Devices and methods for isolating and detecting specific substances in complex matrices
AssigneeSaftest, Inc.
InventorVirginia Gordon
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and systems for determining the presence of one or more analytes in various types of matricies, such as foods, oils, biological fluids, etc. Membranes are used to remove extraneous matter (e.g., solid particles) and/or to bind specific interferents or analytes. Specific assays are provided for determining citric acid, total fat (or % fat), free fatty acids, protein content and specific nucleic acid content indicative of the presence of DNA and/or RNA of certain microbes (e.g., pathogens) or genetically altered substances (e.g., genetically engineered grain).
Claims42
A system for determining the presence of an analyte in a sample which contains matter other than said analyte, said system comprising:
- an analyte capture membrane which is operative to capture an analyte;
- an eluant for eluting the analyte from the capture membrane so as to provide an eluant/analyte admixture;
- and, at least one reagent which is combinable with the eluant/analyte admixture to provide a reagent/eluant/analyte admixture from which said analyte may be determined.
A system for determining the presence of an analyte in a matrix which contains matter other than said analyte and an interferant which interferes with the analytical test to be used to determine the presence of the analyte, said system comprising:
- at least one interferant-capturing membrane which is operative to capture the interferant while allowing a filtrate which contains the analyte but is substantially devoid of the interferant to pass therethrough;
- and,
- a reagent which is combineable with the filtrate containg the analyte to provide a filtrate/reagent/analyte admixture from which the analyte may be determined.
A system according to 22 for additionally analyzing the interferant, said system further comprising:
- an eluant for eluting the interferant from the interferant-capturing membrane so as to provide an eluant/interferant admixture;
- and
- a second reagent that is combinable with the eluant/interferant admixture to provide an eluant/interferant/reagent admixture from which the interferent can be determined.
A system according to 22 wherein the analyte is free fatty acid and the interferant is an inorganic acid, and wherein:
- the interferant-capturing membrane comprises an anionic membrane which captures inorganic acids;
- and,
- the reagent for determining the presence of the analyte comprises xylenol orange and neutralized isopropanol.
A system according to 25 further comprising:
- an eluant which is useable to elute the inorganic acid from the interferant-capturing membrane to provide an eluant/inorganic acid admixture;
- and,
- a second reagent that is combinable with the eluant/reagent admixture to facilitate determination of the inorganic acid.
A system according to 22 wherein the at least one interferant-capturing membrane comprises:
- a first interferant-capturing membrane that is operative to capture a portion of the interferant;
- and,
- a second interferant-capturing membrane that is operative to capture a second portion of the interferant.
A system for detecting the presence of a microbe in a sample, comprising
- at least one analyte capture membrane operative to capture nucleic acids contained in the sample;
- an eluant for eluting the nucleic acids from the capture membrane so as to provide an eluant/nucleic acid admixture;
- and
- at least one nuclec acid primer structured to hybridize to nucleic acids of microbes suspected of being present in the sample and provided in an amount to facilitate amplification of the nucleic acids that hybridize to the nucleic acid primers so that the nucleic acids of the microbes can be detected.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.