Patent ID: 7259019

Claim:
A solid-phase microextraction device for measuring or identifying one or more components of interest from liquid samples arranged in a plurality of wells in a multiwell plate, said device comprising: a plurality of non-porous fibres, each having a distal end at least partially coated with a polymeric extraction phase for absorbing or adsorbing the component of interest from the liquid samples; and a positioning device for guiding the coated distal end of said non-porous fibres into a submerged position within the plurality of wells of a multiwell plate, and for removing said non-porous fibres from said wells; said positioning device comprising: (i) a mounting plate for mounting each of a plurality of non-porous fibres in a position corresponding to a counterpart well on said multiwell plate, the non-porous fibres being retractably mounted within the mounting plate; and (ii) a guide for moving said mounting plate so the coated distal end of each of said non-porous fibres is submerged in a well of the multiwell plate, for retracting said non-porous fibres from said wells, and for positioning said non-porous fibres into a multiwell plate containing desorption solvent or into an analytical instrument.