Absorbance and fluorometric sensing with capillary wells microplates

Polymerase chain reaction thermal cycling using the programmed tilt displacements of capillary tubes

A thermal cycling method, whereby capillary tubes holding polymerase chain reactions are subjected to programmed tilt displacements so that they are moved using gravity over three spatial regions (I, II, and III) kept at different constant temperatures to facilitate deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) denaturation, annealing, and extension, is described. At tilt speeds in excess of 0.2 rad/s, the standard deviation of static coefficient of friction values was below 0.03, indicating in sync movement of multiple capillary tubes over the holding platform. The travel time during the acceleration phase and under constant velocity between adjacent regions (I to II and II to III) and distant regions (III to I) was 0.03 s and 0.31 s, respectively. The deviations in temperature did not exceed 0.05 °C from the average at the prescribed denaturing, annealing, and extension temperatures applied. DNA amplification was determined by optical readings, the fluorescence signal was found to increase twofold after 30 thermal cycles, and 1.16 × 10⁶ DNA copies/μl could be detected. The approach also overcomes problems associated with thermal inertia, sample adhesion, sample blockage, and handling of the reaction vessels encountered in the other thermal cycling schemes used.

Transparency microplates under impact

Transparency microplates enable biochemical analysis in resource-limited laboratories. During the process of transfer, the analytes tittered into the wells may undergo spillage from one well to another due to lateral impact. Sidelong impact tests conducted found the absence of non-linear effects (e.g., viscoelastic behavior) but high energy loss. Finite element simulations conducted showed that the rectangular plate holding the transparencies could undergo z-axis deflections when a normal component of the force was present despite constraints being used. High speed camera sequences confirmed this and also showed the asymmetrical z-axis deflection to cause the contact line closer to impact to displace first when the advancing condition was exceeded. Capillary waves were found to travel toward the contact line at the opposite end, where if the advancing contact angle condition was exceeded, also resulted in spreading. The presence of surface scribing was found to limit contact line movement better. With water drops dispensed on scribed transparencies, immunity from momentum change of up to 9.07 kgm/s on impact was possible for volumes of 40 μL. In the case of glycerol drops immunity from momentum change of up to 9.07 kgm/s on impact extended to volumes of 90 μL. The improved immunity of glycerol was attributed to its heightened dampening characteristics and its higher attenuation of capillary waves. Overall, scribed transparency microplates were able to better withstand spillage from accidental impact. Accidental impact was also found not to cause any detrimental effects on the fluorescence properties of enhanced green fluorescent protein samples tested.

Using the meniscus in a capillary for small volume contact angle measurement in biochemical applications

The contact angle is a sensitive parameter often used to define wettability. With the increasing movement toward smaller liquid volumes in many biochemical applications, a key challenge lies in how to perform measurements in the retainer holding the reagent for rapid evaluation and limited material loss. Here, we report a simple and robust method to determine the contact angle of small volumes using the microscopic imaging of a capillary meniscus that requires only the radius and meniscus height information. An error analysis of the measurement finds the method to be highly accurate. We also uncovered that illumination delivered from the liquid end of the capillary lights up the interface, thereby facilitating the measurement.