Patent ID: 8383043

Claim:
A blood analyzer for performing a blood analysis on a blood sample, comprising: a removable cartridge, the removable cartridge configured to receive a blood sample from a user, wherein the removable cartridge includes a first flow channel configured to receive the blood sample and one or more reagent flow channels, wherein the first flow channel splits into a second flow channel and a third flow channel; an instrument configured to receive the removable cartridge the instrument having a user interface; the cartridge having at least a first reagent reservoir with a first on-board reagent and a second reagent reservoir with a second on-board reagent, each of the reagent reservoirs in fluid communication with at least one of the one or more reagent flow channels, the on-board reagents collectively being sufficient to support the desired blood analysis of the blood sample; and the instrument and cartridge together configured to perform the desired blood analysis of the blood sample with requiring any user intervention, except for interacting with the use interface of the instrument, once the removable cartridge receives the blood sample and the removable cartridge is received by the instrument and the analysis is started; wherein the second flow channel is in fluid communication with the first reagent reservoir and the third flow channel is in fluid communication with the second reagent reservoir, wherein each of the one or more reagent flow channels comprises an on-cartridge flow sensor for controlling reagent flow from the first reagent reservoir and the second reagent reservoir to the second and third flow channels, respectively.