Patent ID: 7547526

Claim:
A method of rapid concentration and recovery of viable microorganisms from a sample, the method comprising: (a) providing a microorganism-containing sample, the sample comprising a liquid component having a first volume; (b) providing a hollow fiber filter comprising at least one hollow fiber strand, wherein the hollow fiber filter comprises fibers having a length between 1 cm and 25 cm; (c) reducing the first volume of the liquid component by applying the sample to the hollow fiber filter, wherein the volume is reduced by at least 1000 times; (d) back flushing the microorganisms from the hollow fiber filter to remove the microorganisms from the hollow fiber filter without vortexing and in a buffer having a second volume; (e) delivering the second volume and the microorganisms from the hollow fiber filter to a biochip device; and (f) detecting the presence of viable microorganisms using the biochip device.