Patent ID: 8518637

Claim:
A method of providing portable biological testing capabilities free from biological contamination from a local environment, the method comprising: providing components of a portable device, the components configured to be assembled together to seal a volume within the device against passage of biological materials between the volume and an environment outside the device; sterilizing the components; providing a sterilized culture medium; assembling the components together with the sterilized culture medium within the volume, thereby forming an assembled device; sterilizing the assembled device, wherein sterilizing the assembled device comprises elevating a temperature of the assembled device; flowing gas from within the volume to the environment while the assembled device is at an elevated temperature due to said sterilizing the assembled device; and reducing the temperature of the assembled device to be less than the elevated temperature while preventing gas from flowing from the environment to the volume, thereby creating a pressure within the volume which is less than a pressure outside the volume.