Device and method for irradiating a sample with focused acoustic energy including a fully solid coupler

1. A device for irradiating a sample with focused acoustic energy to treat the sample, the device comprising:

an instrument;

a cartridge having a chamber for receiving the sample,

wherein the instrument and the cartridge are adapted for inserting the cartridge into the instrument, and wherein the cartridge and the instrument are separable;

a single source for generating acoustic energy; and

a fully solid coupler providing a completely dry coupling of the acoustic energy between the source and the cartridge,

wherein at least two different focal regions are generated by an element selected from the group consisting of: the source and a hybrid lens for focusing the acoustic energy onto the sample, the source with different roughness zones, the source being excited differently at different positions of the source, and any combination thereof.

2. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the source is configured so that the acoustic energy is high intensity focused ultra sound (HiFu).

3. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the instrument and the cartridge are arranged in combination in such a way, that by inserting the cartridge into the instrument a propagation path for transmitting the acoustic energy from the source to the sample is formed, and wherein the propagation path consists only of non-fluidic matter.

4. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the fully solid coupler comprises a material selected from the group consisting of solid gel, rubber, elastic foil, polymer based material, thermoplastic polymers, polymer having a low acoustic attenuation characteristic, metal, semiconductor, ceramic, polypropylene, aluminum, and a stack of these materials.

5. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the cartridge comprises an acoustic window made of a flexible material, and wherein the fully solid coupler is physically contacted with the acoustic window by inserting the cartridge into the instrument.

6. The device according to claim 5 , wherein the fully solid coupler has a first contact surface for contacting the acoustic window, the cartridge has a second contact surface for contacting the acoustic window, and at least one of the first contact surface, the second contact surface and the acoustic window has a surface roughness value selected from the group consisting of smaller than 0.5 micrometers, smaller than 1 micrometers, and smaller than 2 micrometers.

7. The device according to claim 3 , wherein the propagation path has a gradient of an acoustic impedance that is monotonously decreasing in a direction from the source to the sample.

8. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the lens is selected from the group consisting of a lens being a physically separate component placed between the source and the cartridge, a lens being part of the source, the source with a focusing shape being the lens, an array of sources that yield to focused acoustic energy, a lens being part of the cartridge, a lens made out of a polymer having a low acoustic attenuation characteristic, a metal lens, a ceramic lens, a polypropylene lens, an aluminum lens, a hybrid lens, and any combination thereof.

9. The device according to claim 1 ,

wherein said device irradiates the sample in one single chamber of the cartridge with focused acoustic energy to apply pretreatment and lysis thereto;

wherein the pretreatment is a method selected from the group consisting of mixing with a reagent, circulation, release of a cell, pathogen and matrix from a swab, release of a cell, pathogen and matrix from a brush, liquefaction, incubation of the sample with a reagent at room temperature or elevated temperature, shaking, mixing; stirring, extraction, NA extraction, flow generation, sample homogenation, separating by centrifuging, and any combination thereof, and

wherein lysis is a method selected from the group consisting of mixing with a reagent, circulation, lysis of microorganisms, incubation of the sample with a reagent at room or elevated temperature, and any combination thereof.

10. The device according to claim 1 , further comprising at least one of: an extraction unit; a nucleic acid amplification unit; a reagent storage unit; a detection unit a detection unit for applying measurements on the sample wherein the detection unit is for applying at least one measurement to the sample selected from the group consisting of optical measurements, magnetic measurements, thermal measurements, electrical measurements, chemical measurements, sonic measurements, and any combination thereof, wherein the irradiation of the sample with the acoustic energy leads to a treatment of the sample.

11. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the fully solid coupler is made out of a polymer based material having a glass transition temperature T g selected from the group consisting of: T g ≧−30° C.; T g ≧−10° C., T g ≧−5° C.; T g ≧20° C.; T g ≧40° C.; T g ≧60° C.; T g ≧80° C.; T g ≧100° C.; T g ≧120° C.; T g ≧130° C.; T g ≧140° C.; T g ≧150° C.; and T g ≧160° C.

12. The device according to claim 11 , wherein the polymer based material has been cured at a curing temperature T C selected from the group consisting of: T C ≧20° C.; T C ≧40° C.; T C ≧60° C.; T C ≧70° C.; T C ≧80° C.; T C ≧90° C.; T C ≧100° C.; T C ≧110° C.; T C ≧120° C.; T C ≧130° C.; T C ≧140° C.; T C ≧150° C.; T C ≧160° C.; T C ≧170° C.; and T C ≧180° C.

13. A cartridge for an instrument for irradiating a sample with focused acoustic energy generated by a single source to treat the sample, the cartridge comprising:

a chamber for receiving the sample; and

a fully solid coupler,

wherein the cartridge is adapted for being inserted in the instrument and for being separable from the instrument, and

wherein the fully solid coupler provides a completely dry coupling of the acoustic energy between the source and the cartridge when the cartridge is inserted in the instrument, said completely dry coupling providing at least two different focal regions that are generated by an element selected from the group consisting of: the source and a hybrid lens for focusing the acoustic energy onto the sample, the source with different roughness zones, the source being excited differently at different positions of the source, and any combination thereof.

14. A method of irradiating a sample with focused acoustic energy to treat the sample, the method comprising the following steps:

providing an instrument;

providing a cartridge having a chamber for receiving the sample, wherein the instrument and the cartridge are adapted for inserting the cartridge into the instrument, and wherein the cartridge and the instrument are separable;

providing a single source for generating acoustic energy;

providing a fully solid coupler to provide a completely dry coupling of the acoustic energy between the source and the cartridge,

wherein the fully solid coupler provides a completely dry coupling of the acoustic energy between the source and the cartridge when the cartridge is inserted in the instrument, said completely dry coupling providing at least two different focal regions that are generated by an element selected from the group consisting of: the source and a hybrid lens for focusing the acoustic energy onto the sample, the source with different roughness zones, the source being excited differently at different positions of the source, and any combination thereof;

placing the sample in the chamber of the cartridge;

inserting the cartridge into the instrument; and

generating the at least two different focal regions with the source for generating acoustic energy.