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US 6,641,993 B1Granted
Aspirating and mixing of liquids within a probe tip
AssigneeOrtho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc.
InventorsMerrit N. Jacobs, Zhong Ding, Ronald F. Brookes
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Abstract
Apparatus and a method for mixing a liquid within a disposable aspirating probe tip so that most of the liquid is forced to move past a transition zone between two different inside diameters to cause rotational mixing. The apparatus and method can be used to provide agglutination of blood, which in turn can be used for blood typing. The probe tip can comprise a single integral piece, or two separate portions. The transition zone can comprise a sharp demarcation between inside diameters, or a smooth one.
Claims6
In a method of mixing a plurality of liquids comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a probe tip with an internal cavity having a plurality of different inside diameters;
- b) providing by aspiration a plurality of liquids inside a portion of the probe tip;
- c) moving at least most of said liquids back and forth at least several times between a part of said cavity with a smaller inside diameter and a part with a larger inside diameter, said larger and smaller diameters being sufficient to provide a sufficient rotation of liquid as it moves between diameters to cause mixing of said liquids;
- the improvement wherein said cavity parts comprise two separate but matable tip portions, and said method further includes the step of mounting a mountable tip portion of one of said inside diameters onto said tip portion of the other inside diameter in-between aspiration of liquids, wherein said tip portion is removed after each additional liquid is aspirated, and a new tip portion is attached before aspirating into said probe tip an additional liquid such that carry-over contamination between liquids is prevented.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.