Uses of parylene membrane filters
AssigneesCalifornia Institute of Technology, University of Southern California
InventorsYu-Chong Tai, Siyang Zheng, Henry Lin, Ram Datar, Richard Cote
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Abstract
The invention provides parylene membrane filters, filter devices and methods of making them and using them in the mechanical separation of cells and particles by size. The provision of parylene membrane filters with high figures of merit and finely controlled hole sizes allows the separation of cells and particles in a variety of biological and other fluids according to sizes.
Claims24
A method for isolating a cell, the method comprising:
- i) obtaining a sample containing the cell;
- and
- ii) passing the sample under pressure through at least a first membrane filter consisting of:
- a parylene substrate, a portion of said membrane filter having a first plurality of holes having a predetermined geometric design, wherein the array of holes is between 5,000 and 40,000 per square millimeter;
- a pressure generating device coupled to the filter for applying pressure to a sample to be filtered;
- and
- a housing surrounding said membrane filter wherein said portion is suspended free of the housing, thereby isolating the cell.
A method for detecting the presence of a harmful cell in a subject, comprising:
- i) obtaining a sample of a body fluid containing a harmful cell from the subject;
- ii) isolating the harmful cell by passing the sample under pressure through a membrane filter consisting of:
- a parylene substrate, a portion of said membrane filter having a plurality of holes of a predetermined geometric design, wherein the plurality of holes is between 5,000 and 40,000 per square millimeter;
- a pressure generating device coupled to the filter for applying pressure to the sample to be filtered;
- and
- a housing surrounding said membrane filter wherein said portion is suspended free of the housing, thereby isolating the cell;
- and detecting the isolated harmful cell.
A method for evaluating the therapeutic efficacy of a treatment for a condition caused by harmful cells, the method comprising:
- i) obtaining a sample of a body fluid containing a harmful cell from the subject before the treatment is given to the subject to provide a pretreatment sample;
- ii) obtaining a sample of a body fluid from a subject containing the harmful cells during or after the treatment is given to the subject to provide a treatment sample;
- and
- iii) isolating the harmful cells of the pretreatment and treatment sample by passing each sample under pressure through a membrane filter consisting of:
- a parylene substrate, a portion of said membrane filter having a plurality of holes of a predetermined geometric design, wherein the plurality of holes is between 5,000 and 40,000 per square millimeter;
- a pressure generating device coupled to the filter for applying pressure to the sample to be filtered;
- and
- a housing surrounding said membrane filter wherein said portion is suspended free of the housing,
- detecting and characterizing or counting the retained harmful cells in each sample;
- and
- comparing the characteristics or count of the harmful cells in the pretreatment sample to the isolated harmful cell in the sample obtained during or after the treatment to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment.
A method of isolating a particle in a fluid medium, said method comprising passing the medium under pressure through a membrane filter consisting of:
- a parylene membrane substrate, a portion of said membrane filter wherein the first plurality of holes of a predetermined geometric design, wherein the first plurality of holes is between 5,000 and 40,000 per square millimeter;
- a pressure generating device coupled to the filter for applying pressure to the sample to be filtered;
- and
- a housing surrounding said membrane filter wherein said portion is suspended free of the housing, thereby isolating the particle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.