Claims
- 1. A method for collecting a volume of blood from an umbilical cord in an aseptic environment, comprising:placing an umbilical cord into a housing having an inner region adapted to receive the cord; isolating the inner region of the housing from the external environment; and cutting the umbilical cord such that the cut end of the cord is positioned in the inner region of the housing and blood flows from the cord into the inner region via gravity.
- 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:placing a placenta coupled to the umbilical cord into a container having an opening through which the umbilical cord extends; and compressing the placenta.
- 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:passing air through an air vent that communicates with the inner region to minimize a pressure differential between the inner region and the external environment.
- 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of positioning the housing on a selected support structure with the air vent being unobstructed by the blood.
- 5. A method for collecting a volume of blood from an umbilical cord in an aseptic environment, comprising:placing an umbilical cord into a channel provided in an inner region of a housing, and extending an end of the umbilical cord through an opening that is in communication with the channel and is in communication with a region external to the housing, such that the umbilical cord passes through the channel and extends through the opening; closing a first and second portion of the housing to surround the umbilical cord; and sliding a blade movably coupled to the housing from a first position, across the opening to a second position, thereby cutting the umbilical cord, the cut end of the umbilical cord falling freely into the inner region of the housing and blood flowing from the umbilical cord via a gravity into a blood collection region.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 09/310,895 May 12, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,368, which is a division of Ser. No. 08/856,252 filed May 14, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,993,429, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/742,438, filed Oct. 30, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,176 which also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/017,402, filed May 14, 1996.
US Referenced Citations (18)
Foreign Referenced Citations (5)
Number |
Date |
Country |
438 626 |
Jul 1991 |
EP |
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Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
Eder and Cutter, “A New Device for Collecting Core Blood,” Obstetrics & Gynecology 86(5): 850-852, 1995. |
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60/017402 |
May 1996 |
US |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/310895 |
May 1999 |
US |
Child |
09/740616 |
|
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08/742438 |
Oct 1996 |
US |
Child |
08/856252 |
|
US |