Patent ID: 9023294
Filing Date: 2015-05-05
Classification: C12N,G01N,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A system of devices for analyzing cells comprising: (A) a first device for concentrating, staining and washing a cell sample solution derived from a subject; (B) a second device for concentrating, separating and purifying the stained cell in the sample solution derived from the first device; (C) a third device for performing gene analysis and expression analysis on the purified cell in the cell sample solution derived from the second device; (D) a fourth device for sequentially transporting the cell sample solution from the first to the second and then to the third devices; and (E) a control/analysis unit for controlling the performance of each of the devices and analyzing the cell sample, wherein (a) the first device comprises: a chamber provided with a filter for concentrating, staining and washing the cell in the cell sample solution; containers for holding each of the cell sample solution, a stain solution and a wash solution; and a mechanism for sequentially introducing each of the solutions of each container into the chambers, (b) the second device comprises: a cell sorter chip comprising a channel through which the cell sample solution containing cells including a target cell flows, wherein the channel comprises a first channel for concentrating the cells and a second channel, branching from the first channel, for detecting the concentrated cells and sorting the target cell; a mechanism that applies external force to the cells flowing through each of the channels such that the cells flowing through each of the channels are concentrated in the first channel and converged toward a desired direction in the second channel; and an optical system comprising light irradiation means for irradiating the cells flowing through the second channel with light, and a high-speed camera that captures images of the cells at an image-capturing rate of at least 200 frames/second, and (c) the third device comprises: a reaction vessel to which the sample solution is added for reaction; a heat exchange vessel that exchanges heat with the reaction vessel; and a temperature control mechanism for controlling the temperature of the heat exchange vessel.