CN100462710C - Method for treating waste liquid in cartridge and chemical reaction cartridge applying the method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention injects liquid absorbent into waste liquid tank set inside sealed chemical reaction box, in which the liquid absorbent absorbs harmful matters, such as waste liquid containing pathogen or endocrine interfering chemical matter, so as to avoid the outward diffusion of the harmful matters. In addition, the waste liquid tank is provided with port to outside, and the port is sealed with filter to allow gaseous matter to pass through while blocking liquid or solid matter so as to control the inside liquid transfer conveniently.

Description

Method for treating waste liquid in cartridge and chemical reaction cartridge applying the method

field of invention

The present invention relates to various chemical reaction cartridges, such as biodiagnostic cartridges used in genetic diagnosis systems or biosensor cartridges for environmental The box of airtight structure wherein; The present invention also relates to the waste liquid treatment method and the structure that can prevent the harmful substance in the box from spreading outward even if the box is damaged; control structure.

Background technique

Recently, biodiagnostic cartridges used in genetic diagnosis systems, biosensor cartridges applied to environmental measurements, analytical cartridges described in WO 01/013127 International Publication, and the like have been developed.

In these types of cartridges, for example in biodiagnostic cartridges or biosensor cartridges for environmental measurements, it is necessary to prevent the outward diffusion of harmful substances such as viruses or endocrine disrupting chemicals contained in the sample.

Some cartridges are constructed so that waste fluids, such as assay buffers, are enclosed within the cartridge. However, even with such a cartridge, there remains the problem that harmful substances will diffuse if the cartridge is destroyed.

As in the case of cassettes, there is also a need for lab-on-a-chip and fab-on-a-chip using the so-called "μTAS" (Micro Total Analysis System) Prevent the problem of waste liquid spreading outward. In the lab-on-a-chip and preparation-on-a-chip chambers, chambers for experiments, laboratories, chemical plants, etc. are fabricated on a chip.

Contents of the invention

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and to provide a method for treating waste liquid in a box, comprising the following steps: injecting a liquid absorbent into a waste liquid tank provided in a closed chemical reaction box; In the box, the harmful substances such as waste liquid containing pathogenic bacteria or endocrine disrupting chemical substances are absorbed by the liquid absorbent in the waste liquid tank; and the harmful substances are gelled, and the waste liquid tank is set There are one or more openings to the outside, and the openings are closed by a filter made of a hydrophobic porous membrane that allows the passage of gases, but not liquid or solid substances. This method can prevent harmful substances such as waste liquid containing pathogenic bacteria or endocrine disrupting chemical substances from spreading outward, and is beneficial to transfer control of internal liquid.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a closed chemical reaction box in which a waste liquid tank is formed for storing waste liquid formed after the sample is mixed with a reagent or a treatment liquid, and the waste liquid tank is configured to accommodate liquid absorption. agent for absorbing waste liquid and gelling waste liquid in the waste liquid tank, and gelling the waste liquid that has been input into the waste liquid tank, the waste liquid tank is provided with One or more openings to the outside closed by a filter made of a hydrophobic porous membrane that allows the passage of gases but not liquid or solid substances. It is thereby possible to prevent harmful substances from spreading outward even if the cartridge is broken, and to facilitate transfer control of the internal liquid.

Description of drawings

What Fig. 1 shows is an embodiment of the chemical reaction box of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cartridge shown in Figure 1;

What Fig. 3 shows is another embodiment of the chemical reaction box of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the cartridge shown in FIG. 3 .

Detailed ways

The present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 illustrates a specific embodiment of the chemical reaction cartridge according to the present invention. Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a plate part 2 containing a chemical reaction cartridge. A plurality of chambers 10 to 16 and a flow path 20 connecting the chambers are formed on the flat plate member 2 . Neither the holes of the chambers 10 to 16 nor the grooves of the flow channels penetrate the plate part 2 .

A sample or sample to be measured (hereinafter referred to as “sample”) is injected into the chamber 10 . Reagents or processing liquids to be mixed with samples, cleaning liquids, etc. are appropriately stored in the other chambers 11 to 14 . The chamber 15 is a reaction chamber into which the sample from the chamber 10 , the processing liquid from the chambers 11 to 14 , and the like are input through the flow path 20 . The chamber 16 (hereinafter referred to as "waste liquid tank") stores a liquid absorbent 17 capable of absorbing and gelling waste liquid.

The cover is placed in a sealed manner on the upper surface of the chemical reaction cartridge formed with the above chambers and flow passages. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the chemical reaction cartridge taken along line A-A', wherein the cover 30 is placed on the chemical reaction cartridge shown in Fig. 1 .

The method of operation of this chemical reaction cartridge is now explained. Necessary reagents or treatment liquids are preliminarily injected into the chambers 11 to 14 . After injecting the sample into the chamber 10 , the sample is transferred into the reaction chamber 15 .

An example of a method for injecting a sample into the chamber 10 is: an inlet made of elastomer may be provided in the present chemical reaction box, and a needle of a syringe is inserted into the inlet to inject the sample.

Additionally, transfer techniques such as pressurization or gas pressurization may be used to transfer the sample. For example, in the case of using the gas pressurization method, a porous film permeable to gas such as air but impermeable to liquid is used as the cover 30 so that air can pass through from the portion directly above the chamber 10, The porous membrane enters the chamber 10 for sample removal. The same method was applied to the other chambers to remove their contents. It is worth noting that, in this case, it is necessary to prevent air from entering or leaving the chamber to which the gas pressurization method is not applied, so that air does not leak outside through the porous membrane.

Samples, reagents, processing liquids, and the like are appropriately input into the reaction chamber 15 in this manner. The measurement of the reaction substance reacted in the reaction chamber 15 is carried out by an external measuring device through electrodes (not shown) embedded in the reaction chamber; or if the light emitted by the reaction substance is to be measured, by A reader (not shown in the figure) performs measurement through a transparent window (not shown in the figure) provided on the upper surface of the reaction chamber 15 .

During a series of analytical preparations and measurements performed in the cartridge according to the operating specifications of each stage, the waste liquids generated respectively on these different occasions are finally collected into the waste liquid tank 16 . The liquid absorbent 17 stored in the waste liquid tank 16 absorbs and gels the waste liquid, so that substances such as pathogenic bacteria or endocrine disrupting chemicals can be safely captured in the waste liquid tank 16 of the cartridge. Hazardous substances such as waste liquid. Even if the box is broken, since the harmful substance has been gelled, the harmful substance will not spread. The gelation of the waste liquid by the liquid absorbent 17 also prevents the waste liquid from flowing back into the reaction chamber 15 .

The above-mentioned waste liquid tank 16 is advantageous for making the cartridge smaller because it does not require a valve to prevent backflow and has a simple structure.

As set forth above, the present invention has the following effects:

(1) When handling hazardous substances in a cassette for genetic diagnosis, a biological cassette containing a chip for environmental measurement, a lab-on-a-chip using μTAS, or a preparation chamber on a chip, if the cassette is damaged, it can be easily prevented These harmful substances diffuse from the box.

(2) The backflow of the waste liquid in the waste liquid tank can be easily prevented.

(3) This is an effective waste liquid treatment method in terms of miniaturization of the cartridge.

It should be understood that the present invention is not strictly limited to the above-described embodiments. On the contrary, any other changes or improvements made to the above-mentioned embodiments do not depart from the spirit and essence of the present invention.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3 , an opening may be provided at the top of the waste liquid tank 16 in the final stage to facilitate the control of the internal liquid while preventing the internal liquid from spreading to the outside of the waste liquid tank 16 . The difference between the box shown in FIG. 3 and the boxes shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is that the box shown in FIG. 3 is provided with an opening 31 for communicating with the outside on the cover 3 on the waste liquid tank 16 .

The opening hole includes a through hole, and the opening hole is not limited to one, and there may be more than one hole. The holes do not need to be located at a specific location, and can be located at more than one location. As shown in FIG. 4, the opening 31 is provided with a filter 32 made of a hydrophobic porous membrane that allows gas to pass through, but does not allow liquid and solid substances to pass through. A filter 32 is placed on the surface of the cover 3 , the back (as shown) or between the surface and the bottom of the cover 3 so that waste liquid does not leak out of the opening 31 .

If the waste liquid tank 16 of the final stage has a closed structure, it is necessary to evacuate the air in the tank or provide a hole for communicating with the outside on the tank to facilitate the control of the liquid in the chamber or flow path. The above opening is also provided in this embodiment. The prevention of leakage of the waste liquid at the opening is realized through the combination of preventing the outward diffusion of the waste liquid by the filter 32 and the gelation of the harmful waste liquid itself, and it is very difficult for the gel to diffuse outward.

In these cassettes, not only waste liquid is fed into waste tank 16 , but also gases already present in the chamber or flow path. However, only gas permeates through the filter 32 and is released outwards from the opening 31 . Thus, when pressure is applied to transfer liquid, the air pressure in waste tank 16 or other chambers does not rise, thereby facilitating internal liquid control. In addition, even if the application of pressure for liquid transfer is stopped, the liquid in the chamber or flow path will not flow back since there is no difference in air pressure in the cartridge.

The opening does not necessarily have to be a circular hole, and can be an opening of any shape. The openings may also consist of a plurality of pores or a network, as long as all pores of any opening are closed by the filter.

Although the opening is formed on the cover 3 in this embodiment, the opening may also be formed on the flat plate member 2 .

Claims (5)

1. A method for processing waste liquid in a box, comprising the following steps: Injecting the liquid absorbent into the waste liquid tank provided in the closed chemical reaction box; In the cartridge, harmful substances such as waste liquid containing pathogenic bacteria or endocrine disrupting chemical substances are absorbed by the liquid absorbent in the waste liquid tank; and gelling the harmful substances, The waste liquid tank is provided with one or more openings communicating with the outside, and the openings are closed by a filter made of a hydrophobic porous membrane that allows gas to pass through but does not allow liquid or solid substances to pass through. 2. The method for treating waste liquid in a cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the chemical reaction cartridge is a cartridge for genetic diagnosis, a biological cartridge containing a chip for environmental measurement, or an experiment on a chip using μTAS chamber or on-chip preparation chamber. 3. A closed chemical reaction box, wherein a waste liquid tank is formed for storing waste liquid formed after the sample is mixed with a reagent or a treatment liquid, and the waste liquid tank is configured to accommodate a liquid absorbent and make the liquid that has been input gelling of waste liquid into a waste liquid tank in which the liquid absorbent is used to absorb and gel the waste liquid, The waste liquid tank is provided with one or more openings communicating with the outside, and the openings are closed by a filter made of a hydrophobic porous membrane that allows gas to pass through but does not allow liquid or solid substances to pass through. 4. The chemical reaction box according to claim 3, wherein the airtight chemical reaction box has: a plurality of chambers respectively used to store samples, or reagents, or processing liquids; said sample, or reagents, or a reaction chamber into which a treatment liquid is input; and a flow path connecting said chamber and said waste liquid tank, At the same time, a device for transferring the sample, or reagent, or processing liquid to the reaction chamber and transferring the waste liquid to the waste liquid tank is provided. 5. The chemical reaction cartridge according to claim 3, wherein the chemical reaction cartridge is a cartridge for genetic diagnosis, a biological cartridge containing a chip for environmental measurement, or a lab-on-a-chip or preparation-on-a-chip using μTAS room.

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