Disposable hemolysis sensor
AssigneeInstrumentation Laboratory Company
InventorsBrian Joseph Bosy, Josef Kerimo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for measuring hemolysis in a cartridge based automated blood analyzer is described. The apparatus allows hemolysis testing to be performed on a sample which is presented as a whole blood sample for other testing by the cartridge based automated blood analyzer. A disposable module is configured for optically analyzing one or more plasma analytes in a flow cell while red blood cells are acoustically separated from plasma in the flow cell.
Claims20
A sensor module for analyzing one or more plasma analytes in whole blood, comprising:
- a channel configured to house a column of the whole blood in the sensor module;
- an acoustic transducer configured to generate acoustic forces on the channel, the acoustic forces for temporarily partitioning the whole blood in the channel into a first region comprising substantially cell-free plasma that is clear of cellular components of the whole blood and a second region comprising blood cells;
- a light source configured to illuminate the substantially cell-free plasma in the first region;
- one or more optical imaging sensors configured to acquire one or more digital images of the substantially cell-free plasma in the first region while the substantially cell-free plasma is illuminated by the light source, the one or more digital images being usable for analyzing the one or more plasma analytes;
- a housing configured for removable installation of the sensor module in an instrument cartridge of an instrument configured to perform one or more analyses on a blood sample, wherein the housing is configured to locate the channel, the light source, and the one or more optical imaging sensors in fixed alignment relative to each other, and wherein the housing comprises an inlet port and an outlet port such that when the sensor module is installed in the instrument cartridge, the whole blood sample can be delivered from a blood sample container to the sensor module;
- and
- a connector that is configured to pass electrical power and signals to and from the sensor module.
A sensor module for analyzing one or more plasma analytes in whole blood, comprising:
- a channel configured to house a column of the whole blood in the module;
- an acoustic transducer configured to generate acoustic forces on the channel, the acoustic forces for temporarily partitioning the whole blood in the channel into a first region comprising substantially cell-free plasma that is clear of cellular components of the whole blood and a second region comprising blood cells;
- a light source configured to illuminate the substantially cell-free plasma in the first region;
- one or more optical imaging sensors configured to acquire one or more digital images of the substantially cell-free plasma in the first region while the substantially cell-free plasma is illuminated by the light source;
- and
- a housing configured for removable installation of the sensor module in an instrument cartridge of an instrument, wherein the housing is configured to locate the channel, the light source, and the optical imaging sensors in fixed alignment relative to each other, and wherein the housing comprises an inlet port and an outlet port to enable installation of the sensor module in-line with whole blood that flows within the instrument cartridge.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.