CZ22985U1 - Device for blood analysis and water quality monitoring - Google Patents

Description

Equipment for blood analysis and water quality monitoring

Technical field

The technical solution relates to a device for blood analysis and water quality monitoring.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Diagnosing many diseases requires human blood testing to be performed in clinical laboratories. Blood analysis uses a variety of techniques including: electrical spectroscopy, chemical photometer, and the like.

Analytical methods for the quantification of sodium, potassium, calcium and lithium electrolytes from human blood are also known. Routine clinical procedures for the determination of blood electrolytes include a flame emission photometer, atomic absorption spectroscopy, electrochemical procedures, and the use of ion-selective electrodes (ISE).

For the determination of blood electrolytes in serum or plasma, ISEs have become the most commonly used method because of its suitability for combined testing and automation. However, the ISE response is logarithmic, which can cause selectivity problems, and is not a general system.

A more general capillary electrophoresis (CE) separation technique can be used because it is potentially more selective and less affected by the failure. In addition, a CE general system is capable of measuring multiple ions at once on the same instrument without the need for selective electrodes or any other human intervention.

Following the trend of blood testing at the treatment site, patients and physicists would welcome a disposable test device (SUD) and hand-held analyzers that could be used at the treatment site.

These hand-held analyzers work similarly or even better than their counterparts, ie conventional analyzers, which are usually larger, more delicate, costly, and of course not portable. Currently, there are place-of-treatment analyzers using mostly fillings with different detection principles. For example, they use miniaturized ISE combined with conductivity detection.

The disadvantages of existing solutions are described below.

When performing clinical blood analysis manually, the result is usually inaccurate, takes longer and needs more effort.

Inadequate disposal methods may result in environmental pollution.

Usually large sized analyzers are fragile, non-portable, and expensive.

In general, analysis costs are rather costly.

With regard to hand-held analyzers using a cartridge system, these also have significant drawbacks.

Previous analyzer models were not portable, but new models have become portable and use a disposable cartridge for testing blood components, and need a measuring instrument to show the test results. The load of these analyzers is quite expensive and needs to be stored in the refrigerator. The filling measuring instrument - analyzer is very expensive. Moreover, it is non-transferable, large and delicate, except that it is unusable anywhere, which is a critical problem.

This constitutes an obstacle to enlargement and limits its use.

The essence of the technical solution

The above drawbacks are largely eliminated by the blood analysis and water quality monitoring device according to the present invention. Its essence is that it consists of a chip with an inlet for the test liquid, behind which is located the microdialysis membrane,

A double T-shaped distribution loop is connected for transferring liquid into separation channels connected to capillaries with an internal surface roughness of ± 0.1 µm, for electrophoretic separation of element ions. The separation channels are connected to the conductivity detector electrodes with the mating contacts provided with connection terminals to which the hand-held analyzer is connected.

The analyzer is preferably provided with a power supply for supplying the distribution loop and for transferring the liquid into the separation channels. The device may be housed in a portable housing provided with control means and calibration means.

The chip is configured to test blood (K), sodium (Na), calcium (Ca) and lithium (Li) blood electrolytes in blood and / or to test potassium (K), sodium (Na), calcium (Ca) and magnesium cations (Mg) and 10 anions of chloride (Cl), sulfate (SO ₄ ) and bicarbonate (HCO ₃ ) in drinking water.

The advantage of this solution is that it is versatile for multiple applications.

One is to use the so-called EL biocip for blood analysis at the treatment site for rapid analysis and therapeutic monitoring. It is optimized for testing blood electrolytes (EL) of potassium (K), sodium (Na), calcium (Ca) and lithium (Li). Blood K, Na and Ca testing are often required for the diagnosis of multiple diseases and for unforeseen cases anywhere. Li is used for therapeutic monitoring during the treatment of manic-depressive diseases.

Using the device is simple, just put a drop of pure blood in the biocip inlet and connect it to a small handheld measuring instrument (analyzer) to give a quick result. The measurement is so easy that it allows doctors to test at the treatment site or even patients to do it themselves.

2o Another application is the use of the so-called L biocip for on-site environmental fluid monitoring. It is optimized to monitor water quality, to check its suitability for drinking and to protect against water outbreaks. Can determine tap water cations such as K, Na.CaaMga tap water anions - CL S (L and HCCL

Both EL and L biochips have a versatile multi-application system using the same single hardware.

Using a more general capillary electrophoresis (CE) separation technique, it is able to immediately test multiple ions on the same chip without the need for selective electrodes or any other human intervention.

The device utilizes capillary electrophoresis (CE) technique combined with conductivity detection, focusing mainly on inorganic components.

The use of CE technology leads to the development of a small, high performance biocip that is fast, easy to use, reliable, inexpensive, wherever applicable and environmentally friendly.

In the interest of general applicability, this solution avoids separate development of electrolyte components, unlike ISE. The solution offers a generally applicable system that is easy to learn for other ions.

The solution is ready to be applicable to the treatment site anywhere - decentralization. This important ability is needed and noticeably increases market demand.

In developed countries, autoanalysers are generally used for centralized sites. For decentralized treatment sites, ie anywhere, a system according to this solution can be used.

In developing countries, the use of this solution will not be limited to a 'treatment site' but will be extended to be used in huge numbers of small clinical laboratories that do not use autoanalysis and suffer from instrumentation and reagent problems. This solution is significantly cheaper and will be available to patients with limited income, and as a result, health care services will be improved.

The application of the CE principle to this solution for on-site blood analysis and on-site environmental monitoring is a new innovation. This is not an easy task due to conflicting requirements and problems such as improperly coupled concentration, interference, advanced many functionality on a single chip, decentralized usability and the like.

- 2 CZ 22985 Ul

Many of the components and principles used in this solution are not entirely new, but miniaturization and physical integration of various aspects on the chip used, in addition to balancing the various components, create a complex technical problem that requires a lot of creative ability and effort to obtain the desired results.

Recent advances in life science have preceded the enormous onslaught of the introduction of chip-based technology. This has been achieved using advances in micro-technology first introduced in the microelectronics industry. Thus, two means have been developed: microfluidic biochips in analogy with the microelectronic chip and a series of DNA. These two means play an important role in developing and enabling viable commercialization of genomics, drug discovery and the development of biomedical / pharmaceutical and early diagnosis areas.

Biochip - The on-chip laboratory used in the device is similar to a microfluidic device using the CE system. It is related to, but not precisely to, those open promising regions of genomics and proteins. It is modified to be applied for clinical diagnosis at the treatment site and for on-site environmental monitoring.

The present solution allows a quick diagnosis for saving lives. The device is usable anywhere, it covers health care services in all places. This device allows therapeutic monitoring to ensure reliable treatment.

Monitoring water quality is important because it is absolutely necessary for human health and the basis for life. The use of on-site water monitoring chip allows to protect against outbreaks of water-borne diseases.

The inexpensive chip will be available to patients with limited income, increasing the level of health care services for all. This chip is environmentally friendly.

The advantages of this solution are therefore small size, light weight, fast accurate results, higher performance, user-friendly, significantly inexpensive, usable for many diseases and emergencies, environmentally friendly, reliable. This device is small, user-friendly, and portable, inexpensive, and usable for most users, allowing general use anywhere.

Clarification of the picture in the drawing

A blood analysis and water quality monitoring apparatus according to the present invention will be described in more detail on a specific exemplary embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary device.

Examples of technical solutions

The device for blood analysis and water quality monitoring consists of a chip with an inlet I for the test liquid, behind which a microdialysis membrane is placed, to which a double T-shaped distribution loop 2 is connected to transfer the liquid into separation channels connected to capillaries 3 ± 0.1 µm, for electrophoretic separation of element ions. The separation channels are connected to the electrodes 4 of the conductivity detector with coupled contacts provided with connection terminals 5 to which the hand-held analyzer is connected. The analyzer is provided with a power supply for supplying the distribution loop 2 and for transferring the liquid into the separation channels. The device is housed in a portable housing provided with control means and calibration means.

Blood testing for Na and K is used for the rapid diagnosis of many diseases such as kidney and heart failure, electrolyte imbalance, child-fatal diarrhea, chorea, dehydration and the like. The advantage is decentralized use anywhere - in remote locations, in the outpatient clinic, at the patient's bedside, at the treatment site, intensive care, open heart surgery and the like. The solution is cost effective and economically attractive.

Blood testing for calcium, which is essential for strong bones and teeth and for the health of the heart, muscles and nerves. It plays an important role in tissue healing and regulation of blood pressure and acidity. Receive enough

Calcium is particularly important during menopause, pregnancy and lactation as well as for older men and women. The device tests the ionized Ca, which is needed for diseases such as rickets, ie a child's disease caused by vitamin D and sunshine deficiency associated with impaired calcium and phosphorus metabolism in children, bone softening ie abnormal bone softening due to phosphorus or calcium or vitamin deficiency In older people, osteoporosis - abnormal loss of bone tissue leading to fragile porous bones characterized by calcium deficiency in women and hypo, over-parathyroid function - inadequate parathyroid hormone secretion leading to abnormally low blood calcium levels and excessive parathyroid hormone secretion, results in abnormally high levels of calcium in the blood, can negatively affect many body systems, particularly inducing bone resorption and osteoporosis. The facility thus serves large groups of people children, women and the elderly.

Normally, lithium is not significantly present in human blood, although lithium is widely used as a medicine for the treatment of psychiatric manic depression. It is observed that the therapeutic index value, which is the ratio between the toxic concentration and the therapeutic concentration, is very low. Therefore, it is critical to monitor the patient's lithium concentration throughout the treatment with lithium to protect against toxic concentration. This is therapeutic monitoring.

Testing of liquids including water. Water is the most common liquid on Earth and is the basis for life. Worldwide, nearly 1.2 trillion people lack access to harmless drinking water and twice as many lack adequate health care. As a result, the World Health Organization estimates that 3.4 million people, mostly children, die each year from a water-borne disease. Even where water treatment is widely practiced, constant continuous monitoring is required to protect against outbreaks of waterborne diseases.

In natural drinking water, the balance of cation (K, Na, Ca and Mg) and anion (Cl, SO ₄ and HCO ₃ ) is considered as an indicator of the suitability of water for humans. The high concentration of the cation-anion mixture affects the taste of drinking water negatively. Tap water is corrosive to the piping system adversely affected by calcium and magnesium concentrations.

Tzv. The L biochip is optimized for water analysis and allows you to check its suitability for drinking or hygiene use. A commonly used technique for water analysis is ion chromatography. While the L biochip uses a CE technique combined with conductivity detection, it is a viable alternative for water analysis that, in addition to rapid separation, better on-site performance and higher resolution, benefits from miniaturization as mentioned above.

When dealing with water, it may be advantageous to have a brief background preparation. The main sources of water used are surface water and groundwater. 70% of the Earth's surface is covered with water. Most of it is unusable sea water. Pure water is only 3% of all water, 2% is unavailable frozen water in polar ice and the remaining 1% is available pure water. Water treatment is widely practiced to keep tap water safe for consumption and to protect against outbreaks of waterborne diseases. Well known pathogens are controlled by chlorination. When the public water supply is contaminated, it can transmit infections that cause serious fatal diseases such as diarrhea and cholera. Developing countries in particular suffer from water quality. Mostly in these countries untreated sewage is discharged into rivers. Conversely, these rivers are often used for drinking and personal hygiene. The use of the L biochip to monitor water quality allows harmless drinking water and prevents waterborne diseases.

Hard water is determined by the Ca and Mg concentrations. The use of hard water is a problem as it forms a deposited layer inside the pipes and on the heating elements. It is also not suitable for washing with soap as it does not foam but forms precipitates.

The introduction of chip-based technology has enabled the biochip science industry to develop microfluidic biochips using capillary electrophoresis (CE) separation and use them for analysis. From the beginning, CE microfluidics has been used mainly in life science for protein, DNA and RNA analysis.

As far as the separation system is concerned, the CE separation technique can be used for both organic and inorganic substances because it is suitable and advantageous for both. Regarding the detection system, common

The life science UI chip uses optical detection because it suits organic substances. However, in our diagnosis case, we mostly deal with inorganic ions, which are best tested using conductivity detection because many of them cannot be tested directly by optical methods. Conductivity detection also meets the requirement for clinical diagnosis anywhere and on-site monitoring.

Two-in-one biochips use CE technology combined with conductivity detection. The separation of CE ions is based on the migration of altered components in electrolyte + ⁱⁿ cations and - ⁱⁿ anions moving in opposite directions under the influence of an externally applied electric field. CE is a generally applicable separation system allowing a large number of ions to be tested simultaneously on the same instrument. The length of the separation channel negatively affects the separation efficiency and may be about one centimeter for rapid separation. Using conductivity detection allows you to have a simple biochip that is user friendly. It is also a non-selective detection (unlike ISE) suitable for decentralized testing anywhere in the treatment site, which is a critical result for the solution applied for.

The usable space inside the capillary limits the size of the electrodes. This can be formed by depositing a thin guide layer inside the capillary. The geometry of the conductivity electrodes affects sensitivity. It is possible to have a non-contact conductivity detection that allows greater freedom in electrode placement than when using contact detection. But it can reduce the resolution and sensitivity.

The device makes it possible to monitor the quality of drinking water, which requires the determination of both cations and anionic components. The main cations and anions of drinking water are: cations K, Na, Ca and Mg and anions Cl, SO ₄ and HCO ₃ . The L biochip can be used to separate and detect both cations + ^vc ions and anions - ⁱⁿ ions in separate CE cycles. The cationic ions should be separated by correlation of the electrosmotic flow (EOF). The anionic separation requires reversing the direction of the EOF. This can be accomplished by separation in CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) containing BGE. And also by reversing the polarity of the voltage. The cations and anions can be analyzed in separate CE runs or can be analyzed at the same time as desired. Here, a separate CE run analysis is selected to allow the same L biochip hardware to be used to monitor drinking water quality. This means that the system is versatile and suitable for analyzing different + ^ve and - ^ve ions.

According to FIG. 1 is a two-in-one integrated chip of small size, which has a blood or liquid inlet and has connection terminals. It also includes entry into the microdialysis membrane for blood serum filtration. Double T-shaped distribution loop 2 for transferring blood or liquid into separation channels. Capillaries 3 for electrophoretic separation. Conductivity detector electrodes 4 with coupled contacts and connection channels and connection terminals 5.

Industrial applicability

The device for blood analysis and water quality monitoring, according to this technical solution, will find application especially in health and environmental protection.

Claims (5)

PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS A device for blood analysis and water quality monitoring, characterized in that it comprises a chip with an inlet (1) for a test liquid, downstream of which a microdialysis membrane is placed, to which a double T-shaped distribution loop (2) is connected liquids to separation channels interconnected with capillaries (3) with an internal surface roughness of ± 0.1 µm, for electrophoretic separation of element ions, the separation channels being connected to electrodes (4) of a conductivity detector with associated contacts provided with connecting terminals (5) to which Manual analyzer is connected. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the analyzer is provided with a source for supplying the distribution loop (2) and for transferring the liquid into the separation channels. - 5 CZ 22985 Ul Device according to claim 1, characterized in that it is placed in a portable housing provided with control means and calibration means. Device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the chip is configured to test blood electrolytes of potassium (K), sodium (Na), calcium (Ca) and lithium (Li) in the blood. Device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the chip is configured to test the cations of potassium (K), sodium (Na), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) and anions of chloride (Cl), sulfate (SO ₄ ) and bicarbonate (HCO ₃ ) in drinking water.