Biological Material Ingredient Analysis via Solvent Extraction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for analyzing biological materials, such as blood and food products, require laborious and time-consuming sample preparation steps like centrifugation and filtration to remove cellular components, which can lead to rapid blockage of capillaries and limit the sample volume, making them unsuitable for miniaturized analysis techniques like lab-on-a-chip systems.
Innovation Solution
A method that treats biological materials with organic solvents to extract ingredients, converting them into a consolidated form with a sediment and supernatant phase, allowing for the extraction and analysis of lipids and vitamins without the need for centrifugation or filtration, using solvent mixtures and surfactants to enhance extraction efficiency and prevent hemolysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If centrifugation or filtration is used to remove cellular components, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and loss of time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts cellular components from blood samples through direct centrifugation of the whole blood sample, separating them into a pellet and supernatant phase. This extraction approach eliminates the need for complex filtration systems while achieving effective removal of interfering cellular materials for accurate ingredient analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The centrifugation step serves multiple functions simultaneously: it removes cellular components, separates ingredients into extractable phases, and prepares the sample for subsequent extraction and analysis. This multi-functional approach simplifies the overall device complexity by consolidating multiple preparation steps into a single operation.
2Measurement precision
If filtration is used to remove cellular components, then measurement precision is improved, but productivity decreases due to rapid blockage of capillaries
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical filtration system with a centrifugal separation system. Instead of forcing samples through filters that block rapidly, centrifugal force separates cellular components based on density, achieving effective removal without capillary blockage and maintaining high productivity.
3Measurement precision
If centrifugation or filtration is used, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the removal of cellular components and the extraction of ingredients into a single integrated centrifugation and extraction process. By combining these steps, the method achieves effective sample preparation with minimal time loss while maintaining the precision needed for accurate ingredient analysis.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method simplifies the analysis by eliminating the need for elaborate sample preparation, allowing for the direct extraction and measurement of lipophilic ingredients in biological materials, reducing analysis time and preventing hemolysis, and is suitable for miniaturized high-throughput methods like lab-on-a-chip systems.
Implementation Method 1
the biological materials are treated with at least one organic solvent which extracts the ingredients
Implementation Method 2
the biological materials are converted in the extraction into a consolidated form so that a consolidated sediment and a supernatant of liquid organic phase are formed
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for analysing ingredients, in particular lipids and/or vitamins and biological material ingredients, to methods of using relevant organic solvents or organic solvent mixtures, and to a spectrophotometer for measuring biological material ingredients. It is proposed to treat the biological materials with at least one organic solvent which extracts the ingredients, to convert the bi ological materials to a solidified form during the extraction, with the result that a solidified sediment and a liquid organic phase as the supernatant are formed, and to examine the extracted ingredients in the supernatant.