Patent ID: 11964280
Assignee: BELMONT DIAGNOSTICS
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B  A | IPC A  B

Claim 0:
1. A microfluidic device for obtaining a homogenous plasma-reagent mixture comprising:
a collection module for blood;
a first capillary channel having a first end in fluidic connection with said collection module;
a storage reservoir for a fluid in fluidic connection with said first capillary channel;
a mixing chamber in fluidic connection with a second end of the first capillary channel arranged to passively induce a homogenous mixture of fluids originating from said first capillary and having a flow outlet of said homogenous mixture;
a means for preventing any fluidic return to the collection module wherein:
the collection module comprises:
a semi-permeable membrane arranged to receive a quantity of blood and designed to separate the blood constituents, by gravity when said semi-permeable membrane is substantially horizontal, according to the sizes thereof and thus to trap said constituents other than the blood plasma;
a specific surface arranged between said semi-permeable membrane and the first end of the first capillary channel and having hydrophobic, hydrophilic and surface tension properties in order to extract the blood plasma from the semi-permeable membrane and cause said blood plasma to flow in said first capillary channel;

the first capillary channel has determined dimensions (L) between the fluidic connection of said storage reservoir (130) with the first capillary channel and said second end of said first capillary channel, in order to control the quantity of blood plasma when the first capillary channel is saturated with blood plasma;
the fluid contained in the storage reservoir is a reagent intended to be mixed with the blood plasma;
said storage reservoir is arranged to:
contain a volume of reagent greater than the sum of the fluid volumes that the first capillary channel and the mixing chamber can contain;
have an actuator designed to induce a forced flow of said reagent in the first capillary channel driving a flow of a homogenous plasma-reagent mixture through said flow outlet of the mixing chamber when said actuator is controlled after saturation of the first capillary channel with blood plasma.