GB1456035A - Apparatus and method for fluid collection and partitioning - Google Patents

Abstract

1456035 Centrifugal separation CORNING GLASS WORKS 11 Dec 1973 [11 Dec 1972] 57362/73 Heading B2P Fluid layers 38, 42, in a container 12, Fig. 5, are sealed apart by means of a semi-rigid seal member 48 made of a gel-like thixotropic material. Examples of the material are given. In treating whole blood by centrifugation a predetermined quantity 30, Fig. 1, of the material which has a specific gravity intermediate that of the blood cells and that of the plasma or serum is placed adjacent the closed end 14 of an open-ended tube 12, the open end 18 of which is then sealed by a stopper 20 to provide a closed chamber 26 which is evacuated. A blood sample is drawn by the vacuum into the chamber 26 through a needle, one end of which is injected through a patient's vein and the other end of which is pushed through the stopper 20. The tube is then placed in a centrifuge and under the influence of centrifugal force the plasma or serum 38 becomes separated from the blood cells 42. Due to its specific gravity the material 30 establishes itself as a seal member 48 at the interphase boundary. In a modification, Figs. 9 and 10 (not shown), gel-like thixotropic materials of different specific gravities are used to isolate the separated phases of a multi-phase fluid specimen. In the embodiment of Fig. 7, the seal material 64 coacts with a spool 52 of the kind described in Specification 1407267 to effect partitioning of two differing- density fluid phases 38. 42.