Method and portable reader for analyzing a biological fluid specimen

A system to analyze a sample of a biological liquid comprising:

• a portable reader to analyze the sample of the biological liquid comprising:
• a reader housing of the portable reader extending along a longitudinal axis between two lateral ends, the reader housing comprising:
• a lateral access opening for inserting or extracting a collection cartridge along the longitudinal axis, a lower portion of the reader housing comprising a housing bottom of the portable reader, and a cover of the portable reader to close the reader housing;
• an electronic card with printed circuit arranged in the housing bottom of the portable reader;
• a plurality of optical transmitter-receiver assemblies arranged on an upper face of the electronic card, the plurality of optical transmitter-receiver assemblies being arranged one after the other along the longitudinal axis;
• a cartridge support element extending longitudinally comprising a cartridge support bottom extending longitudinally, and the cartridge support bottom arranged facing the upper face of the electronic card, the cartridge support bottom comprising a protruding portion, extending along the longitudinal axis, on which a plurality of openings of the cartridge support bottom is arranged, each optical transmitter-receiver assembly being arranged facing one of the plurality of openings of the cartridge support bottom;
• and
• an electronic monitoring unit electrically connected to the plurality of optical transmitter-receiver assemblies, the electronic monitoring unit controls said each optical transmitter-receiver assembly in a mode of emitting light and receiving a reflected light so as to perform an optical reading to analyze the biological liquid;
• the collection cartridge to collect the sample of the biological liquid, the collection cartridge being arranged to bear on the cartridge support bottom of the portable reader, the collection cartridge comprising:
• a cartridge housing extending longitudinally between two lateral ends and comprising a cartridge housing bottom comprising an opening and a flexible portion forming a periphery of the opening of the cartridge housing bottom;
• a plurality of color-changing reactive elements arranged one after the other along the longitudinal axis, each reactive element being arranged in the cartridge housing bottom and facing the opening of the cartridge housing bottom;
• a biological liquid diffusion band, extending longitudinally, arranged in the cartridge housing over a top of the plurality of color-changing reactive elements, the biological diffusion band being in direct contact with said each reactive element only when the collection cartridge is correctly positioned in the portable reader;
• and
• a cartridge cover arranged over a top of the biological diffusion band;
• the electronic monitoring unit analyzes the sample of the biological liquid by detecting a color change of said each reactive element following an optical reading;
• and
• at least one pushing element cooperating with the cartridge cover to:
• push the collection cartridge in a direction of the cartridge support bottom;
• and
• crush the flexible portion of the cartridge housing bottom against the protruding portion of the cartridge support bottom when the collection cartridge is inserted into the portable reader such that said each reactive element comes into contact with the diffusion band.