Rotatable sample disk and method of loading a sample disk

1. An apparatus for centrifugally loading and thermally cycling a sample disk, comprising:

a sample disk having at least one fill chamber, in fluid communication with at least one primary fill conduit, a plurality of circumferentially disposed first sample chambers comprising respective first openings, respective second openings and respective third openings and a plurality of circumferentially disposed second sample chambers, the second sample chambers comprising respective first openings and respective second openings, wherein the respective first openings are on a top surface of each respective second sample chamber and wherein the plurality of second sample chambers are configured to receive sample through respective first opening, and wherein the plurality of first sample chambers are the outermost disposed chambers on the sample disk; and

a plurality of circumferential fill conduits positioned between and in fluid communication with adjacent first sample chambers and in fluid communication with the at least one primary fill conduit, a plurality of radial fill conduits, each radial fill conduit providing fluid communication between the respective third opening of one of the plurality of first sample chambers and the respective second opening of one of the plurality of second sample chambers, wherein the plurality of first sample chambers are centrifugally loaded with a first biological material from the fill chamber, subsequently further loaded with a second biological material from the plurality of circumferentially disposed second sample chambers, and thermally cycled.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the thermally cycling comprises a sample block thermally connected to the sample disk.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the thermally cycling further comprises a temperature control unit operatively connected to the sample block for raising and lowering the temperature of the sample block according to a user-defined profile.

4. An apparatus for centrifugally loading and thermally cycling a sample disk, comprising:

a sample disk having at least one fill chamber, in fluid communication with at least one primary fill conduit, a plurality of circumferentially disposed first sample chambers and a plurality of second circumferentially disposed sample chambers, and wherein the plurality of first sample chambers are the outermost disposed chambers on the sample disk and initially loaded with sample from the fill chamber;

a plurality of circumferential fill conduits positioned between and in fluid communication with adjacent first sample chambers and in fluid communication with the at least one primary fill conduit, a plurality of radial fill conduits, each radial fluid conduit positioned between and in fluid communication with a respective one of the plurality of first sample chambers and a respective one of the plurality of second sample chambers, each of the plurality of radial fill conduits configured to permit transfer of material from the respective one of the plurality of circumferentially disposed second sample chambers to the respective one of the plurality of first sample chambers upon rotation of the sample disk about a rotational axis; and

a thermal cycler for thermally cycling the plurality of first sample chambers upon rotation of the sample disk about the rotational axis, wherein each second sample chamber is configured to permit introduction of material through a first opening on a top surface of each second sample chamber.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the thermal cycler comprises a sample block thermally connected to the sample disk.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the thermal cycler comprises a temperature control unit operatively connected to the sample block for raising and lowering the temperature of the sample block according to a user-defined profile.

7. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the sample disk comprises a top layer and a bottom layer, wherein the bottom layer comprises a metal.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the top layer comprises polypropylene.

9. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein each of the plurality of first sample chambers has a volume of no more than 100 microliters.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first openings each define a closable open aperture on the top surface of each of the plurality of first sample chambers.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first sample chambers comprise respective second openings to fluidly communicate each first sample chamber with a respective second sample chamber.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of circumferentially disposed second sample chambers further comprise a top surface through which an optical detection system can detect the characteristics of sample materials in the second sample chambers.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein each of the plurality of circumferentially disposed second sample chambers further comprise a top surface through which an optical detection system can detect the characteristics of sample materials in the second sample chambers.

14. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein at least one of the plurality of circumferentially disposed second sample chambers further comprise a top surface through which an optical detection system can detect the characteristics of sample materials in the second sample chambers.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein each of the plurality of circumferentially disposed second sample chambers further comprise a top surface through which an optical detection system can detect the characteristics of sample materials in the second sample chambers.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of circumferentially disposed second sample chambers are PCR compatible.

17. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of circumferentially disposed second sample chambers are PCR compatible.