A Novel Device for Simultaneously Grinding Multiple Tissue Samples Without Cross-Contamination

Clinical and diagnostic tests in laboratories are useful in screening, diagnosis, and prognosis. These tests require grinding specimens. Commonly, this is done by hand using mortars and pestles. With this method, only one sample can be done at a time, and the results are not uniform. A novel device for simultaneously grinding multiple tissue samples without cross-contamination is described below. The device consists of a first unit having several pestles and Eppendorf housings separated from each other, a second unit containing a planetary gear system connected to operate these Eppendorf tubes and pestles, and a third unit containing a motor and controller. These units are geometrically configured and dimensioned so that when they are stacked on top of one another they are in lock position and consequently the pestles are lined up with the Eppendorf tubes. The device was built so that 12 samples can be grinded at a time. A programable controller allowed users to select the grinding time at will. A mechanism permitted users to eject conveniently the pestles into the Eppendorf tubes after grinding to help avoid cross contamination. Many tests with shrimp leg tissues infected by white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) against controlled samples consisted of pure water were conducted. The grinded samples were inspected by eyes and checked for contamination using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine. The results showed that device allows grinding tissues homogeneously in an effective way and reducing handiwork without cross-contamination. Small industrial production were conducted.