Device for separation of plasma or serum from blood cells and methods of using the device
AssigneeNano Discovery, Inc.
InventorTianyu Zheng
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Abstract
The invention pertains to a device for separation of serum or plasma from blood cells without application of an external force, such as centrifugation or pressure. The device comprises a hollow body having a top open end and a bottom end comprising a porous membrane. Particularly, the pore size of the porous membrane is between 10 nm and 20 μm. The invention also pertains to methods of separating serum or plasma from blood cells, the methods comprising introducing into the device a mixture of serum or plasma and blood cells and incubating the device in a substantially vertical position for between about one minute and thirty minutes to allow the separation of serum or plasma from blood cells under gravity.
Claims10
A method of separating a blood sample into serum or plasma and blood cells, the method comprising:
- i) providing a device comprising:
- a hollow body having a first end and a second end, the first end configured to receive the blood sample and the second end comprising a porous material, wherein an interior of the hollow body is in fluid communication with exterior air through both the first end and the second end,
- ii) introducing the blood sample into the device from the first end, and
- iii) incubating the device in a substantially vertical position, wherein the first end is towards the top and the second end is towards the bottom of the hollow body, for at least between about 1 minute and about 30 minutes to allow separation of the serum or plasma from the blood cells, wherein upon incubation the serum or plasma separates from the blood cells and forms a top layer towards the first end of the hollow body and the blood cells form a bottom layer towards the second end of the hollow body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.