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AssigneeUSF Filtration and Separations Group, Inc.
InventorsI-Fan Wang, Jerome F. Ditter, Rick Morris
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The present invention relates to the field synthetic polymeric microfiltration membrane materials that are fabricated to separate liquids from solids contained therein. One aspect of the invention relates to a sulfone polymer membrane with high surface porosity (high pore density) and distinctive asymmetry that can separate solids (i.e., blood cells) from a liquid (i.e., plasma) without the need for centrifugation. The membrane is further rendered hydrophilic through co-casting the sulfone polymer (which is a hydrophobic polymer) with a hydrophilic polymer, such as polyvinylpyrrolidone. Because of these properties and the fact that it requires only a small amount of the solid containing liquid (i.e., whole blood) to be applied to the larger pore surface, the membranes of the invention are highly useful in testing devices for the quick detection of properties or components contained in liquid samples, such as diagnostic applications (i.e., the detection of physiological conditions (i.e., pregnancy, insulin levels, stomach ulcer, and the like) and infectious diseases (i.e., AIDS, hepatitis, and the like)).
An integral sulfone polymer membrane, rendered hydrophilic through co-casting the sulfone polymer with a hydrophilic polymer, the membrane comprising a microporous skin and a porous support, the microporous skin possessing a high pore density and the porous support comprising an isotropic region adjacent the skin, the isotropic region having substantially constant pore sizes, the porous support further comprising an asymmetric region adjacent the isotropic region and having gradually increasing pore sizes from the pores of the isotropic region.
An integral sulfone polymer membrane, rendered hydrophilic through co-casting the sulfone polymer with a hydrophilic polymer, the membrane comprising a microporous skin and a porous support, the microporous skin possessing a high pore density and the porous support comprising an isotropic region adjacent the skin, the isotropic region defining flow channels of substantially constant diameter, the porous support further comprising an asymmetric region adjacent the isotropic region and defining flow channels of gradually increasing diameters from the flow channels of the isotropic region.
A method to prepare a hydrophilic integral sulfone polymer membrane, comprising:
An improved diagnostic device of the type comprising a separation membrane and a contact membrane, the improvement comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.