SBIR Phase II: Development and Manufacture of High-Density Plate Washer

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目旨在开发一种能够清洗极高密度板（如1536孔板）的洗板机，用于ELISA和高通量筛选测定。目前，有用于96和384孔板的自动洗板机，但没有用于超高密度板的自动洗板机。 这是因为目前可用的洗涤器技术，采用喷嘴系统， 不能被制造得足够可靠以允许分配和抽吸喷嘴适当地到达许多非常小的威尔斯孔中的每一个孔内，并且因为所需的细喷嘴使用许多标准缓冲器可能容易被堵塞。相比之下，所提出的系统使用稳定的溶液流或溶液片，使得系统不太可能堵塞。该项目的商业应用将允许参与基因组学和药物发现研究的工业和学术研究人员使用高通量筛选测定。所提出的技术将能够额外使用荧光化合物，其通常需要洗涤步骤以去除干扰物质，用于筛选。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project aims to develop a plate washer capable of washing very high-density plates, such as 1536 well plates, for ELISA and high-throughput screening assays. Currently, there are automated plate washers for 96 and 384 well plates, but there are none available for plates with ultra-high density. This is because currently available washer technology, employing a nozzle system, cannot be made reliable enough to allow dispense and aspirate nozzles to properly reach within each of the many, very small wells, and because the thin nozzles needed can get easily clogged using many standard buffers. In contrast, the proposed system uses a steady stream or sheet of solution, making the system less likely to clog. The commercial application of this project will be to allow use of high-throughput screening assays by industrial and academic researchers involved in genomics and drug discovery research. The proposed technology will enable additional use of fluorescent chemical compounds, that typically require a wash step to remove interfering substances, for screening.