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US 8,556,844 B2Granted
Systems, methods, and devices for blood treatment
AssigneeThe Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
InventorEdward F. Leonard
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A blood treatment device provides a photopheresis treatment using a microfluidic separation channel to separate blood components into layers The layering caused by laminar flow in the microfluidic separation channel allows light to be projected through plasma onto leukocytes without hindrance by erythrocytes.
Claims18
A method of performing photopheresis, comprising:
- arranging leukocytes in blood from a living animal by creating a flow of the blood that generates a shear profile that causes leukocytes to be concentrated in a fraction of the flow;
- illuminating the leukocytes in the fraction of the flow;
- and
- returning the illuminated leukocytes to the living animal,
- wherein the creating a flow of blood includes flowing the blood in a separation channel having a cross-section in a plane perpendicular to a direction of the flow, and the cross-section has an aspect ratio greater than 10 and a minimum dimension less than 200 μm,
- wherein the illuminating includes using a therapeutic light source positioned so as to illuminate the concentrated leukocytes in the fraction of the flow in the separation channel without passing through a layer of erythrocytes in the separation channel.
3 more elements
A method of performing a photopheresis treatment on a patient, comprising:
- flowing whole blood from the patient through a channel such that a shear profile causes leukocytes in the whole blood to segregate from other blood components flowing in the channel, the leukocytes being arranged in the flow between the other blood components and a wall of the channel in a cross-flow direction;
- and
- at a same time as said flowing whole blood, illuminating with ultraviolet light through said wall of the channel the leukocytes in the flow while in the presence of the other blood components, the illuminating being sufficient to deliver a medically effective dose of ultraviolet light for said photopheresis treatment,
- wherein the flow in the channel is laminar,
- the channel has a minimum cross-flow dimension of less than 200 μm and a cross-section in a plane perpendicular to a direction of the flow, and
- said cross-section has an aspect ratio greater than 10.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.