Claims
- 1. Apparatus for separating blood comprising:
- a tube with a closed bottom end;
- a thixotropic gel-like sealant having a specific gravity intermediate between the gravities of serum and clot phases of blood, said sealant being contained at the bottom end of said tube and having an upper surface spaced from the bottom of said tube; and
- a cavity formed in said sealant when said tube is at rest, said cavity being intermediate the edges of said sealant and extending from said upper surface toward the bottom of said tube but not reaching the bottom of said tube, said cavity being formed by said sealant alone without any cavity maintaining members in said tube.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said thixotropic gel-like sealant contains an adjusting agent for viscosity and specific gravity to provide a specific gravity of said sealant between 1.035 and 1.055.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said sealant has as its principal component an .alpha.-olefin-dimaleate copolymer having a viscosity from 10,000 to 120,000 c.p. at 25.degree. C.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said cavity has a diameter at the upper surface of said sealant from 0.15 to 0.7 times the inner diameter of the tube, and said cavity has a depth of from 0.13 to 0.65 times the thickness of said sealant in said tube, said thickness being measured from said bottom end of said tube to said upper surface of said sealant.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said cavity has a diameter at the upper surface of said sealant from 0.15 to 0.7. times the inner diameter of the tube, and said cavity has a depth of from 0.13 to 0.65 times the thickness of said sealant in said tube, said thickness being measured from said bottom end of said tube to said upper surface of said sealant.
- 6. Apparatus for separating blood according to claim 3 wherein said .alpha.-olefin-dimaleate copolymer has the general formula ##STR2## wherein R.sub.1 may be the same or different in one molecule and is hydrogen atom or an alkyl group containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are each straight or branched alkyl group containing from 1 to 15 carbon atoms or a branched alkyl group containing from 16 to 20 carbon atoms, provided that when R.sub.1 is hydrogen atom, R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are each a straight or branched alkyl group containing from 12 to 15 carbon atoms or a branched alkyl group containing from 16 to 20 carbon atoms, and then R.sub.1 is alkyl group having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, the total numbers of carbon atoms in R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 groups and R.sub.1 and R.sub.3 groups are from 5 to 25, respectively, and n is an integer such that the viscosity of said copolymer is from 10,000 to 120,000 c.p. at 25.degree. C.
- 7. Apparatus for separating blood according to claim 6 wherein R.sub.1 in the general formula for said copolymer is an alkyl group containing from 2 to 20 carbon atoms and R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are each selected from the group consisting of methyl, ethyl, butyl and 2-ethylhexyl groups.
- 8. Apparatus for separating blood according to claim 7 wherein R.sub.1 is an alkyl group containing from 4 to 20 carbon atoms and R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are both methyl group.
- 9. Apparatus for separating blood according to claim 8 wherein R.sub.1 is a combination of alkyl groups containing 10 and 12 carbon atoms.
- 10. Apparatus for separating blood according to claim 8 wherein R.sub.1 is a combination of alkyl groups containing 4 and 6 carbon atoms.
- 11. Apparatus for separating blood according to claim 8 wherein from 0.04 to 0.6 parts by weight of a gelling agent is contained per 100 parts by weight of an .alpha.-olefin-dimaleate copolymer.
- 12. Apparatus for separating blood according to claim 8 wherein from 1.0 to 3.0 parts by weight of a wax consisting of an .alpha.-olefin-dimaleate copolymer containing in the .alpha.-olefin component from 30 to 60 carbon atoms is further added to the principal component.
- 13. Apparatus for separating blood according to claim 2 wherein said adjusting agent for viscosity and specific gravity is at least one member selected from the group consisting of C.sub.8 -C.sub.24 aliphatic amine derivatives of smectite clay and inorganic fine powders.
- 14. Apparatus for separating blood according to claim 13 wherein said adjusting agent is a quaternary ammonium derivative of smectite clay.
- 15. Apparatus for separating blood according to claim 13 wherein said adjusting agent for viscosity and specific gravity is inorganic fine powders of fumed silica or precipitated silica.
- 16. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said cavity has a diameter at the upper surface of said sealant from 0.15 to 0.7 times the inner diameter of the tube, and said cavity has a depth of from 0.13 to 0.65 times the thickness of said sealant in said tube, said thickness being measured from said bottom end of said tube to said upper surface of said sealant.
- 17. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said cavity has a diameter at the upper surface of said sealant from 0.15 to 0.7 times the inner diameter of the tube, and said cavity has a depth of from 0.13 to 0.65 times the thickness of said sealant in said tube, said thickness being measured from said bottom end of said tube to said upper surface of said sealant.
- 18. Apparatus for separating blood according to claim 1 wherein said tube has a closed top end, and further comprising a clot-promoting medium contained at an intermediate position in said tube between said closed top and bottom ends, said clot-promoting medium being comprised of a carrier having a specific gravity higher than blood cells and holding finely divided clot-promoting particles therein.
- 19. Apparatus for separating blood according to claim 18 wherein said clot-promoting particles are at least one member selected from the group consisting of silica, crystalline silica fine powders, diatomaceous earth, glass fine powders, kaolin and bentonite.
- 20. Apparatus for separating blood according to claim 18 or 19 wherein said clot-promoting particles are present in an amount from 0.3 to 10.0 mg. per 10 ml. of blood capacity of said apparatus.
- 21. Apparatus for separating blood according to claim 18 wherein said carrier is cloth, filter paper, nonwoven cloth or cotton.
- 22. Apparatus for separating blood according to claim 18 wherein said clot-promoting medium is located spaced above said upper surface of said sealant.
- 23. Apparatus for separating blood according to claim 1 wherein said apparatus is evacuated.
- 24. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said cavity has a diameter at the upper surface of said sealant from 0.15 to 0.7 times the inner diameter of the tube, and said cavity has a depth of from 0.13 to 0.65 times the thickness of said sealant in said tube, said thickness being measured from said bottom end of said tube to said upper surface of said sealant.
- 25. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said cavity has a diameter at said upper surface of from 0.3 to 0.5 times the inner diameter of the tube, and said cavity has a depth of from 0.2 to 0.55 times the thickness of said sealant, said thickness being measured from said bottom end of said tube to said upper surface of said sealant.
Priority Claims (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
55-61013 |
May 1980 |
JPX |
|
55-69913 |
May 1980 |
JPX |
|
56-34636 |
Mar 1981 |
JPX |
|
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 259,027, filed Apr. 30, 1981, now abandoned, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Appln. Ser. No. 184,084, filed Sept. 4, 1980, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,430, issued Jan. 12, 1982.
US Referenced Citations (14)
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
259027 |
Apr 1981 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
184084 |
Sep 1980 |
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