TW202215043A - An electrode and its application - Google Patents

Abstract

An electrode is used for pH value measurement of buffer solution for gel electrophoresis equipment or for electrical connection between gel electrophoresis equipment and external power supply. The pH value of buffer solution is 7-9, the electrode includes metal wire, and the material of metal wire includes one of titanium, platinum, titanium / iridium oxide and stainless steel. The electrode provided by the invention has multiple uses. It can be used as pH value measuring electrode of gel electrophoresis equipment and can also be used as electrophoresis electrode of gel electrophoresis equipment. Thus, the electrode greatly reducing the cost of gel electrophoresis equipment. In addition, the electrode made of metal wire has simple structure and good flexibility and can be bent according to the structure of the actual gel electrophoresis equipment. The electrode is suitable for a variety of application scenarios. An application of the electrode is also provided.

Description

Electrodes and their applications

The invention relates to the technical field of gel electrophoresis detection, in particular to an electrode and its application.

In the process of gel electrophoresis detection, on the one hand, a pH value measuring electrode needs to be used to detect the pH value of the buffer solution, and on the other hand, an electrophoresis electrode needs to be used to realize the electrical connection between the gel electrophoresis device and the power supply. However, the conventional gel electrophoresis detection equipment needs to consider the problem of cost.

In view of this, in order to overcome at least one of the above-mentioned drawbacks, it is necessary to provide an electrode.

In addition, the present invention also provides a pH value measuring device, a gel electrophoresis device and a gel electrophoresis system comprising the above-mentioned electrode.

In addition, the present invention also provides a nucleic acid detection cartridge comprising the above gel electrophoresis device.

The invention provides an electrode, which is used for pH measurement of a buffer solution for gel electrophoresis equipment or for electrical connection between the gel electrophoresis device and an external power source, and the pH value of the buffer solution is 7- 9. The electrode comprises a metal wire, and the material of the metal wire comprises one of titanium, platinum, titanium/iridium oxide and stainless steel.

In the embodiment of the present application, the material of the metal wire is stainless steel.

In the embodiment of the present application, the diameter of the electrode is 0.2 mm-1.0 mm.

In the embodiment of the present application, the diameter of the electrode includes any one of 0.25 mm, 0.3 mm, 0.48 mm, 0.5 mm and 0.8 mm.

In the embodiment of the present application, the electrode further includes a surface treatment layer disposed on the surface of the metal wire.

In the embodiment of the present application, the material of the surface treatment layer includes at least one of zinc, nickel, tin and chromium.

The present invention also provides a pH value measurement device, the pH value measurement device includes a detection host and an electrode electrically connected to the detection host, the electrode is used to measure the pH value of a buffer solution for gel electrophoresis equipment, the The electrode includes a metal wire, and the material of the metal wire includes one of titanium, platinum, titanium/iridium oxide and stainless steel.

The present invention also provides a gel electrophoresis device, which includes an electrophoresis tank, a buffer set in the electrophoresis tank, a gel medium set in the buffer solution, and two electrodes, the electrodes Including a metal wire, the material of the metal wire includes one of titanium, platinum, titanium/iridium oxide and stainless steel, the two electrodes are located at opposite ends of the gel medium, and one end of each of the electrodes is pierced through. Through the electrophoresis tank and extending into the buffer solution, the other end is electrically connected to the external power supply.

The present invention also includes a gel electrophoresis system, which includes a pH value measuring device and a gel electrophoresis device. The pH value measurement device includes a detection host and a pH value measurement electrode. The pH value measurement electrode is used to measure the pH value of the buffer solution. The pH value measurement electrode includes a metal wire, and the material of the metal wire includes One of titanium, platinum, titanium/iridium oxide and stainless steel; the gel electrophoresis equipment comprises an electrophoresis tank, the buffer solution set in the electrophoresis tank, a gel medium set in the buffer solution, and Two electrophoresis electrodes, the electrophoresis electrodes include metal wires, and the material of the metal wires includes one of titanium, platinum, titanium/iridium oxide and stainless steel, and the two electrophoresis electrodes are located on two opposite sides of the gel medium. One end of each electrophoresis electrode passes through the electrophoresis tank and extends into the buffer solution, and the other end is electrically connected to an external power source.

The present invention also provides a nucleic acid detection box, the nucleic acid detection box includes a box body, a detection chip, the above-mentioned gel electrophoresis device and a connector, wherein the detection chip, the gel electrophoresis device and the connector are all Set in the box, the detection chip and the gel electrophoresis device are both electrically connected with the connector.

Compared with the prior art, the electrode provided by the present invention has a variety of uses, and can be used as a pH value measuring electrode of gel electrophoresis equipment, and can also be used as an electrophoresis electrode of gel electrophoresis equipment, which greatly reduces the cost of gel electrophoresis equipment. cost; in addition, the electrode made of metal wire has a simple structure and good flexibility, and can be bent according to the structure of the actual gel electrophoresis device to adapt to various application scenarios.

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, but not all of the embodiments.

It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "fixed to" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "disposed on" another element, it can be directly disposed on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "left," "right," and similar expressions are used herein for illustrative purposes only.

The system implementations described below are only illustrative, and the division of the modules or circuits is only a logical function division, and other division methods may be used in actual implementation. Furthermore, it is clear that the word "comprising" does not exclude other units or steps and the singular does not exclude the plural. Multiple units or means stated in the system claim may also be implemented by the same unit or means through software or hardware. The terms first, second, etc. are used to denote names and do not denote any particular order.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terms used herein in the description of the present invention are for the purpose of describing specific embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the present invention. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

The gel electrophoresis equipment can use the pH value measuring electrode to measure the pH value of the buffer solution, and at the same time use the electrophoresis electrode to realize the electrical connection between the gel electrophoresis equipment and the power supply. The substrate used for the pH measurement electrode is glass. By means of Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) technology, Ti (Titanium)/Pt (Platinum) and other metals are chemically evaporated on the glass substrate to form a composite Metal coating, using the conductivity of metal coating to achieve the purpose of measuring pH value. However, this type of pH measurement electrode is a glass electrode, which is fragile and inflexible during use. Once formed, the specifications and shapes are fixed, and various specifications and shapes need to be designed according to actual needs, which has poor adaptability; moreover, PVD The technology requires a vacuum, and precious metals are expensive and expensive to manufacture. Electrophoresis electrodes also use PVD technology to form composite metal coatings on the substrate (which can be metal substrates or other non-conductive substrates) by chemically vaporizing Ti/Pt and other metals to realize the electrophoresis of gel electrophoresis equipment and power supplies. However, this type of electrophoretic electrode requires PVD technology and precious metal plating, and the cost is very high.

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a pH measurement electrode 10 provided in an embodiment of the present invention. The pH measurement electrode 10 is used for pH measurement of a buffer solution used in gel electrophoresis equipment, and the pH value of the buffer solution is 7-9, the pH value measuring electrode 10 includes a metal wire 1, and the material of the metal wire 1 includes but is not limited to conductive metals such as titanium, platinum, titanium/iridium oxide, and stainless steel. The present invention adopts conductive metal wire to manufacture pH value measuring electrode 10 which has both flexibility and measurement reliability. Especially for the measurement of buffer pH value in small gel electrophoresis equipment, the measurement accuracy is comparable to that of traditional glass platinum electrodes, which can replace traditional glass platinum electrodes.

In this embodiment, the metal wire 1 is preferably stainless steel. The low price of stainless steel significantly reduces the cost compared to traditional glass platinum electrodes.

In this embodiment, the models of the stainless steel include SUS 304, SUS 312 and SUS 316. Specifically, the model of the stainless steel is preferably SUS 304.

The selection of the diameter of the pH value measuring electrode 10 also affects the performance of the electrode. In the present invention, the diameter of the pH value measuring electrode 10 is usually 0.2 mm-1.0 mm.

In this embodiment, the diameter of the pH measurement electrode 10 includes but is not limited to 0.25 mm, 0.3 mm, 0.48 mm, 0.5 mm and 0.8 mm. Since the diameter of the electrode is too large, the resistance will also increase, which affects the measurement effect. Therefore, the diameter of the electrode is not easy to be too large, and the diameter of the pH value measuring electrode 10 is preferably 0.3 mm.

Please refer to FIG. 1 again, the pH measurement electrode 10 further includes a surface treatment layer 2 disposed on the surface of the metal wire 1 . Through the metal surface treatment process, the surface treatment layer 2 is formed on the surface of the metal wire 1 , which can improve the corrosion resistance of the metal wire 1 , ensure stable electrical properties of the metal wire 1 , and further improve the measurement accuracy of pH value.

In this embodiment, the material of the surface treatment layer 2 includes but is not limited to one of zinc, tin, nickel and chromium.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to specific examples and comparative examples.

Example 1

The pH value measuring electrode 10 is made of titanium wire with a diameter ϕ of 0.25 mm.

Example 2

The pH measuring electrode 10 is made of SUS 304 wire with a diameter ϕ of 0.3 mm.

Comparative ratio

Traditional glass platinum electrodes are used.

The specific pH value measurement method is: place the buffer or standard solution in the electrophoresis tank of a small gel electrophoresis device, first use the glass platinum electrode of the comparative example to measure the pH value, and then use Example 1 and Example 2 respectively. The metal wire electrode is installed in the original position of the glass platinum electrode, and the pH value measuring equipment is set up to measure the pH value. Among them, the composition of the Buffer buffer includes: Tris buffer (Tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane): 242 g/l; Acetic acid: 58.1 g/l; EDTA: 18.6 g/l.

As shown in Table 1, it is the measurement result obtained by using the electrodes of Comparative Example and Example 1-2 to measure the pH value of the buffer solution in the gel electrophoresis tank.

Table 1 pH known value Comparative ratio Example 1 Example 2 Buffer (25℃) 8.2 8.2-8.3 8.3-8.4 8.2-8.3 Standard solution (H2O, 25℃) 7.0-7.5 7.2-7.3 7.4-7.5 7.1-7.2

Table 1 shows the pH values measured by three electrodes in Buffer and under blank conditions. It can be seen from the test results in Table 1 that the two metals in the two examples 1-2 provided by the present invention Compared with the glass platinum electrode of the comparative example, the accuracy of the pH measurement electrode 10 made of silk is not much different, especially the accuracy of the test result of the SUS 304 stainless steel electrode compared with the glass platinum electrode of the comparative example. are very similar, exhibiting similar pH measurement accuracy to glass platinum electrodes. Therefore, it is possible to replace the traditional glass platinum electrode with SUS 304 stainless steel electrode, so SUS 304 (ϕ 0.3mm) is preferred as the material of the working electrode.

The pH value measuring electrode 10 provided by the present invention, especially the pH value measuring electrode 10 made of stainless steel, has the best operating conditions that the test liquid is weakly alkaline and the temperature does not exceed 80°C. Under the above conditions, the stainless steel wire does not will be oxidized, and the measurement accuracy of the pH measuring electrode 10 during use is no different from that of the traditional glass platinum electrode. Therefore, the pH measurement electrode 10 provided by the present invention is particularly suitable for small gel electrophoresis equipment, and such gel electrophoresis equipment is usually used in portable nucleic acid detectors. The pH value of the buffer solution in the electrophoresis tank is between 7-9, which is weakly alkaline, and the operating temperature is usually below 80°C. Therefore, the pH value measuring electrode 10 made of the metal wire provided by the present invention is used to replace the traditional glass Platinum electrodes are possible, greatly reducing costs.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the present invention further provides a pH value measurement device 100 , the pH value measurement device 100 includes a detection host 101 and an electrode, and the electrode is the pH value measurement electrode 10 described above.

During the pH measurement, one end of the two pH measurement electrodes 10 needs to be electrically connected to the detection host 101, and one of the pH measurement electrodes 10 is inserted into the buffer of the gel electrophoresis device as a detection electrode. , the other pH measuring electrode 10 is inserted into the standard solution as a reference electrode, and the pH value of the buffer solution is obtained by detecting the potential difference between the buffer solution and the standard solution.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the present invention further provides an electrophoresis electrode 20 , the electrophoresis electrode 20 is used to realize electrical connection between the gel electrophoresis device and a power source, and the electrophoresis electrode 20 includes a metal wire 3 .

Specifically, a surface treatment layer 4 is formed on the surface of the metal wire 3 . The materials of the metal wire 3 and the surface treatment layer 4 are respectively the same as the materials of the metal wire 1 and the surface treatment layer 2 of the pH value measuring electrode 10 . The embodiments applicable to the pH measurement electrode 10 are all applicable to the electrophoresis electrode 20 , and details are not described here.

The electrophoresis electrode 20 made of metal wire provided by the present invention is mainly used in gel electrophoresis equipment, it has flexibility, has dimension diversity, can meet the requirements of various equipment specifications, and the price of commonly used metal wire is low, and the material is easy to obtain , which greatly reduces the cost of the electrophoresis electrode 20 , and is especially suitable for small disposable gel electrophoresis equipment.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the present invention also provides a gel electrophoresis device 200 , the gel electrophoresis device 200 includes an electrophoresis tank 30 , a buffer 40 disposed in the electrophoresis tank 30 , and a buffer solution 40 disposed in the electrophoresis tank 30 . And the gel medium 50 immersed in the buffer solution 40 and the electrophoresis electrodes 20 respectively disposed at both ends of the electrophoresis tank 30 . The two electrophoresis electrodes 20 are located at opposite ends of the gel medium 50 respectively. One end of each electrophoresis electrode 20 is disposed in the electrophoresis tank 30 and extends into the buffer solution 40 , and the other end is electrically connected to the control board. The gel electrophoresis device 200 can be powered by the two electrophoresis electrodes 20 .

In this embodiment, the electrophoresis tank 30 includes a bottom plate 11 , a plurality of side walls 12 connected to the bottom plate 11 , and a cover plate (not shown) covering an end of the side walls 12 away from the bottom plate 11 . The bottom plate 11 , the plurality of side walls 12 and the cover plate together form a groove body. Both the gel medium 50 and the buffer 40 are located in the tank.

In this embodiment, one of the side walls 12 is provided with two through holes 13 , and the two electrophoresis electrodes 20 respectively extend into the buffer solution 40 through the two through holes 13 .

In this embodiment, each through hole 13 is provided with a fixing member 14 , the fixing member 14 is fixed on the side wall 12 of the through hole 13 , and the electrophoretic electrode 20 passes through the fixing member 14 . The member 14 is fixed at the through hole 13 by the fixing member 14 to prevent the electrophoretic electrode 20 from shaking or shifting, thereby affecting the electrical connection effect.

The electrophoresis electrode 20 provided by the present invention does not need to change the structure of the gel electrophoresis device 200, and only needs to install the electrophoresis electrode 20 at the position where the traditional electrode is installed, which effectively reduces the cost; and the electrophoresis electrode 20 provided by the present invention has a simple structure , Easy to install, can be bent at will, adapt to a variety of application scenarios.

Referring to FIG. 5 , the present invention further provides a gel electrophoresis system 1000 , the gel electrophoresis system 1000 includes the above pH value measuring device 100 and the gel electrophoresis device 200 . Since the pH measurement electrode 10 and the electrophoresis electrode 20 are made of the same material and have different functions, the present invention can use a set of electrodes to simultaneously measure pH with the buffer solution 40 and realize the electrical connection between the gel electrophoresis device 200 and the power source. In this way, it is beneficial to further reduce the overall cost of the gel electrophoresis apparatus 200 .

Please refer to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 , the present invention further provides a nucleic acid detection box 300 , the nucleic acid detection box 300 includes a box body 301 , a detection chip 302 , the gel electrophoresis device 200 described above, and a connector 303 . The chip 302 , the gel electrophoresis device 200 and the connector 303 are all arranged in the box body 301 , the detection chip 302 is communicated with the gel electrophoresis device 200 , and the detection chip 302 is connected to the gel electrophoresis device 200 . The gel electrophoresis devices 200 are all electrically connected to the connectors 303 . The nucleic acid detection box 300 is used for nucleic acid amplification reaction and electrophoresis detection. The detection solution containing nucleic acid samples is added into the channel of the detection chip 302 to carry out the nucleic acid amplification reaction to obtain a product, and the product directly enters the gel electrophoresis through the detection chip 302 Electrophoresis detection is performed in the device 200 , and finally an image of the gel electrophoresis device 200 is captured by the image acquisition device matched with the nucleic acid detection box 300 , wherein the image is a fluorescent photo of the electrophoresis detection. The present invention integrates the detection chip 302 and the gel electrophoresis device 200 in a box 301, the overall structure is simple, no complex large-scale equipment is required, and the cost is low, and the detection solution can directly enter the gel electrophoresis device after nucleic acid amplification is completed. 200 for electrophoresis detection, which simplifies the process of sample transfer and connection in different detection links, and improves detection efficiency.

In this embodiment, a heating circuit board 304 is provided on the surface of the detection chip 302 , the heating circuit board 304 is electrically connected with the connector 303 , and the heating circuit board 304 is used for the detection chip 302 . heating. One end of the electrophoresis electrode 20 on the gel electrophoresis device 200 away from the electrophoresis tank 30 is connected to the heating circuit board 304 , and is electrically connected to the connector 303 . By directly connecting the electrophoresis electrode 20 on the heating circuit board 304 , the structure is simple, the assembly is convenient, and the structure of the nucleic acid detection box 300 can be simplified.

In this embodiment, the electrophoretic electrode 20 is clamped on the heating circuit board 304 by the buckle 305 , so as to realize electrical connection with the heating circuit board 304 .

Compared with the prior art, the electrode provided by the present invention has various uses, and can be used as the pH value measuring electrode 10 of the gel electrophoresis equipment, and can also be used as the electrophoresis electrode 20 of the gel electrophoresis equipment, which greatly reduces the gel electrophoresis. The cost of the equipment; in addition, the electrode made of metal wire has a simple structure and good flexibility, and can be bent according to the structure of the actual gel electrophoresis equipment to adapt to various application scenarios.

1000: Gel Electrophoresis System 100: pH Measurement Equipment 101: Detect the host 10: pH measurement electrode 1,3: wire 2,4: Surface treatment layer 200: Gel electrophoresis equipment 20: Electrophoresis electrodes 30: Electrophoresis tank 11: Bottom plate 12: Sidewall 13: Through hole 14: Fixing parts 40: Buffer 50: gel medium 300: Nucleic Acid Detection Kit 301: Box 302: Detection chip 303: Connector 304: Heating circuit board 305: Snap

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a pH measurement electrode provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a pH value measuring device provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an electrophoresis electrode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a gel electrophoresis device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a schematic diagram of a gel electrophoresis system according to an embodiment of the present invention

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of a nucleic acid detection cartridge provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of the nucleic acid detection cassette provided by an embodiment of the present invention without the cassette body.

1000: Gel Electrophoresis System

100: pH Measurement Equipment

10: pH measurement electrode

200: Gel electrophoresis equipment

20: Electrophoresis electrodes

Claims (10)

An electrode, wherein the electrode is used for pH value measurement of a buffer solution for gel electrophoresis equipment or for electrical connection between the gel electrophoresis device and an external power source, and the pH value of the buffer solution is 7-9, The electrode includes a metal wire, and the material of the metal wire includes one of titanium, platinum, titanium/iridium oxide and stainless steel. The electrode according to claim 1, wherein the metal wire is made of stainless steel. The electrode of claim 1, wherein the diameter of the electrode is 0.2 mm-1.0 mm. The electrode of claim 3, wherein the diameter of the electrode includes any one of 0.25 mm, 0.3 mm, 0.48 mm, 0.5 mm, and 0.8 mm. The electrode according to claim 1, wherein the electrode further comprises a surface treatment layer provided on the surface of the metal wire. The electrode according to claim 5, wherein the material of the surface treatment layer includes at least one of zinc, nickel, tin and chromium. A pH value measuring device, comprising a detection host and an electrode electrically connected to the detection host, the electrode is used to measure the pH value of a buffer solution for gel electrophoresis equipment, the electrode comprises a metal wire, the metal The material of the wire includes one of titanium, platinum, titanium/iridium oxide and stainless steel. A gel electrophoresis device, comprising an electrophoresis tank, a buffer solution set in the electrophoresis tank, a gel medium set in the buffer solution, and two electrodes, wherein the electrodes comprise metal wires, and the metal wires The material includes one of titanium, platinum, titanium/iridium oxide and stainless steel, the two electrodes are located at opposite ends of the gel medium, and one end of each electrode passes through the electrophoresis tank and extends into the In the buffer solution, the other end is electrically connected to an external power source. A gel electrophoresis system, comprising: The pH value measurement device includes a detection host and a pH value measurement electrode. The pH value measurement electrode is used to measure the pH value of the buffer solution. The pH value measurement electrode includes a metal wire, and the material of the metal wire includes titanium , one of platinum, titanium/iridium oxide and stainless steel; A gel electrophoresis device includes an electrophoresis tank, the buffer solution set in the electrophoresis tank, a gel medium set in the buffer solution, and two electrophoresis electrodes, wherein the electrophoresis electrodes include metal wires, and the metal The material of the wire includes one of titanium, platinum, titanium/iridium oxide and stainless steel, the two electrophoresis electrodes are located at opposite ends of the gel medium, and one end of each electrophoresis electrode passes through the electrophoresis tank and extend into the buffer solution, and the other end is electrically connected to the external power supply. A nucleic acid detection box, comprising a box body, a detection chip, the gel electrophoresis device according to claim 8, and a connector, wherein the detection chip, the gel electrophoresis device and the connector are all provided in the Inside the box, both the detection chip and the gel electrophoresis device are electrically connected to the connector.

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