Sonic treatment to selectively reduce the void volume of sintered polymers

Inactive Publication Date: 2006-07-18
LIFESCAN IP HLDG LLC
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0016]The present invention further provides a method for receiving a liquid sample using the article described above. Under this method, when a liquid sample is applied, the sample is received by the sonically treated polymer 1, migrating preferentially through the second portion 1b to reach the reaction layer, rather than spreading laterally to the first portion 1a, where it can be retained. As result of this method, less sample is retained in the void volume of the sintered polymer 1, thereby reducing the volume of liquid sample required to use the article.

Problems solved by technology

Failure to monitor glucose levels can result in high glucose levels, leading to cardiovascular disease and degeneration of the kidneys, retinas and nervous system.
If insufficient sample is applied, the reaction may fail or react incompletely, yielding a misleading measurement.
Even when sufficient sample is applied to the strip, it may not absorb the sample at once, leaving a pool of liquid to rest until eventually absorbed.
Until the sample is completely absorbed, it risks being spilled or scattered by inattentive handling of the device, which can also result in a misleading measurement.
Unfortunately, a larger volume of sample is needed when using such a receiving layer.
Unless larger volumes of sample are applied the receiving layer, the test strip may not receive sufficient sample to yield an accurate measurement.
Applying larger samples of body fluids is practicable when the sample is easy to obtain, for example with urine or saliva, but it can be problematic when obtaining the sample is difficult or painful.
Obtaining sufficient blood for testing can therefore be difficult when patients have poor circulation and can be especially traumatic with young patients.
Thus, the need to obtain larger samples of blood can deter patients from regularly using test strip devices, leading to ineffective compliance with their disease-management regimens.

Method used

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  • Sonic treatment to selectively reduce the void volume of sintered polymers
  • Sonic treatment to selectively reduce the void volume of sintered polymers
  • Sonic treatment to selectively reduce the void volume of sintered polymers

Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

example i

Sonic Treatment of a Sintered Polymer

[0061]The following example shows that sonic treatment disrupts the structure of a sintered polymer. The photograph in FIG. 1 shows a microscopic cross-section at 40× magnification of POREX XM-1342 sintered high density polyethylene (HDPE) (Porex Technologies; Fairburn, Ga.). The HDPE was supplied in sheets 0.0635 cm thick.

[0062]A portion of the HDPE was then sonically treated as follows. A Dukane Ultrasonics welding press (St. Charles, Ill.) was used, having a 6.75″×0.625″ (17.1 cm×1.6 cm) welding horn. The welding horn pressed against the HDPE at 88 psi. The welding press then directed 1200 Joules of sonic energy for 1 second at 20 kilohertz to the 6.75″×0.625″ area under the welding horn, resulting in sonic treatment of 559 J / cc.

[0063]The photograph in FIG. 1 shows a microscopic cross-section of a layer of sintered HDPE. The right side of the HDPE has been sonically treated, while the left side is not treated. As shown, the sonic treatment has...

example ii

Sonic Treatment of a Sintered Polymer in a Test Strip Device

[0074]This example describes the sonic treatment of sintered polymer incorporated into a test strip assembly. As disclosed below, sonic treatment of the test strip assembly reduces the void volume of the sintered polymer, and consequently the volume of liquid sample needed to be applied to the assembly.

[0075]This example describes a test strip assembly incorporating sintered HDPE. A solid polyester support 4 having a circular window 4b was used as a solid base for the assembly. A layer of FAS-TAPE 8311 double-coated acrylic-based adhesive 3 (Avery-Dennison, Inc.; Pasadena, Calif.) was applied to the support 4 around the area of the window 4a. A reaction layer 2 of BIODYNE A 0.65 μm pore size nylon membrane (Pall Corp.; East Hills, N.Y.) was then positioned on the support 4 over the window, but not completely covering the adhesive layer 3. The reaction layer was impregnated with a glucose oxidase / horseradish peroxidase syste...

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Abstract

The present invention provides a method of sonic treatment to selectively reduce the void volume of a sintered polymer such as porous high density polyethylene (HDPE). The invention also provides a method and an article of manufacture for receiving a liquid sample, where a first portion of the sintered polymer (1a) overlies a solid surface (4a) and a second portion of the polymer (1b) overlies a window (4b). Sonic treatment of the sintered polymer reduces the void volume of the first portion (1a) compared to the second portion (1b). As a result, a liquid sample applied to the polymer will preferentially migrate through the second portion (1b), rather than through the first portion (1a). When the article of manufacture is used to analyze a liquid sample such as blood, less sample is required because of the preferential migration in the sonically treated sintered polymer.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention generally relates to methods for altering the physical properties of materials and, more specifically, to methods for sonically treating sintered polymers to selectively reduce their void volume.[0003]2. Background Information[0004]Various assays are available to monitor medical conditions at home or in a clinical setting. Such assays often use chemically treated test strips that can react with specific analytes in the body fluids of patients. For example, blood glucose levels can be monitored using test strips that react with glucose in blood samples, causing a color change on the strips. By observing the degree of color change, patients under a diabetes-management regimen can monitor their glucose levels. If the levels are abnormally high, they can then take appropriate steps such as diet management or self-administration of insulin. Failure to monitor glucose levels can result in high glucose le...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): G01N33/48B01L3/00
CPCB01L3/5023B01L3/508B01L2200/12B01L2300/069B01L2300/0825B01L2300/0887B01L2400/0406
InventorNELSON, ERIC M.WHITE, TODD C.
OwnerLIFESCAN IP HLDG LLC