← Back to Patent Explorer
US5137817A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Apparatus and method for electroporation

Assignee: BP Corp North America Inc
•
Filing: 1990-10-05
•
Granted: 1992-08-11
•
Expires: 2010-10-05
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract An electrode set for electrotransformation of a host cell by electroporation, comprising: an electrically insulating substrate; and at least one pair of interdigitated electrodes which are carried by said substrate and which lie in a generally planar array, said electrodes and said substrate being adopted to carry a cell transformant and a host cell thereon, said electrodes and said host cell and said cell transformant being adapted to pass electrical current upon the application of a potential difference across said electrodes.

Inventors

  • 👤 Heinz H. Busta
  • 👤 Michael L. Bittner
  • 👤 Richard E. Cuellar

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-23 01:48
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61N; A61N1/00; A61N1/02; A61N1/04; A61N1/0404; A61N1/0408; A61N1/0412; A61N1/0416; A61N1/0424; A61N1/042; A61N1/0472; A61N1/0476; A61N1/18; C; C12; C12M; C12M35/00; C12M35/02; C12N; C12N13/00; C12N15/00; C12N15/09; C12N15/87

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim 128 words
An apparatus for transforming of a host cell by electroporation, comprising: at least one electrically insulating substrate; and at least two electrodes which are carried by said substrate and which lie adjacent to each other, said electrodes and said substrate being adapted to be placed in close proximity to at least one cell transformant and at least one host cell, said electrodes and said host cell and said cell transformant being adapted to pass an electrical current therethrough upon the application of a potential difference across said electrodes, said electrodes having at least one of a difference in elevation relative to said substrate, projecting means for physically penetrating at least a portion of a surface of an organism carrying said host cells, and a difference in electrical conductivity.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 128 words
An apparatus for transforming of a host cell by electroporation, comprising: at least one electrically insulating substrate; and at least two electrodes which are carried by said substrate and which lie adjacent to each other, said electrodes and said substrate being adapted to be placed in close proximity to at least one cell transformant and at least one host cell, said electrodes and said host cell and said cell transformant being adapted to pass an electrical current therethrough upon the application of a potential difference across said electrodes, said electrodes having at least one of a difference in elevation relative to said substrate, projecting means for physically penetrating at least a portion of a surface of an organism carrying said host cells, and a difference in electrical conductivity.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 52 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said electrodes and said substrate have upper surfaces, said upper surface of one electrode having a greater elevation relative to said upper surface of said substrate than said upper surface of the adjacent electrode, whereby at least two of said electrodes have an difference in elevation.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 35 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein one electrode is formed from a metal and an adjacent electrode is formed from an oxide of said metal, whereby said adjacent electrodes have a difference in electrical conductivity.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 55 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said electrodes and said substrate have upper surfaces, said upper surface of one electrode having a greater elevation relative to said upper surface of said substrate than said upper surface of an adjacent electrode, whereby said adjacent electrodes have a difference in elevation and a difference in electrical conductivity.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 15 words
The apparatus set of claim 1, wherein said substrate comprises generally flexible electrical insulating base.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 30 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one electrode carries projecting means for physically penetrating at least a portion of the surface of an organism comprising said host cells.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 49 words
The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said substrate has a generally flat face and said one end of said one electrode has two opposite generally flat sides, one of said sides being carried by said one flat face of said substrate and the opposite side carrying said projecting means.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 16 words
The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said projecting means is adapted to carry said cell transformant.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 42 words
The apparatus set of claim 1, wherein said electrodes are generally flat and generally parallel to each other; and wherein said electrodes were formed on said substrate using a film depositing process selected from the group: sputtering, e-beam evaporation, diffusion and plating.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 17 words
The apparatus claim 1, wherein said substrate carries a plurality of interdigitated electrodes which form said array.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 13 words
The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said substrate is generally flexible and rollable.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 29 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said electrodes comprise a plurality of electrode pairs; and wherein said plurality of electrode pairs are carried by a common electrically insulating substrate.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 24 words
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said electrode pairs are adapted to be connected to a common power supply for applying said potential difference.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 12 words
The array of claim 1, wherein said host cell is a microspore.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 20 words
The array of claim 10, wherein said electrodes are separated by at least 1 μm and less than 1000 μm.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4923814A Cited
US4822470A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1995-08-11 1996-02-10 1996-08-11 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1999-08-11 2000-02-10 2000-08-11 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2003-08-11 2004-02-10 2004-08-11 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag