Multichambered container and instrument for performing diagnostic tests
First Claim
1. A multichambered container adapted to be rotated about a longitudinal axis through said container for determining the concentration of plasma constituents, comprising:
- a plurality of chambers integrally formed in said container, each of said chambers defined by a plurality of walls, each of said chambers being non-communicable with each other and said chambers being accessible by a pipetter;
a means for separating plasma from a whole blood sample positioned in a first chamber;
a reagent positioned in a second chamber for reacting with a constituent of said plasma separated from said whole blood sample; and
windows positioned in a chamber in said multichambered container for allowing optical monitoring of a reaction occurring in said chamber, whereby rotation about said longitudinal axis through said container causes separation of said plasma from said whole blood sample with said means for separating.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An instrument (50) automatically determines the concentrations of HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol and triglycerides for a sample (80) of whole, anticoagulated blood placed in a doughnut shaped container (10). The sample (80) is first separated into its blood cell and plasma (84) constituents using high speed centrifugation (54) and a thixotropic gel (82). Part of the plasma (84) is then deposited in an HDL separation chamber (14) where LDL cholesterol and VLDL cholesterol are precipitated by a reagent and the precipitant is sedimented by high speed centrifugation (54) against V-shaped grooves (40) in the outermost wall (38) of the HDL separation chamber (14). Part of the plasma (84) is diluted ten-fold. The supernatant in the HDL separation chamber is then placed in a cuvette reaction chamber (b 18) where it reacts with a cholesterol reagent. The diluted plasma is placed in two other cuvette reaction chambers (18) where it reacts with chloesterol and triglycerides reagents, respectively. Calibration reagents, stored in storage chambers (20), react in two other cuvette reaction chambers (18) to establish a reference absorbance. A pipettor (58) handles all the fluid transfers in the doughnut shaped container (10) and operates in conjunction with a slow speed motor (56) that precisely moves the spindle (52) on which the doughnut shaped container (10) is mounted. A colorimetric measuring system (70, 72, and 74) monitors the absorbance of chemical reactions occurring in the cuvette chambers (18).
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Citations
47 Claims
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1. A multichambered container adapted to be rotated about a longitudinal axis through said container for determining the concentration of plasma constituents, comprising:
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a plurality of chambers integrally formed in said container, each of said chambers defined by a plurality of walls, each of said chambers being non-communicable with each other and said chambers being accessible by a pipetter; a means for separating plasma from a whole blood sample positioned in a first chamber; a reagent positioned in a second chamber for reacting with a constituent of said plasma separated from said whole blood sample; and windows positioned in a chamber in said multichambered container for allowing optical monitoring of a reaction occurring in said chamber, whereby rotation about said longitudinal axis through said container causes separation of said plasma from said whole blood sample with said means for separating. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A multichambered container adapted to be rotated about a longitudinal axis through said container for determining the concentration of plasma constituents, comprising:
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a plurality of chambers integrally formed in said container, each of said chambers defined by a plurality of walls, each of said chambers being non-communicable with each other and said chambers being accessible by a pipetter; a thixotropic gel positioned in a first chamber for separating plasma from a whole blood sample; a first reagent positioned in a second chamber for reacting with a first constituent of said plasma separated from said whole blood sample; and windows positioned in a chamber in said multichambered container for allowing optical monitoring of a reaction occurring in said chamber, whereby rotation about said longitudinal axis through said container causes separation of said plasma from said whole blood sample with said thixotropic gel. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39)
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37. An instrument for performing diagnostic tests on a patient'"'"'s whole blood sample, comprising:
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a multichambered container positioned on a spindle comprising a plurality of chambers integrally formed in said container, each of said chambers defined by a plurality of walls, each of said chambers being noncommunicable with each other and said chambers being accessible by a pipetter, a thixotropic gel positioned in a first chamber for separating plasma from a whole blood sample, and a reagent positioned in a second chamber for reacting with a constitutent of said plasma separated from said whole blood sample, and windows positioned in a chamber in said multichambered container for allowing optical monitoring of a reaction occurring in said chamber; a means for rotating said spindle at both high and low speeds; a pipettor having a needle translatable into and out of at least one of said chambers of said multichambered container, said pipettor capable of retrieving fluid from one of said chambers and dispensing said fluid into another of said chambers; a monitoring system positioned to monitor said chemical reaction in said second chamber; and a means for determining a concentration value for said constituent of said plasma separated from said whole blood sample from data output from said monitoring system. - View Dependent Claims (38, 40, 41)
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42. A multichambered container adapted to be rotated about a longitudinal axis through said container for determining the concentration of plasma constituents, comprising:
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a plurality of chambers integrally formed in said container, each of said chambers defined by a plurality of walls, each of said chambers being non-communicable with each other and said chambers being accessible by a pipetter; a separation chamber including a means for separating a first constituent from a biological fluid by centrifugation; a reagent positioned in a reagent chamber for reacting with a second constituent in said biological fluid; and windows positioned in a chamber in said multichambered container for allowing optical monitoring of a reaction occurring in said chamber, whereby rotation about said longitudinal axis through said container causes separation of said first constituent from said biological fluid. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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Specification