Patent ID: 11857321
Assignee: MAGNOLIA MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  B | IPC A  B

Claim 0:
1. An apparatus for procuring bodily fluid samples with reduced contamination, the apparatus comprising:
a housing forming a sequestration chamber, the housing having an inlet configured to be fluidically coupled to a bodily fluid source and an outlet configured to be fluidically coupled to a fluid collection device;
an actuator coupled to the housing, the actuator having a first configuration in which the inlet is in fluid communication with the sequestration chamber, and a second configuration in which the inlet is in fluid communication with the outlet and fluidically isolated from the sequestration chamber; and
a flow controller disposed in the sequestration chamber, the flow controller separating a first portion of the sequestration chamber from a second portion of the sequestration chamber, the flow controller having a first state in which the first portion of the sequestration chamber has a first volume and a second state in which the first portion of the sequestration chamber has a second volume greater than the first volume,
the actuator in the first configuration allowing fluid communication between the inlet and the first portion of the sequestration chamber via a first fluid flow path and allowing fluid communication between the outlet and the second portion of the sequestration chamber via a second fluid flow path, the flow controller transitioning from the first state to the second state in response to the suction force being exerted through the second fluid flow path by the fluid collection device, the transitioning of the flow controller operable to draw an initial volume of bodily fluid into the first portion of the sequestration chamber,
the actuator configured to be transitioned to the second configuration after the initial volume of bodily fluid is drawn into the sequestration chamber to (1) sequester the sequestration chamber from the inlet, and (2) fluidically couple a portion of the first fluid flow path to a portion of the second fluid flow path to allow a subsequent volume of bodily fluid to flow from the inlet to the outlet in response to the suction force.