Patent ID: 6330058
Filing Date: 2001-12-11
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
A method for determining a type of a blood sample comprising the steps of:collecting a reference optical density spectrum of a first subsample of a blood sample over a predetermined wavelength range generally in the ultraviolet-visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum;mixing a second subsample of the blood sample with an antibody corresponding to a known blood type;collecting an antibody-treated optical density spectrum of the antibody-blood sample mixture over the predetermined wavelength range; andcalculating a numerical indicator of agglutination by:calculating a first slope of the reference optical density spectrum and a second slope of the antibody-treated optical density spectrum over at least a portion of the predetermined wavelength range; anddividing the first slope by the second slope to yield a numerical indicator of agglutination;determine the blood type by comparing the numerical indicator of agglutination to a predetermined empirical value.