Methods, systems, and computer program products for verifying dispensing of a fluid from a pipette

1. A method comprising:

collecting pressure data while dispensing fluid from a pipette tip attached to a pipette, the pressure data including a plurality of pressure values measured at an internal portion of the pipette and taken over a given time interval, the plurality of pressure values including a maximum pressure value and a minimum pressure value;

estimating a pressure range value between the maximum pressure value and the minimum pressure value; and

responsive to the pressure range value being greater than or equal to a first threshold, determining that the fluid included a liquid, or

responsive to the pressure range value being less than the first threshold, determining that the fluid did not include a liquid;

estimating a pressure area ratio that identifies at least two pressure data curves, each of the at least two pressure data curves corresponding to at least a portion of the plurality of pressure values;

comparing the pressure area ratio to a second threshold; and

responsive to the pressure area ratio being greater than the second threshold, determining that the fluid included a sufficient amount of the liquid, or

responsive to the pressure area ratio being less than or equal the second threshold, determining that the fluid did not include a sufficient amount of the liquid.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein dispensing fluid from the pipette tip attached to the pipette further comprises dispensing fluid from the pipette tip attached to the pipette over the given time interval.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein collecting pressure data while dispensing fluid from the pipette tip attached to the pipette comprises dispensing the fluid at a given rate.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to collecting pressure data while dispensing fluid from the pipette tip attached to the pipette, aspirating a gas into the pipette tip and subsequently aspirating a liquid into the pipette tip.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising, prior to collecting pressure data while dispensing fluid from the pipette tip attached to the pipette, dispensing at least a portion of the liquid from the pipette tip.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein collecting pressure data while dispensing fluid from the pipette tip attached to the pipette comprises dispensing all fluid present in the pipette tip in the given time interval.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the pressure range value between the maximum pressure value and the minimum pressure value comprises subtracting the minimum pressure value from the maximum pressure value to obtain the pressure range value.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to estimating the pressure range value between the maximum pressure value and the minimum pressure value, removing a portion of pressure values from the plurality of pressure values.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the portion of pressure values are a given number of consecutive pressure values.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the portion of pressure values includes the initial pressure value in the plurality of pressure values.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the fluid did not include the liquid indicates that a dispensing error occurred.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the pressure area ratio comprises estimating a maximum area corresponding to a pressure data curve that corresponds to the maximum pressure value and the minimum pressure value and estimating an actual pressure area corresponding to a pressure data curve that corresponds to the plurality of pressure values.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein estimating the maximum area comprises multiplying the pressure range value by the given time interval.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein estimating the actual pressure area comprises summing areas of a plurality of rectangles, wherein a width of each rectangle of the plurality of rectangles is the given sampling time interval between consecutive pressure values in the plurality of pressure values and a height of each rectangle of the plurality of rectangles is a midpoint between at least two consecutive pressure values minus the minimum pressure value.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the fluid did not include a sufficient amount of the liquid indicates that a dispensing error occurred.

16. A computer system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising computer readable program code embodied therein that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform operations comprising the method of claim 1 .

17. The computer system of claim 16 , further comprising an apparatus for positioning a pipette and pipetting a liquid onto a surface of a target.

18. The computer system of claim 17 , wherein the apparatus for positioning a pipette and pipetting a liquid onto a surface includes a pipette including a pipette pressure detector.

19. A computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable code embodied in the medium, the computer code comprising:

computer readable code configured to perform operations comprising the method of claim 1 .