Patent ID: 8211053

Claim:
A method of collecting fluids from a patient comprising placing, in a patient, a fluid collection device that comprises a semipermeable membrane that at least partially bounds a lumen containing trapped osmotic solutes in aqueous solution, with the lumen being in fluid communication with a transcutaneous port or percutaneous port, wherein said port is part of an internally implanted cage or internal reservoir that is placed in the patient and the fluid collection device is thereafter passed through said port and secured to said cage or reservoir with a fastener that is chosen from the group consisting of threads, LUER-LOK, friction fit, mortise-and-tenon, tongue-and-groove, compression fit, and O-ring seal, wherein the trapped osmotic solutes have a molecular weight greater than a molecular weight cutoff of the semipermeable membrane, create an osmotic pressure that draws physiological fluid from the patient across the membrane and into the lumen, and are present at a concentration to produce the osmotic pressure at an amount between 50 and 100,000 Torr and are polymers with an average molecular weight between about 500 and about 5000.