Patent ID: 6911312

Claim:
A method of identifying a microorganism in a biological sample, wherein said method comprises the steps of: (a) concentrating said microorganism by i) adding a sample containing said microorganism to an ultracentrifuge tube and ii) centrifuging said sample in said tube to concentrate said microorganism, said ultracentrifuge tube comprising an upper region, a middle region and a lower region, wherein an inner diameter of said upper region is larger than an inner diameter of said lower region, wherein said upper region is separated from said lower region by said middle region having a decreasing diameter from said upper region toward said lower region and wherein said lower region has a closed bottom; and (b) incubating with antibodies specific for known microorganisms, wherein if said antibodies bind to said concentrated microorganism then said microorganism is identified as the microorganism to which the antibodies are known to bind.