Systems and methods for detecting an analyte of interest in a sample using filters and microstructured surfaces

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9470612-B2
Application number	US-201214122373-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 26, 2012
Priority date	Jun 30, 2011
Publication date	Oct 18, 2016
Grant date	Oct 18, 2016

Abstract

Systems and methods for detecting an analyte of interest in a sample. The system can include a first container comprising a filter portion. The filter portion can include a filter comprising a filtrand of the sample on a first side of the filter. The system can further include a second container comprising the filter portion coupled to a detection portion comprising a microstructured surface. The method can include providing the first container, coupling the filter portion to the detection portion to form the second container where the first side of the filter faces the microstructured surface, and centrifuging the second container toward the microstructured surface. The method can further include inverting the second container after centrifuging to decant the supernatant from the detection portion, such that a concentrate comprising a sediment of the sample is retained in the microstructured surface, which can be interrogated for an analyte of interest.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for detecting an analyte of interest in a sample, the method comprising:
providing a first container comprising a filter portion, the filter portion comprising a filter configured to retain the analyte of interest from the sample, the filter having a first side and comprising a filtrand of the sample on the first side;
coupling the filter portion to a detection portion to form a second container, the detection portion comprising a microstructured surface configured to provide capillary forces to retain a sample of interest, the filter portion and the detection portion being coupled together such that the first side of the filter faces the microstructured surface of the detection portion;
centrifuging the second container toward the microstructured surface to move the filtrand from the filter to the microstructured surface of the detection portion to form a sediment and a supernatant of the sample; and
inverting the second container, after centrifuging the second container, to decant at least a portion of the supernatant from the detection portion, such that a concentrate of the sample is retained in the microstructured surface of the detection portion of the second container, the concentrate comprising the sediment.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising interrogating the concentrate in the microstructured surface for the analyte of interest.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the microstructured surface is formed in a first side of the detection portion, and wherein interrogating the concentrate in the microstructured surface includes interrogating the concentrate in the microstructured surface from the first side of the detection portion.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the microstructured surface is formed in a first side of the detection portion and the first side is positioned to face the filter portion during centrifugation, wherein the detection portion further comprises a second side opposite the first side, and wherein interrogating the concentrate in the microstructured surface includes interrogating the concentrate in the microstructured surface from the second side of the detection portion.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the filter portion and the detection portion of the second container remain coupled together during the centrifuging step, the inverting step, and the interrogating step.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein interrogating the concentrate in the microstructured surface occurs while the detection portion of the second container remains coupled to the filter portion of the second container, such that the supernatant serves as a humidity reservoir.

7. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the first container further comprises a receptacle portion adapted to contain the sample, the filter portion adapted to be removably coupled to the receptacle portion;
filtering the sample by moving the sample in a first direction from the receptacle portion toward the first side of the filter to form a filtrand of the sample on the first side of the filter, while removing a filtrate of the sample;
decoupling the receptacle portion and the filter portion of the first container;
and
interrogating the concentrate in the microstructured surface for the analyte of interest.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein inverting the second container includes inverting the container at a rotational speed of no greater than 0.3 rpm.

9. A system for detecting an analyte of interest in a sample, the system comprising:
a first container comprising a filter portion, the filter portion comprising a filter, the filter having a first side and comprising a filtrand of the sample on the first side;
a second container comprising the filter portion coupled to a detection portion, the detection portion comprising a microstructured surface, the filter portion and the detection portion being coupled together such that the first side of the filter portion faces the microstructured surface of the detection portion, the microstructured surface of the detection portion adapted to receive a concentrate of the sample when the second container is exposed to a centrifugal force, the microstructured surface of the detection portion further adapted to retain at least a portion of the concentrate of the sample under normal gravitational forces, the microstructured surface comprising a plurality of microstructured recesses, each recess having a base and a sidewall, wherein the upper surface of each sidewall is radiused.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the first container further comprises a receptacle portion adapted to contain the sample, the filter portion adapted to be removably coupled to the receptacle portion.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the filter portion includes a first end comprising the filter and a second end adapted to be coupled to the receptacle portion or the detection portion.

12. The system of claim 10 , further comprising a filter connection assembly configured to couple the receptacle portion and the filter portion together.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the filter portion includes a first end comprising the filter and a second end adapted to be coupled to the detection portion, and wherein the detection portion has a first end comprising the microstructured surface and a second end adapted to be coupled to the filter portion.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the microstructured surface is formed in a first side of the detection portion and the first side is positioned to face the filter portion during centrifugation, wherein the detection portion further comprises a second side opposite the first side, and wherein the microstructured surface comprises a plurality of microstructured recesses, each recess having a base, and wherein each base is substantially transparent, such that the contents of the plurality of microstructured recesses are visible from the second side of the detection portion of the container.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein at least one of the plurality of microstructured recesses includes a sidewall, and wherein the sidewall is substantially non-transparent.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the microstructured surface comprises a plurality of recesses, and wherein each of the plurality of recesses contains a volume of no greater than 1 microliter.

17. The system of claim 9 , wherein the microstructured surface comprises a plurality of recesses, wherein the plurality of recesses define a collective volume, and wherein the collective volume is no greater than 100 microliters.

18. The system of claim 9 , wherein the filter includes at least one of a polyolefin porous membrane, an ethylene-chlorotrifluoroethylene copolymer porous membrane, a polyacrylonitrile porous membrane, a polycarbonate porous membrane, a polyester porous membrane, a cellulose ester porous membrane, a polyamide porous membrane, a polyethersulfone porous membrane, a polysulfone porous membrane, a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) porous membrane, a polyacrylonitrile nanofiber membrane, a PVDF nanofiber membrane, a cellulose ester nanofiber membrane, a polyvinyl acetate or alcohol nanofiber membrane, or a polyvinyl butyral nanofiber membrane, or a combination thereof.

19. The system of claim 9 , wherein the filter includes at least one of
a membrane formed by a thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) process, and
a nanofiber membrane.

20. The system of claim 9 , wherein the filter includes multiple zones of porosity, and wherein the first side of the filter comprises the smalle

Assignees

• Rajagopal Raj
• Halverson Kurt J
• Kuduva Raman Thanumoorthy Ramasubramani
• 3M Innovative Properties Co

Inventors

• Rajagopal Raj
• Halverson Kurt J
• Kuduva Raman Thanumoorthy Ramasubramani

Classifications

• G01N1/4077 Primary

  by other techniques involving separation of suspended solids · CPC title

• C12Q1/04

  Determining presence or kind of microorganism; Use of selective media for testing antibiotics or bacteriocides; Compositions containing a chemical indicator therefor {(C12Q1/6897 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• G01N15/042

  by centrifuging and investigating centrifugates (centrifuges per se B04B) · CPC title

• B01L2300/069

  Absorbents; Gels to retain a fluid · CPC title

• B01L2300/0681

  Filter · CPC title