Patent ID: 6468807
Filing Date: 2002-10-22
Classification: B01F,B01L,G01N,Y10S

Abstract:
A method for essentially simultaneous sampling and quantitative determination of a component in a liquid sample, comprising the steps of:inserting the liquid sample containing the component to be determined into a disposable device, which contains at least a dry reagent for determining the component and into which the sample is drawable under the action of capillary force through an inlet in a capillary cavity, wherein the capillary cavity is defined by two essentially plane-parallel walls, said inlet connecting the cavity with a surrounding medium outside the disposable device, forming a thin liquid layer in the capillary cavity, said layer being formed between the plane-parallel walls which define the capillary cavity, subjecting the disposable device to a motion essentially in the plane of the thin liquid layer to accelerate dissolution of the reagent and mixing in the thin liquid layer of the dry reagent and the liquid sample, and balancing the motion against the capillary force exerted by the walls on the liquid sample such that the liquid sample does not flow out of the disposable device, forming an interface between the thin liquid layer and the surrounding medium so that it functions as an elastic membrane, and subjecting a resulting mixture of the reagent and liquid sample to a measurement so as to determine the component in the liquid sample.