Patent ID: 8852531

Claim:
A device for concentrating micro-organisms from a liquid specimen, comprising: a filter housing comprising: a liquid inlet through which said liquid specimen can enter the filter housing and adapted for engaging with said liquid specimen, a liquid outlet through which said liquid specimen can leave the filter housing and adapted for sealably engaging with a hypobaric chamber, and a liquid-permeable bed of an adsorbent material in a granular form comprising metal oxides and/or hydroxyapatite housed in the filter housing between said liquid inlet and liquid outlet and capable of adsorbing micro-organisms by electrostatic interaction, wherein the metal oxides and/or hydroxyapatite have a spherical particle size of between 5 μm and 1 mm, and wherein the adsorbent material has a positively charged surface, whereby when a pressure differential is applied across the filter housing the liquid specimen is drawn into the filter housing via the liquid inlet and passes through said liquid-permeable bed of an adsorbent material before leaving via said liquid outlet; a hypobaric chamber having a liquid inlet adapted for sealably engaging with the liquid outlet of said filter housing and further having an air outlet for evacuating air from said hypobaric chamber; and a vacuum pump adapted for sealably engaging with the air outlet of said hypobaric chamber.