Patent ID: 8235578

Claim:
An agitation vessel for agitating retained liquid by sound waves, comprising a sound wave generating member and an acoustic matching layer integral with the agitation vessel, the sound wave generating member generating the sound waves that agitate liquid retained in said agitating vessel; a bottom wall and at least four side walls, wherein a part of the opposing side walls of the at least four side walls is made of an optically transparent material that transmits analytical light to form a photometric window to optically measure the liquid agitated; wherein the sound wave generating member is attached to an external surface of any of the at least four side walls or the bottom wall and the acoustic matching layer placed between the sound wave generating member and the external surface of any of the at least four side walls or bottom wall; and wherein the sound wave generating member includes on a substrate a sound wave generator having one or a plurality of interdigital transducers of a surface-acoustic-wave element, and a power receiver which receives power and transmits the power to the sound wave generator.