Simplified inlet channels
AssigneeAbaxis, Inc.
InventorCarol T. Schembri
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention provides centrifugal rotors for delivering a liquid, typically a biological sample such as diluted plasma, to an unvented chamber in the rotor through an unmodified inlet channel. The unvented chamber is typically a cuvette comprising reagents necessary for analysis of a biological sample. The unmodified inlet channels are sized such that, as the rotor spins, gas escapes from the chamber through the inlet channel as the liquid enters the chamber through the inlet channel. The primary feature which allows the air to escape from the unvented chamber is that the cross sectional area of the inlet channel is greater than the cross sectional area of the liquid flowing through it.
Claims9
A centrifugal rotor comprising:
- a sample chamber containing a liquid;
- an unvented receiving chamber positioned radially outward from the sample chamber;
- a delivery channel connected to the sample chamber for removing the liquid from the sample chamber under centrifugal force;
- a distribution channel directly connected to the delivery channel for removing the liquid from the delivery channel under centrifugal force;
- an inlet channel connected to the unvented receiving chamber for receiving the liquid from the sample chamber through the delivery channel and the distribution channel;
- wherein, the resistance to flow of the liquid in the delivery channel is greater than the resistance to flow of the liquid in the inlet and distribution channels such that the cross-sectional area of the liquid flowing through the inlet and distribution channels is less than the cross-sectional area of said inlet and distribution channels, whereby spinning the rotor effects the flow of the liquid from the sample chamber through the delivery channel, the distribution channel and the inlet channel to the receiving chamber such that air escapes from the receiving chamber through the inlet channel as the liquid enters the receiving chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.