Patent ID: 7780336

Claim:
An instrument for processing a sample in a receptacle having a plurality of interconnected chambers, the instrument comprising: a receptacle-receiving area for receiving the receptacle; a detector having components positioned to detect a light signal from the contents of a detection chamber of the receptacle when the receptacle is placed in an operative position in the receptacle-receiving area; at least one movable compression element disposed to be adjacent the detection chamber and situated between the receptacle and a lens of the detector when the receptacle is placed in the operative position in the receptacle-receiving area; a thermal element including at least a portion thereof disposed to be adjacent the detection chamber on a side of the receptacle-receiving area opposite the compression element; and a controller programmed to move the compression element into engagement with a flexible portion of the detection chamber to thereby depress the flexible portion to agitate the contents of the detection chamber or to move the contents of the detection chamber into an adjacently connected chamber of the receptacle.