, for example, and is mainly used to transfer the fluid stored in a fluid storage tank 20 to a plurality of different sampling containers T1, T2, T3 through a transmission pipeline 10, so that each sampling container T1, T2, T3 can accurately obtain a specific volume of fluid sample, wherein the fluid sample (e.g. an organic sample containing blood) from the outside may be pre-injected into the fluid storage tank 20 through a conduit 201.

As shown in fig. 1A and 1B, one end of the transfer line 10 is connected to the bottom side of the fluid storage tank 20 through a conduit 202, and the other end of the transfer line 10 is connected to a waste liquid collecting tank 30, wherein the height of the fluid storage tank 20 can be higher or lower than the height of the transfer line 10; in addition, the fluid storage tank 20 is further connected to a gas buffer tank 21, wherein the gas buffer tank 21 is connected to a first gas pump P1 (fig. 1B) through a conduit 211, and the waste liquid collection tank 30 is connected to a second gas pump P2 (fig. 1B) through a conduit 301. It should be appreciated that the first and second gas pumps P1, P2 can be used to drive all of the fluid in the fluid reservoir 20 into the transfer line 10 via the conduit 202 and can pump the fluid remaining in the transfer line 10 after sampling to the waste liquid reservoir 30.

On the other hand, as can also be seen from fig. 1A and 1B, a plurality of passive valves V1, V2, V3 (passive valve) are provided on one side of the transmission line 10, wherein a plurality of buffer chambers R1, R2, R3 are connected to the transmission line 10 by the passive valves V1, V2, V3, respectively. It should be noted that, by providing the passive valves V1, V2, V3 on one side of the transfer line 10, it is ensured that the fluid sample does not enter the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3 during the process of being sucked into the transfer line 10 from the reservoir 20; in addition, the passive valves V1, V2, V3 can also be matched with the gas pump P3 in fig. 1B to apply a negative pressure to the sampling containers T1, T2, T3, and the fluid in the transmission pipeline 10 can be respectively injected into the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3 in a quantitative manner by applying the magnitude/time of the negative pressure, and then the fluid sample can be further led into the different sampling containers T1, T2, T3 through the channels C11, C21, C31, so as to complete the sampling procedure of a plurality of fluid samples at the same time, so that the fluid remaining in the transmission pipeline 10 can be transferred to the waste liquid collecting tank 30 for storage.

Referring to fig. 1C, the passive valves V1, V2, V3 used in the present embodiment have smaller cross-sectional areas than the transfer line 10, and thus provide a larger flow resistance than the transfer line 10, so as to block the fluid in the transfer line 10 from flowing into the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3. Conversely, when the fluid in the transfer line 10 is to be introduced into the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3, the fluid in the transfer line 10 can be sucked into the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3 by providing a sufficient negative pressure in the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3 to overcome the flow resistance and pass through the passive valves V1, V2, V3, respectively. It should be appreciated that the bottoms of the transmission line 10, the passive valves V1, V2, V3, and the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3 are all located on the same horizontal plane, wherein the passive valves V1, V2, V3 do not need to be controlled by electric power or driving mechanism, so that the manufacturing cost can be greatly reduced, and the miniaturization of the fluid sampling system can be facilitated.

With continued reference to fig. 1B, in addition to the first and second gas pumps P1 and P2, a third gas pump P3 is further provided in the present embodiment, wherein the third gas pump P3 is connected to the sampling containers T1, T2 and T3 through the gas channels C10, C20 and C30, respectively, and when the fluid samples in the buffer chambers R1, R2 and R3 are to be introduced into the different sampling containers T1, T2 and T3, a negative pressure is generated in the sampling containers T1, T2 and T3 by the third gas pump P3, so that the fluid in the buffer chambers R1, R2 and R3 can be sucked into the sampling containers T1, T2 and T3 through the channels C11, C21 and C31, respectively.

It should be noted that, in the present embodiment, since the passive valves V1, V2, V3 are respectively disposed between the transmission pipeline 10 and the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3, a negative pressure can be applied to the sampling containers T1, T2, T3 by the gas pump P3, and the volume of fluid in the transmission pipeline 10 can be respectively injected into the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3 by controlling the magnitude or time of the negative pressure; table 1 below shows that when the negative pressure applied by the gas pump P3 is different in magnitude/time, different volumes of fluid can be introduced into the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3 through the transfer line 10.

TABLE 1

Referring to fig. 1D, a wall W is formed between the fluid storage tank 20 and the gas buffer tank 21, wherein the wall W prevents the fluid in the fluid storage tank 20 from overflowing to the gas buffer tank 21 adjacent thereto, but the gas between the fluid storage tank 20 and the gas buffer tank 21 is still kept in communication by the gas flow passage 2021 formed above the wall W.

Referring to fig. 1A, 1B and 2, the components of the fluid storage tank 20 and the waste liquid collection tank 30 shown in fig. 1A are omitted in fig. 2 to more clearly illustrate the progress of the fluid in the whole fluid sampling system. As shown in fig. 2, an inlet 101 of the transfer line 10 is connected to the fluid storage tank 20 (omitted in fig. 2), an outlet 101 of the transfer line 10 is connected to the waste liquid collection tank 30 (omitted in fig. 2), wherein the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3 between the passive valves V1, V2, V3 and the channels C11, C21, C31 can be used to store the fluid sample from the transfer line 10, and the detailed process of the whole fluid sampling is described later.

For convenience of understanding, referring to fig. 1A, 1B and 3, when the fluid in the fluid storage tank 20 is to be sampled, the second gas pump P2 is utilized to provide a negative pressure to the waste liquid collecting tank 30, so as to suck the fluid in the fluid storage tank 20 into the transmission pipeline 10 from the inlet end 101 of the transmission pipeline 10 (as indicated by the arrow direction in fig. 3). It should be appreciated that fluid does not flow from the transfer line 10 into the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3 because the flow resistance of the passive valves V1, V2, V3 cannot be overcome by the fluid in the transfer line 10 at this time.

Next, as shown in fig. 4, when the fluid in the transmission pipeline 10 is to be introduced into the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3, the third gas pump P3 can pump out the gas in the sampling containers T1, T2, T3 and the channels C11, C21, C31 (as shown by the arrow direction in fig. 4) to form a negative pressure, and at this time, the fluid in the transmission pipeline 10 can smoothly flow through the passive valves V1, V2, V3 under the influence of the air pressure, and is then sucked into the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3; by adjusting the operating pressure and time of the third gas pump P3, the volume of the fluid entering the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3 from the transmission pipeline 10 can be effectively controlled, so as to achieve the purpose of quantitative sampling. In one embodiment, the sampling containers T1, T2, T3 may also be connected to different gas pumps through the gas flow channels C10, C20, C30, respectively, so that the different gas pumps may be controlled respectively to simultaneously draw different volumes of fluid samples into the different sampling containers T1, T2, T3.

Referring again to fig. 5, after the fluid sample is sucked into the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3, a negative pressure may be applied by the second gas pump P2 (or a positive pressure may be applied by the first gas pump P1), so as to transfer the residual fluid in the transfer line 10 from the outlet end 102 thereof into the waste liquid collecting tank 30 (as indicated by the arrow in fig. 5), and the transfer line 10 is emptied. Note that the fluid sample in the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3 is blocked by the passive valves V1, V2, V3, and therefore remains in the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3 and does not flow back to the transfer line 10. Finally, as shown in fig. 6, the third gas pump P3 can be used to pump the gas in the sampling containers T1, T2, T3 through the gas channels C10, C20, C30 (as shown by the arrow direction in fig. 6), thereby forming a negative pressure in the sampling containers T1, T2, T3, and allowing the fluid sample originally remained in the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3 to flow into the sampling containers T1, T2, T3 through the channels C11, C21, C31, respectively, so as to complete the whole fluid sampling procedure.

It should be noted that, in order to avoid that the fluid in the different buffer chambers R1, R2, R3 may overflow to the adjacent buffer chambers through the passive valves V1, V2, V3 when the negative pressure is formed in the sampling containers T1, T2, T3, the first gas pump P1 may be used to provide a positive pressure to the transfer pipeline 10 when the gas in the sampling containers T1, T2, T3 is pumped out by the third gas pump P3, thereby avoiding the fluid in the buffer chambers R1, R2, R3 from flowing back into the transfer pipeline 10, and further improving the accuracy of the fluid sampling.

Referring to table 2 below, it can be seen from table 2 that the results obtained after the fluid sampling system was actually tested 9 times when the predetermined target volume was 10uL, wherein the actual fluid sample volumes obtained from the different sampling vessels T1, T2, T3 did not generate significant errors compared to the target volume.

TABLE 2

Referring to table 3 below, it can be seen from table 3 that when the preset target volume is 15uL and the number of the passive valve, the buffer chamber, the channel, the gas flow channel and the sampling container is increased from 3 to 6, the actual fluid sample volume obtained by the 6 different sampling containers is not significantly different from the target volume.

TABLE 3 Table 3

In summary, the present invention provides a fluid sampling system, which mainly utilizes a passive valve disposed between a buffer chamber and a transmission pipeline, wherein when a negative pressure is applied to a sampling container, a fluid in the transmission pipeline can flow through the passive valve and enter the buffer chamber; then, when the residual fluid in the transmission pipeline is cleared, the negative pressure can be applied to the sampling container again, and the fluid can flow into the sampling container from the buffer chamber at the moment so as to achieve the accurate and quantitative fluid sampling procedure. Since the passive valve is not controlled by electric power or a driving mechanism, the manufacturing cost can be greatly reduced, and the miniaturization of the fluid sampling system can be realized.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but may be modified or altered somewhat by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which is accordingly limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A fluid sampling system for delivering a quantity of fluid to a sampling vessel, the fluid sampling system comprising:

at least one transfer line for transferring the fluid;

a plurality of corresponding passive valves, buffer chambers, channels, and sampling containers; for a corresponding group of passive valve, buffer chamber, channel and sampling container, the channel connects the buffer chamber and the sampling container, the passive valve connects the buffer chamber and the transmission pipeline, wherein the passive valve has larger flow resistance than the transmission pipeline, to block the fluid in the transmission pipeline from entering the buffer chamber, the bottom of the transmission pipeline and the bottom of the passive valve are located on the same horizontal plane;

a fluid storage tank and a waste liquid collection tank, wherein the transmission pipeline is connected with the fluid storage tank and the waste liquid collection tank, the fluid enters the transmission pipeline from the fluid storage tank, and the fluid in the transmission pipeline enters the waste liquid collection tank through the transmission pipeline;

a gas buffer tank connected to the fluid storage tank, wherein a retaining wall is formed between the gas buffer tank and the fluid storage tank for preventing the fluid in the fluid storage tank from overflowing to the gas buffer tank;

the fluid in the transmission pipeline flows through the passive valves and enters the buffer chambers when the negative pressure is applied to the sampling containers, and flows through the channels and enters the sampling containers when the negative pressure is applied to the sampling containers again.

2. The fluid sampling system of claim 1, wherein when the waste collection tank is negative pressure applied, the fluid is drawn into the transfer line from the fluid storage tank, and when the waste collection tank is again negative pressure applied, the fluid in the transfer line enters the waste collection tank via the transfer line.

3. The fluid sampling system of claim 1, wherein the fluid reservoir is at a height above or below the height of the transfer line.

4. The fluid sampling system of claim 1, wherein the fluid sampling system further comprises a gas flow path coupled to the sampling vessel for exhausting gas from the sampling vessel and creating a negative pressure within the sampling vessel.

5. The fluid sampling system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sampling vessels are respectively applied with different negative pressures to respectively draw different volumes of the fluid into the plurality of sampling vessels.

6. The fluid sampling system of claim 1, wherein the transfer line is simultaneously applied with a positive pressure to avoid spilling the fluid within the plurality of buffer chambers to the transfer line when the plurality of sampling containers are applied with a negative pressure to flow the fluid through the plurality of channels into the plurality of sampling containers.