Liquid component separation device, method and equipment

Abstract

The invention provides a liquid component separation device, method and equipment, and the device comprises a first cavity which is provided with a first accommodation space; the second cavity is provided with a second containing space, and the second containing space communicates with the first containing space through a first pipeline; the third cavity is provided with a third containing space, and the third containing space communicates with the first containing space through a second pipeline; and the first opening is formed in the first cavity, the second cavity is located on one side of the first cavity in the first direction, and the third cavity is located on the other side of the first cavity in the first direction. The liquid component separation device is small in size, low in cost, good in separation effect and capable of ensuring that the volume of taken-out liquid is fixed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of liquid component separation, and in particular to a liquid component separation device, method and equipment. Background Art

[0002] The concentration of proteins and metabolites in the blood is often an important indicator for disease diagnosis and treatment, and the detection of specific targets in the blood is also a common means of physical examination of patients. Point of Care Testing (POCT) that uses a small amount of blood to measure targets can reduce patient pain and make testing more convenient.

[0003] Since blood cells in the blood seriously interfere with the determination of most proteins and metabolites, separating plasma from blood cells after obtaining blood samples is an important step in blood testing. In in-hospital clinical treatment, several milliliters of venous blood can be obtained, and professional instruments can effectively separate plasma by centrifugation. However, in the POCT system, blood samples often have only one drop or less, making separation very difficult. At the same time, system automation often requires expensive equipment such as automatic pipettes, which increases the cost of the instrument. Therefore, for POCT instruments, especially home POCT instruments, separating quantitative plasma from trace amounts of blood is a major technical difficulty.

[0004] It should be noted that the above introduction to the technical background is only for the convenience of providing a clear and complete description of the technical solutions of the present application and for the convenience of understanding by those skilled in the art. It cannot be considered that the above technical solutions are well known to those skilled in the art simply because they are described in the background technology section of the present application. Summary of the invention

[0005] The inventors of the present application have found that there are many methods for separating trace plasma in the literature, but each has certain shortcomings. For example, blood filter membranes can quickly filter plasma, but blood filter membranes are relatively expensive and it is difficult to quantitatively process the obtained plasma; microfluidic systems can remove blood cells, but they require a large amount of plasma and a relatively large volume; sedimentation methods take a long time and require a long flow channel, which increases the size of the instrument; electric fields can separate plasma in a small volume, but there are often residual blood cells, making it difficult to ensure the purity of the separation.

[0006] In order to solve at least one of the above problems or similar problems, the embodiments of the present application provide a liquid component separation device, method and apparatus. The liquid component separation device has a small volume, low cost, good separation effect, and can ensure that the volume of liquid removed is fixed.

[0007] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a liquid component separation device is provided, the liquid component separation device comprising:

[0008] A first cavity having a first accommodating space;

[0009] A second cavity having a second accommodating space, wherein the second accommodating space is connected to the first accommodating space through a first pipeline;

[0010] A third cavity having a third accommodating space, wherein the third accommodating space is connected to the first accommodating space through a second pipeline; and

[0011] a first opening, which is disposed in the first cavity,

[0012] The second cavity is located on one side of the first cavity in the first direction, and the third cavity is located on the other side of the first cavity in the first direction.

[0013] According to another aspect of the embodiment of the present application, the liquid component separation device further comprises:

[0014] A second opening is disposed in the first cavity, and the first opening and the second opening are located at different positions; and / or

[0015] A third opening is provided in the second cavity; and / or

[0016] A fourth opening is disposed in the third cavity.

[0017] According to another aspect of the embodiment of the present application, the first pipeline and the second pipeline are microchannels.

[0018] According to another aspect of the embodiment of the present application, a valve is provided in the first pipeline and / or the second pipeline.

[0019] According to another aspect of the embodiment of the present application, at least one of the first cavity, the second cavity, and the third cavity is tubular and extends along the first direction.

[0020] According to another aspect of the embodiment of the present application, an internal structure is disposed inside at least one of the first cavity, the second cavity and the third cavity.

[0021] According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a liquid component separation device is provided, which includes a liquid component separation device as described in the aforementioned embodiments, and a rotating device, which drives the liquid component separation device to rotate around a rotation axis, wherein the rotation axis is farther away from the first cavity than the second cavity in the first direction, or the rotation axis is farther away from the first cavity than the third cavity in the first direction.

[0022] According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a method for separating liquid components is provided, the method comprising:

[0023] injecting the liquid to be separated into the liquid component separation device as described in the above embodiment; and

[0024] The liquid component separation device is driven to rotate around a rotation axis using a rotation device, wherein the rotation axis is farther from the first cavity than the second cavity in the first direction, or the rotation axis is farther from the first cavity than the third cavity in the first direction.

[0025] According to another aspect of the embodiment of the present application, the method further includes:

[0026] The liquid after component separation is extracted from the first cavity of the liquid component separation device.

[0027] The beneficial effects of the present application are that the liquid component separation device is small in size, low in cost, has a good separation effect, and can ensure that the volume of the liquid taken out is fixed.

[0028] With reference to the following description and accompanying drawings, the specific embodiments of the present application are disclosed in detail, indicating the way in which the principles of the present application can be adopted. It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application are not limited in scope. Within the scope of the spirit and clauses of the appended claims, the embodiments of the present application include many changes, modifications and equivalents.

[0029] Features described and / or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same or similar manner in one or more other embodiments, combined with features in other embodiments, or substituted for features in other embodiments.

[0030] It should be emphasized that the term “include / comprises” when used herein refers to the presence of features, integers, steps or components, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps or components. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] The included drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the present application, which constitute a part of the specification, are used to illustrate the implementation methods of the present application, and together with the text description, explain the principles of the present application. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work. In the drawings:

[0032] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the liquid component separation device of this embodiment;

[0033] Figure 2 is used Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a liquid component separation device 100 for performing liquid component separation is shown;

[0034] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the relative positional relationship between the liquid component separation device 100 and the rotating shaft;

[0035] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of a modified example of the liquid component separation device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] With reference to the accompanying drawings, the above and other features of the present application will become apparent through the following description. In the description and the accompanying drawings, specific embodiments of the present application are specifically disclosed, which show some embodiments in which the principles of the present application can be adopted. It should be understood that the present application is not limited to the described embodiments. On the contrary, the present application includes all modifications, variations and equivalents falling within the scope of the attached claims.

[0037] In the description of each embodiment of the present application, for the convenience of description, the direction parallel to the surface of the substrate is called "lateral", and the direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate is called "longitudinal", wherein the "thickness" of each component refers to the size of the component in the "longitudinal" direction.

[0038] Example 1

[0039] The embodiment of the present application provides a liquid component separation device. The liquid component separation device can be used to separate plasma from blood cells in blood; in addition, the liquid component separation device can also be used in other scenarios of separating suspended components from liquid.

[0040] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the liquid component separation device of this embodiment. Figure 1 As shown, the liquid component separation device 100 includes a first cavity 1 , a second cavity 2 , a third cavity 3 and a first opening 11 .

[0041] like Figure 1As shown, the first cavity 1 has a first accommodating space 10; the second cavity 2 has a second accommodating space 20, and the second accommodating space 20 is connected to the first accommodating space 10 through a first pipeline 4; the third cavity 3 has a third accommodating space 30, and the third accommodating space 30 is connected to the first accommodating space 10 through a second pipeline 5; the first opening 11 is set in the first cavity 1, for liquid to enter the first cavity 1 or liquid to be discharged from the first cavity 1.

[0042] like Figure 1 As shown, the second cavity 2 is located on one side of the first cavity 1 in the first direction D1 (for example, Figure 1 The third cavity 3 is located on the other side of the first cavity 1 in the first direction D1 (for example, Figure 1 The second cavity 2 is connected to the first cavity 1, and the third cavity 3 is connected to the first cavity 1.

[0043] In at least one embodiment, Figure 1 As shown, the liquid component separation device 100 may further include: at least one of a second opening 12 , a third opening 21 and a fourth opening 31 .

[0044] The second opening 12 is disposed in the first cavity 1, and the first opening 11 and the second opening 12 are disposed in different positions of the first cavity 1. For example, the first opening 11 is located at the upper side of the first cavity 1, and the second opening 12 is located at the lower side of the first cavity 1. In addition, the present application is not limited thereto, for example, the first opening 11 and the second opening 12 may both be located at the upper side or the lower side of the first cavity 1, one of which is located at the left side, and the other is located at the right side, etc.

[0045] like Figure 1 As shown, the third opening 21 is disposed in the second cavity 2. The fourth opening 31 is disposed in the third cavity 3. Thus, liquid can enter and exit the corresponding cavity of the liquid component separation device 100 through more openings, thereby improving the convenience of the liquid component separation device 100 when in use.

[0046] In at least one embodiment, the first pipeline 4 and the second pipeline 5 may be microchannels. For example, the diameter of the microchannel is 1 micrometer to 10 millimeters.

[0047] Figure 2 is used Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a liquid component separation device 100 for separating liquid components. Figure 2 , the method for separating the liquid components comprises:

[0048] Operation 201, injecting the liquid to be separated into the liquid component separation device 100; and

[0049] Operation 202: Use a rotating device to drive the liquid component separation device 100 to rotate around a rotation axis.

[0050] In operation 201, the liquid to be separated can be injected into the liquid component separation device 100 through at least one of the first opening 11, the second opening 12, the third opening 21 and the fourth opening 31, so that the liquid basically fills the first storage space 10, the second storage space 20 and the third storage space 30.

[0051] For example, the first opening 11 and the second opening 12 may be closed, the third opening 21 and the fourth opening 31 may be kept open, and the liquid to be separated may be injected into the liquid component separation device 100 from the third opening 21 and / or the fourth opening 31. In this way, the bubbles entering the liquid component separation device 100 may be reduced. In addition, during the process of injecting the liquid, if a small amount of bubbles enter the liquid component separation device 100, it will not affect the effect of component separation.

[0052] In operation 201, the liquid to be separated may be blood or diluted blood.

[0053] After operation 201 is completed, all openings may be closed, for example, the first opening 11 , the second opening 12 , the third opening 21 , and the fourth opening 31 may be closed.

[0054] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the relative position relationship between the liquid component separation device 100 and the rotating shaft. Figure 3 As shown, in operation 202 , the rotation axis 200 may be disposed at a position farther from the first cavity 1 than the second cavity 2 in the first direction D1 , or the rotation axis 200 may be disposed at a position farther from the first cavity 1 than the third cavity 3 in the first direction D1 .

[0055] Thus, in operation 202, after the liquid component separation device 100 rotates around the rotating shaft 200 for a predetermined time, the components in the liquid are separated under the action of centrifugal force. For example, when the liquid to be separated is blood or diluted blood, after operation 202, the blood cells in the blood are concentrated in the third cavity 3 which is farther away from the rotating shaft 200 than the first cavity 1, and the separated plasma is located in the first cavity 1; in addition, if there are bubbles in the liquid to be separated, the bubbles will be concentrated in the second cavity 2 which is closer to the rotating shaft 200 than the first cavity 1, and other components with lower density will also be concentrated in the second cavity 2. In this way, after operation 202, the first cavity 1 is filled with separated plasma.

[0056] like Figure 2 As shown, the method may also include:

[0057] Operation 203 : extracting the liquid after component separation from the first cavity of the liquid component separation device.

[0058] In operation 203, the first opening 11 and the second opening 12 may be opened, the third opening 21 and the fourth opening 31 may be closed, and the liquid in the first cavity 1 may be squeezed out by suction or gas injection. Since the connecting pipelines (e.g., the first pipeline 4 and the second pipeline 5) between the first cavity 1 and the second cavity 2 and the third cavity 3 are small, it is difficult for the gas to enter the first pipeline 4 and the second pipeline 5 due to surface tension, and therefore, the components in the second cavity 2 and the third cavity 3 will not flow out. Therefore, only the liquid (e.g., plasma) after the components in the first cavity 1 are separated is taken out.

[0059] Since the size of the first chamber 1 is fixed, the amount of the separated liquid (e.g., plasma) taken out from the first chamber 1 is also fixed, regardless of the percentage of blood cells or injection errors, because the excess blood cells and bubbles are discharged to the second chamber 2 and the third chamber 3. Therefore,

[0060] The liquid component separation device 100 of the present application can provide high-efficiency, high-accuracy, and automated separation of micro-plasma. In this embodiment, the use of centrifugation can effectively ensure the separation of blood cells; in addition, the three-chamber design ensures the accuracy of the actual sampling amount and eliminates bubbles and operating errors. Since an automatic pipetting system is not required, this design can be directly combined with other parts of the liquid circuit and achieve automation requirements at a very low cost.

[0061] The liquid component separation device 100 of the present application is not limited to separating plasma, but can be applied to other similar liquids that require the use of external forces (eg, centrifugal force) to separate certain components and take out a fixed volume of clear liquid.

[0062] In the liquid component separation device 100 of the present application, the size, shape, opening position, material, etc. of each cavity (e.g., the first cavity 1, the second cavity 2, and the third cavity 3, etc.) can be changed according to actual needs. For example, the material can be rubber, resin, etc.; for another example, at least one of the first cavity 1, the second cavity 2, and the third cavity 3 is a tube extending along the first direction D1. In addition, the length, material, thickness, whether there is a valve, etc. of the connecting pipe between the cavities can be adjusted.

[0063] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of a modified example of the liquid component separation device.

[0064] like Figure 4 As shown in A, the position of the first opening 11 is relative to Figure 1 The shapes of the first cavity 1, the second cavity 2 and the third cavity 3 are different from Figure 1 There are changes;

[0065] like Figure 4 As shown in B, the shape and length of the first pipeline 4 and / or the second pipeline 5 are changed. In addition, a valve 6 may be provided in the first pipeline 4 and / or the second pipeline 5;

[0066] like Figure 4 As shown in C, the shapes of the first cavity 1, the second cavity 2 and the third cavity 3 are relative to Figure 1 There are changes. In addition, at least one of the first cavity 1, the second cavity 2 and the third cavity 3 is provided with an internal structure 71, 72. For example, the internal structure 71 can be used as a supporting structure to ensure the mechanical stability of the cavity. Specifically, the internal structure 71 can be a cylinder or other structure; the internal structure 72 can be used to divert liquid to reduce blockage. Specifically, the internal structure 72 can be a rectangular or cube structure; in addition, the internal structure can also have other designs, for example, coating the internal structure with chemicals, or guiding the fluid through the shape of the internal structure to mix the fluid, or using the internal structure to divide the cavity into multiple parts.

[0067] like Figure 4 As shown in D, the shapes of the first cavity 1, the second cavity 2 and the third cavity 3 are relative to Figure 1 There are changes, in addition, the positions of the first opening 11 and the second opening 12 are changed;

[0068] like Figure 4 As shown in E, the shapes of the first cavity 1, the second cavity 2 and the third cavity 3 are relative to Figure 1 There are changes, in addition, the positions of the first opening 11 and the second opening 12 are changed, and the first pipeline 4 and / or the second pipeline 5 are changed;

[0069] Figure 4 The structure shown in E can be further changed to make all the cavities and connecting pipes thinner, thereby forming a Figure 4 The shape shown in F, that is, the liquid component separation device 100 as a whole is close to the shape of a capillary.

[0070] Embodiments of the second aspect

[0071] The second embodiment provides a liquid component separation device, which includes the liquid component separation device 100 described in the first embodiment, and a rotating device, which drives the liquid component separation device 100 to rotate around a rotating axis 200 .

[0072] For the description of the liquid component separation device 100 and the rotating shaft 200 , reference may be made to the embodiment of the first aspect, and the relevant descriptions are incorporated herein and will not be repeated.

[0073] The present application is described above in conjunction with specific implementation methods, but it should be clear to those skilled in the art that these descriptions are exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. Those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to the present application based on the spirit and principles of the present application, and these modifications and variations are also within the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A liquid component separation device, characterized in that: The liquid component separation device comprises: A first cavity having a first accommodating space; A second cavity having a second accommodating space, wherein the second accommodating space is connected to the first accommodating space through a first pipeline; A third cavity having a third accommodating space, wherein the third accommodating space is connected to the first accommodating space through a second pipeline; and a first opening, which is disposed in the first cavity, The second cavity is located on one side of the first cavity in the first direction, and the third cavity is located on the other side of the first cavity in the first direction.

2. The liquid component separation device according to claim 1, characterized in that The liquid component separation device also includes: A second opening is disposed in the first cavity, and the first opening and the second opening are located at different positions; and / or A third opening is provided in the second cavity; and / or A fourth opening is disposed in the third cavity.

3. The liquid component separation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first pipeline and the second pipeline are microchannels.

4. The liquid component separation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A valve is arranged in the first pipeline and / or the second pipeline.

5. The liquid component separation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: At least one of the first cavity, the second cavity, and the third cavity is in a tubular shape extending along the first direction.

6. The liquid component separation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: An internal structure is disposed inside at least one of the first cavity, the second cavity, and the third cavity.

7. A liquid component separation device, characterized in that: The liquid component separation device comprises a liquid component separation device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, and a rotating device, wherein the rotating device drives the liquid component separation device to rotate around a rotation axis. The rotation axis is further away from the first cavity than the second cavity in the first direction, or the rotation axis is further away from the first cavity than the third cavity in the first direction.

8. A method for separating liquid components, characterized in that: The method comprises: injecting the liquid to be separated into the liquid component separation device according to any one of claims 1 to 6; and The liquid component separation device is driven to rotate around a rotation axis by a rotating device, The rotation axis is further away from the first cavity than the second cavity in the first direction, or the rotation axis is further away from the first cavity than the third cavity in the first direction.

9. The liquid component separation method according to claim 8, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The liquid after component separation is extracted from the first cavity of the liquid component separation device.

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