Abstract:
A multi-shaft apparatus for incising a substrate of soft resilient material such as a body tissue. The incising apparatus includes two or more incision shafts each having a distal edge. The shafts are not affixed to each other and are allowed to slide against each other to drive the distal edges alternately against the substrate to incise the substrate. In the case of incising a body tissue, such alternate motion would result in less pain to the patient than a puncture resulting from a sharp jab by a sharp shaft of similar size to the shafts.
Abstract:
The present invention provides an apparatus for detecting a nanoscale moiety and a method for sensing a nanoscale moiety. The apparatus includes a substrate having a nanopore, at least one excitable molecule attached to the substrate adjacent to the nanopore, and a light source for exciting the excitable molecule attached to the substrate adjacent to the nanopore wherein the excitable molecule is quenched by the quencher molecule on the nanoscale moiety as it passes by the excitable molecule. The invention also includes a method for detecting the presence or identity of the nanoscale moiety.