Differential dispensing method
AssigneeBit Group France
InventorsFlorent Baston, Maxime Leveau
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for dilution of a blood sample for analysis and to an apparatus for implementation of this method is provided. In the method, an aliquoting device is used, making it possible to carry out a single collection, to form a first dilution in a chamber, to collect a portion of the first dilution in order to form a second dilution in another chamber, to count the blood cells in the first and the second chamber, to carry out a differentiation based on the first dilution, to rinse the first chamber, to form a third dilution based on a quantity of first-dilution liquid remaining in the aliquoting device, then to carry out a differentiation of reticulocytes based on this third dilution.
Claims13
A method for dilution of a blood sample for analysis, the method comprising the following steps:
- a) a single collection of said sample by means of an aliquoting device;
- b) injecting said sample into a first chamber;
- c) diluting said sample in the first chamber by means of a dilution reagent so as to constitute a first-dilution liquid;
- d) collecting a portion of the first-dilution liquid by means of the aliquoting device;
- e) carrying out at least two other dilutions in order to obtain a second-dilution liquid and a third-dilution liquid, each of the second—and third—dilution liquids being obtained directly from the first-dilution liquid contained in the aliquoting device;
- and
- f) during steps a) to e) at least one analysis is performed on the first-dilution liquid and/or second-dilution liquid and/or third-dilution liquid,
- wherein the aliquoting device further comprises:
- a needle capable of being moved between a sample collection zone and at least the first chamber and a second chamber,
- a dilution reagent dispenser, and
- a sampling valve comprising at least two liquid pathways and a calibrated-volume channel, a first liquid pathway linking the dispenser to the needle, a second liquid pathway linking the dispenser to the second chamber, and the calibrated-volume channel completing the first liquid pathway or the second liquid pathway, and
- wherein the step d) is carried out by collecting the first-dilution liquid and retaining it inside the needle and in the calibrated-volume channel of the sampling valve, and in that, in order to inject the first-dilution liquid into a chamber in order to carry out the second dilution, the calibrated-volume channel containing a first quantity of the first-dilution liquid is switched from the first liquid pathway to the second liquid pathway, followed by injecting said first quantity of said first-dilution liquid into the second chamber via the second liquid pathway, said first quantity being precisely calibrated in the calibrated-volume channel of the sampling valve;
- the third-dilution liquid being obtained directly from the first-dilution liquid contained in the needle.
A haematology apparatus for the automatic counting and differentiation of cells in a blood sample, comprising:
- at least one chamber;
- at least one optical bench linked to at least one chamber;
- an aliquoting device comprising:
- a needle configured for being moved between a sample collection zone and at least one chamber;
- a dilution reagent dispenser;
- wherein the apparatus further comprises:
- a sampling valve comprising at least two liquid pathways and a calibrated-volume channel, a first liquid pathway linking the dilution reagent dispenser to the needle, a second liquid pathway linking the dilution reagent dispenser to at least one chamber, and the calibrated-volume channel completing the first liquid pathway or the second liquid pathway.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.