Patent ID: 8124031
Filing Date: 2012-02-28
Classification: C12M,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A discharge volume control method for controlling a microinjection apparatus, the microinjection apparatus including a regulator that regulates and outputs pressure, a capillary that is filled with an object to be discharged and connected to the regulator by a tube, a first valve that is located on a regulator side in the tube and a second valve that is located on a capillary side in the tube, and controlling a volume of the object discharged from the capillary, the discharge volume control method comprising: opening the second valve from a state where the first valve and the second valve are closed to combine an injection-pressure generating pressure with a maintaining pressure to generate an injection pressure as a combined pressure, the injection-pressure generating pressure being retained between the first valve and the second valve to generate the injection pressure that causes the object to be discharged from the capillary, and the maintaining pressure having been applied to the capillary to prevent backflow of the object into the capillary; applying the injection pressure to the capillary to cause discharge of the object from the capillary; setting an output pressure of the regulator to the injection pressure; opening the first valve to reapply the injection pressure to the capillary; closing the second valve to maintain the capillary under the injection pressure; applying a maintaining-pressure generating pressure to cause the regulator to generate the maintaining pressure; closing the first valve to maintain the regulator under the maintaining-pressure generating pressure; opening the second valve from the state where the first valve and the second valve are closed to combine the maintaining-pressure generating pressure with the injection pressure having been applied to the capillary to generate the maintaining pressure as a combined pressure, the maintaining-pressure generating pressure being retained between the first valve and the second valve to generate the maintaining pressure; applying the maintaining pressure to the capillary to terminate the discharge of the object; setting the output pressure of the regulator to the maintaining pressure; and opening the first valve to reapply the maintaining pressure to the capillary.