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US 2021/0231640 A1Published application
Cartridge for Bead-Milling-Based Testing of Erythrocyte Mechanical Fragility
AssigneeBlaze Medical Devices, LLC
InventorsKenneth Alfano, Michael Tarasev, Steven Meines, Terrance Boyd, Aaron Kehrer, Gene Parunak
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A bead mill and an associated bead-mill-based machine for testing mechanical fragility of red blood cells, employing a cartridge configured to contain a sample while cells get stressed via bead oscillation and, in the case of the fragility testing machine, also while lysis levels get detected, for presentation of fragility information.
Claims20
A cartridge for use in testing mechanical fragility of red blood cells (RBC), the cartridge comprising:
- a body having
- a first portion configured for securely mounting the cartridge within a mechanical fragility testing device;
- a second portion defining a chamber for holding a sample containing red blood cells (RBC);
- first and second end portions disposed at opposite longitudinal ends of the second portion of the body and enclosing each end of the chamber, at least one of the first and second end portions defining a sealable passage for inserting the sample into the chamber;
- a bead disposed within the chamber and configured for movement that progressively lyses the RBC within the chamber in response to forces imparted by the mechanical fragility testing device;
- wherein the second portion of the body includes a flexible, transparent portion configured to be in contact with at least a representative portion of the sample, the flexible, transparent portion configured to be pinched and permit repeated projections of light therethrough, while the sample and the bead are within the chamber, to produce optical measurements for ascertaining levels of hemolysis present in the sample at a plurality of points in time.
3 more elements
A cartridge for use in testing mechanical fragility of red blood cells (RBC), the cartridge comprising:
- a body having
- a first portion configured for securely mounting the cartridge within a mechanical fragility testing device;
- a second portion defining a plurality of chambers for holding respective subsamples, the subsamples each comprising a portion of a sample containing red blood cells (RBC);
- first and second end portions disposed at opposite longitudinal ends of the second portion of the body and enclosing each end of each chamber of the plurality of chambers, at least one of the first and second end portions defining a sealable passage for inserting the sample into the second portion of the body and splitting the sample into the subsamples in each chamber of the plurality of chambers;
- a plurality of beads, each bead disposed within a respective chamber of the plurality of chambers and configured for movement that progressively lyses the RBC within the respective chamber in response to forces imparted by the mechanical fragility testing device;
- wherein the second portion of the body includes for each chamber a flexible, transparent portion configured to be in contact with at least a representative portion of the subsample contained in the chamber, the flexible, transparent portion configured to be pinched and permit repeated projections of light therethrough, while the subsample and a corresponding bead of the plurality of beads are within the chamber, to produce optical measurements for ascertaining levels of hemolysis present in the subsample at a plurality of points in time.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.