Patent ID: 8663918

Claim:
A method for sample preparation comprising the steps of: delivering a biological sample to a disposable cartridge with a cylindrical reservoir insert having a plurality of chambers including a first chamber with a first port that terminates at an outer wall of the cylindrical reservoir insert, the cylindrical reservoir insert being rotatable about an axis of rotation and the outer wall being parallel to the axis of rotation and defining a perimeter of the cylindrical reservoir insert, the plurality of chambers being within the perimeter of the outer wall, a through-channel that extends along a bottom surface of the cylindrical reservoir insert, the through-channel having a second port and a third port at respective ends of the through-channel and each terminating at the outer wall; mixing said biological sample in a first volume of buffer in said first chamber; and disrupting said sample in the presence of a size stabilizer to obtain nucleic acid molecules; aligning the first port with a plunger; actuating the plunger to withdraw the nucleic acid molecules out of the disposable cartridge and into the plunger; aligning the second port with the plunger by rotating the cylindrical reservoir insert about the axis of rotation; actuating the plunger to inject the nucleic acid molecules out of the plunger and into the through-channel.