Separation of the cellular components of whole blood, or other biological fluid, from plasma or serum can be achieved for assay analysis. A device for facilitating separation can include, for example, a capillary tube that accurately draws target blood volume, a pad that chemically interacts with red-blood cells, such that the red blood cells become chemically and/or physically trapped within pad material, a mechanism for plasma recovery from the pad upon diffusion or active mixing, and a dropper tip that facilitates dispensing the mixture onto a test device. The treatment of the cellular components can be performed prior to contact with a buffer solution, so release of the cellular components into the buffer solution is reduced or prevented. Additional filtration can be provided to filter any remaining cellular components in the mixture.

A device and/or methodology are described that include a mechanism for separating erythrocytes from other constituents of blood and for purifying leukocytes from blood. The separation and purification aspects may be provided in separate components or within the same component. The separation aspect assists in separating erythrocytes (red blood cells) from other cells in blood, such as by aggregation of the red blood cells. A suitable aggregation device or device component uses chambers with at least one small dimension (e.g., a microfluidic chip) to control the interaction of the blood with a solution containing a high molecular weight polymer (e.g., dextran) to achieve separation.

The present disclosure provides processes for the separation of nucleated cells from non-nucleated red blood cells, populations of cells obtainable by the processes of the disclosure, and devices and kits useful in the processes of the disclosure.

Separation of the cellular components of whole blood, or other biological fluid, from plasma or serum can be achieved for assay analysis. A device for facilitating separation can include, for example, a capillary tube that accurately draws target blood volume, a pad that chemically interacts with red-blood cells, such that the red blood cells become chemically and/or physically trapped within pad material, a mechanism for plasma recovery from the pad upon diffusion or active mixing, and a dropper tip that facilitates dispensing the mixture onto a test device. The treatment of the cellular components can be performed prior to contact with a buffer solution, so release of the cellular components into the buffer solution is reduced or prevented. Additional filtration can be provided to filter any remaining cellular components in the mixture.

A method treats human plasma obtained from any donor and renders the plasma, or serum derived therefrom, compatible with any recipient regardless of the recipient's blood group. Broadly, the method mixes type-AB red blood cells with blood plasma containing antibodies which are anti-A antibodies, anti-B antibodies or both so as to form a blood-plasma mixture, which can be separated to obtain a refined plasma which is lower in antibodies than the initial blood plasma.

A method is provided for removing red blood cells from a suspension comprising red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma using a spinning membrane separator. The method comprises: a) flowing whole blood into the gap of the spinning membrane separator; b) collecting red blood cells and white blood cells in the gap and passing plasma and platelets through the membrane; c) introducing a first quantity of lysing buffer into the gap; d) incubating the red blood cells, white blood cells and lysing buffer in the gap for a period of time to cause a lysis reaction with the red blood cells; e) introducing a second quantity of lysing buffer into the gap to displace the first quantity of lysing buffer and a first quantity of red blood cell debris out of the gap; f) introducing a first quantity of wash buffer into the gap to quench the lysis reaction and displace the second quantity of lysing buffer and a second quantity of red blood cell debris out of the gap; and g) introducing a second quantity of wash buffer into the gap to flow washed white blood cells out of the housing.

This disclosure provides IR700-molecule conjugates and methods of their use to remove (e.g., separate or isolate) a target from a sample in vivo or from a subject in vitro. It is shown herein that exposure of IR700 to near infrared (NIR) light removes a portion of IR700, changing it from a hydrophilic molecule, to one that is hydrophobic, resulting in aggregation of IR700 and anything bound to it. For example, the disclosed IR700-molecule conjugates and methods provide photo-controlled ways to control the pharmacokinetics of a drug in vivo, and can be used to remove undesired agents from environmental or food samples or to isolate target molecules in a laboratory.

The disclosure relates to a sample image capturing system, including: a sample holding apparatus configured to hold a sample slide on which a sample film is applied; an imaging apparatus configured to capture the sample on the sample slide; a sample appearance image obtaining apparatus configured to obtain a sample appearance image, where the sample appearance image includes at least an appearance image of the sample film; and a controller configured to: obtain the sample appearance image, identify an appearance characteristic of the sample film based on the sample appearance image, determine a capturing parameter based on the appearance characteristic, and control the imaging apparatus to capture, with the capturing parameter, sample components on the sample slide. The disclosure further relates to a sample image capturing method and a computer-readable storage medium. The disclosure can use a characteristic of the appearance image to achieve accurate capturing of sample images.

A method is provided, which comprises providing a dried body fluid card sample, extracting body fluid from said dried body fluid card sample, and detecting gene products associated with extracellular vesicles. An application of the method is also applied for diagnosing and/or prognosing a clinical condition, where gene products associated with a population of extracellular vesicles and gene products associated with the clinical condition are detected.

A device and/or methodology are described that include a mechanism for separating erythrocytes from other constituents of blood and for purifying leukocytes from blood. The separation and purification aspects may be provided in separate components or within the same component. The separation aspect assists in separating erythrocytes (red blood cells) from other cells in blood, such as by aggregation of the red blood cells. A suitable aggregation device or device component uses chambers with at least one small dimension (e.g., a microfluidic chip) to control the interaction of the blood with a solution containing a high molecular weight polymer (e.g., dextran) to achieve separation.