Patent ID: 8133671

Claim:
A diagnostic apparatus, comprising: a first module configured to extract nucleic acid simultaneously from a plurality of nucleic acid-containing samples, wherein the first module comprises: one or more racks, each configured to accept the plurality of samples and a corresponding number of holders, wherein each holder comprises a process chamber, a waste chamber, one or more pipette tips, and one or more receptacles, wherein the one or more receptacles contain respectively sufficient quantities of one or more reagents for carrying out extraction of nucleic acid from a sample; a magnetic separator configured to move adjacent to the one or more racks in order to apply a magnetic force to contents of the process chamber of each holder; a heater assembly configured to independently heat each of the process chambers; and a liquid dispenser configured to carry out fluid transfer operations on two or more holders simultaneously; and a second module configured to simultaneously amplify the nucleic acid extracted from the plurality of samples, wherein the second module comprises: one or more bays, each bay comprising at least one heat source and configured to receive a microfluidic cartridge, wherein the cartridge is configured to separately accept and to separately amplify the nucleic acid extracted from multiple samples; and one or more detection systems.