Dispenser array spotting

1 . A method of dispensing a fluid, the method comprising:

(a) aspirating a first fluid volume into a dispenser adapted to dispense fluid volumes of one microliter or less;

(b) dispensing a desired volume of the fluid volume to form a dispensed portion;

(c) calculating the volume of the dispensed portion; and

(d) calculating an adjusted desired volume that compensates for a difference between the desired volume and the volume of the dispensed portion.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

(e) dispensing an adjusted desired volume of the fluid volume, to form a dispensed portion;

(f) calculating the volume of the dispensed portion;

(g) calculating an adjusted desired volume that compensates for a difference between the adjusted desired volume and the volume of the dispensed portion.

3 . The method according to claim 1 wherein the dispenser is a piezo-electric dispenser.

4 . The method according to claim 1 wherein the calculating the volume comprises remembering a count of the number of dispensings per aspiration, and looking up in a table a level of dilution determined by the count.

5 . The method according to claim 1 wherein the dispenser comprises a plurality of dispensers and the calculating comprises calculating a level of dilution of the dispensed volume for each dispenser of the plurality of dispensers.

6 . The method according to claim 1 wherein the dispenser comprises a plurality of dispensers and the adjusting comprises adjusting the dispensed volume of each dispenser of the plurality of dispensers.

7 . The method according to claim 1 wherein said dispensing said desired volume of the fluid volume to form said dispensed portion comprises dispensing said desired volume of the fluid volume in a banded format.

8 . The method according to claim 1 wherein said dispensing said desired volume of the fluid volume to form said dispensed portion comprises dispensing said desired volume of the fluid volume in a columnar format.

9 . The method according to claim 1 wherein said dispensing said desired volume of the fluid volume to form said dispensed portion comprises dispensing said desired volume of the fluid volume from a source plate to a discrete section of a destination plate.

10 . A method comprising:

translating a filling device comprising a plurality of dispensers, each dispenser comprising a fluid, along a translation path traversing a microplate comprising rows of wells wherein the wells have an average minimum dimension equal to a first dimension; and

dispensing a respective band of fluid from each of the dispensers along a portion of the translation path to load rows of the wells wherein the bands do not contact one another and the rows include at least two adjacent loaded rows of wells which are spaced apart from one another by a dimension that is about the same as or greater than the first dimension.

11 . The method according to claim 10 wherein the at least two adjacent loaded rows of wells are separated from one another by at least one dead row of wells.

12 . The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

dispensing a marker fluid in the at least one dead row of wells.

13 . The method according to claim 10 wherein the fluid in at least one of the dispensers comprises one or more of a biological sample, a biological reagent, an assay component mixture, a probe, a primer, and a combination thereof.

14 . The method according to claim 10 wherein a plurality of the wells of the microplate are each preloaded with components for an assay and the dispensing a respective band of fluid comprises dispensing a biological sample.

15 . The method according to claim 1 wherein said dispensing a respective band of fluid comprises dispensing a respective band of fluid from a source plate to a discrete section of a destination plate.