A system for loading pipette tips. A system for accommodating pipette tips is provided, comprising a tray having openings for accommodating pipette tips in a plate, wherein the openings have at their upper end a surrounding contour which has curved surface area corresponding to a section of a spherical washer, and pipette tips having at their upper end an offset forming a contact surface for the surrounding contour of the tray's opening, wherein the shape of the contact surface corresponds to the section of a spherical washer so that the centers of both spheres of surrounding contour and contact surface are congruent

There is provided an automatic analysis device that can appropriately sort and discard expendable items. The automatic analysis device includes a common transport mechanism that transports a plurality of types of expendable items by common mechanism, a plurality of transport paths that is provided separately from the common transport mechanism, a type determination portion that determines the type of expendable item being transported by the common transport mechanism. The automatic analysis device controls to select one of a plurality of transport paths according to a determination result of the type determination portion and to transport the expendable items transported from the common transport mechanism via the selected transport path.

A detection device for detecting a substance to be detected contained in a specimen has a pipette that has a detachable pipette tip and that suctions or discharges a specimen in a container, a pipette-moving unit for moving the pipette, and a control unit for controlling the pipette and pipette-moving unit. The control unit controls the pipette and the pipette-moving unit so that the pipette suctions a portion of specimen in the container with the pipette-moving unit having moved the distal end of the pipette tip to a position (a) in the lower side of the container, and thereafter discharges in the container the specimen suctioned by the pipette to stir the specimen with the pipette-moving unit having moved the distal end of the pipette tip to a position (b) above the position (a).

After disposable pipette tips are used by an automated pipettor, they are released by the pipettor and fall into a waste container. When the waste container is removed to be emptied, the pipette tips are temporarily sequestered in a pipette tip holding station so that the automated pipettor may operate uninterrupted. After the waste container is replaced, the sequestered pipette tips are released by the holding station into the waste container.

A holder for holding pipette tips of a molecular diagnostics assay analyser comprises a frame comprising a plurality of bores which are separated from each other, each bore configured to removably hold a first end of a pipette tip and a drip tray spaced apart from the plurality of bores, the drip tray configured to receive a second end of a pipette tip when said pipette tip is held by one of the plurality of bores, thereby allowing the pipette tip to be placed in the holder for re-use.

A micro-syringe for inserting into a sample matrix. The micro-syringe includes a micro-syringe body having an orifice at an insertion end; and a plunger at least partially coated with a solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) coating. The plunger is longitudinally movable between an internal position and an extended position. When the syringe is inserted into the sample matrix, the extraction phase is shielded from the sample matrix by the micro-syringe body when the plunger is in the internal position, and at least a portion of the extraction phase extends past the orifice and is exposed to the sample matrix when the plunger is in the extended position. The plunger is sized to fit the internal diameter of the micro-syringe body to draw a liquid into the micro-syringe body when the plunger is moved from the extended position to the internal position.

A device for characterizing substances in a scene, the device including a housing having a cavity configured to contain the substances, an opening for receiving the substances, an imager for capturing an image of the substances, an illumination source for illuminating the substances, a sensor for obtaining sensory data of the substances, a gas supply device for storing and inserting gas into the housing, a mechanical arm for inserting or removing the substances into or from the device via the opening, a syringe to add a material into the housing, a pump for creating a vacuum in the device, an air pump to suck air from the housing and removing the substances from the housing, a fan for cooling the housing, a fluid injector for inserting fluid into the housing, and a processor in communication with the imager and the sensor imaging module. The processor receives the sensory data and the captured images, and compares them to a. database to identify the characteristics of the substances.

Provided is a multiple biomarker simultaneous analysis apparatus comprising: a cartridge mounting portion 210 in which a cartridge 100 is installed, the cartridge 100 including at least one well and a tip 110, wherein the at least one well includes a sample well 101 into which a sample S containing a detection target material T is injected, and a reaction well 105 accommodating a first binding material 105a, which is specifically bound to the detection target material T and to which a marker R is coupled, and the tip 110 is inserted into the at least one well and a second binding material 111 that is specifically bound to the detection target material T is coupled to one end of the tip 110; a tip coupling portion 220 coupled to the tip 110 and movable on a predetermined movement trajectory while being coupled to the tip 110; an optical unit 230 radiating light toward the tip 110 and receiving light generated from the tip 110 according to light radiation; and a processing unit 240 determining whether the detection target material T is present in the sample S according to a predetermined method using the light received by the optical unit 230.

This invention relates to devices and methods for purifying biological cells. For example, viable tumor, stem, immune and sperm cells can be purified from a complex biological sample using a pipette tip column. Methods of the invention can aid research, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

In accordance with embodiments, there are provided devices, systems and methods for capturing images of one or more substances in a scene, such as toilets using an illumination module and an imaging module included in a housing wherein the housing is configured to be inserted to devices such as toilet cleaning devices and receive the one or more substances. The imaging module comprising one or more high quality imagers configured to capture one or more images or an image video of the substances and a processor for analyzing the captured images to identify the characteristic and/or type of the substances.