초록 ▼

A method and apparatus for separating serum from other blood components in a centrifuge tube. The separator comprises a cylindrical, laterally-expandable filter element composed of a multiplicity of generally longitudinally-oriented fibers, 10 to 40 millimicrons in diameter, formed of a biologically

A method and apparatus for separating serum from other blood components in a centrifuge tube. The separator comprises a cylindrical, laterally-expandable filter element composed of a multiplicity of generally longitudinally-oriented fibers, 10 to 40 millimicrons in diameter, formed of a biologically inert polymeric material having a specific gravity within the range of about 1.10 to 1.50 and bonded to adjacent fibers only at spaced-apart junctures. The filter element has a diameter within the range of 9 to 15 millimeters, a length from 75 to 125 percent of its diameter, and a bulk density of about 0.20 to 0.60 grams per cubic centimeter. During centrifugation, the filter advances downwardly from the mouth of the centrifuge tube, swelling laterally as serum flows through the fine passageways running generally lengthwise of the filter, and causing the descending filter to wipe against the walls of the tube, pushing loose cells and fibrin ahead of it, and finally compacting and restraining the fibrin-cell clot at the bottom of the tube to permit subsequent decantation of the filtered serum. In one embodiment, the filter is introduced into the tube by means of a stretchable cap which serves as a carrier for the filter prior to insertion and as a protective cover for the tube thereafter.

대표청구항 ▼

A method of treating a coagulated sample of blood in an open-topped centrifuge tube to separate clear serum from the clot of fibrin and cellular components, comprising the steps of inserting a laterally-expandable, porous, cylindrical filter element into the open top of said tube and then centrifugi

A method of treating a coagulated sample of blood in an open-topped centrifuge tube to separate clear serum from the clot of fibrin and cellular components, comprising the steps of inserting a laterally-expandable, porous, cylindrical filter element into the open top of said tube and then centrifuging said tube and its contents to cause said element to descend towards the bottom of said tube behind said clot while allowing serum to flow upwardly into and through said element; said element being formed of a multiplicity of fibers randomly oriented primarily in a longitudinal direction and bonded together only at spaced-apart junctures; said fibers being composed of an inert polymeric material having a specific gravity greater than any of the constituents of said blood sample; said polymeric material of said fibers being cellulose acetate and said fibers being bonded together at said spaced-apart junctures by glycerol triacetate; and continuing said centrifugation until said filter element engages and compresses said clot within the lower portion of said tube.