GB1574864A - Liquid collector for collecting mid-stream samples - Google Patents

Description

(54) A LIQUID COLLECTOR FOR COLLECTING MID-STREAM SAMPLES (71) We, THE UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, of 1, Cross Row, Dundee, Scotland, a Company limited by guarantee, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- The invention relates to a liquid for collecting mid stream samples. This liquid collector can be used for, inter alia, the collection of urine samples. Urinary tract infection in the neonatal and early childhood period is sufficiently high (1 /,, of newborn babies and l.50/o of school entrants) to warrant routine investigation.

Treatment following early diagnosis is virtually always successful if the appropriate antibiotic therapy is used but if left untreated such infection can cause death (in the neonatal period) or more commonly irreversible renal damage.

In order to institute early and effective treatment it is necessary to obtain an uncontaminated sample of approximately 1 ml. of the patient's urine and to culture it bacteriologically. When the organism responsible for the infection has been identified from the cultured sample the appropriate antibiotic treatment can be prescribed. The symptoms exhibited by an infected child can vary from virtually nil to readily observable and the only reliable way of detecting early infection is by taking urine samples routinely.

The sample taken must come largely from the bladder and upper renal tract as such a sample is more indicative of the kidney and ureteric urinary bacterial flora. The first part of the urine passed is contaminated with organisms from the lower urinary tract, the prepuce and the meatus which cause difficulty when trying to detect the presence of harmful organisms contained in the upper tract. The passage of the first part of the urinary stream washes out the undesired organisms from the lower tract and this first part is not desired in the urine specimen.

The specimen should therefore be taken from a midstream or late-stream part of the urine.

For alert and conscious patients it is easy to ask them to pass a late stream specimen of urine into a sterile container. Obtaining a mid- or late-stream sample from a very young, unconscious, very ill or debilated patient is, however, difficult and time consuming. The following methods are in common use.

1. Clean Catch by a Nurse This method is reliable but is time consuming as the nurse has to wait for the patient to pass urine.

2. Suprapubic Stab This requires the puncture of the bladder by a needle passed through an anterior abdominal wall and although the specimen procured is reliable the procedure is thought to be hazardous and a traumatic experience, especially for children. For this reason this technique should not be used routinely.

3. Catheter Tube Passed into the Bladder This technique is thought to be unreliable, dangerous and a potential source of further infection as well as being very undesirable for children.

4. Perineal Bag This technique uses a plastic bag attached to the patient to collect the specimen. It is unreliable as it collects early- and latestream urine together. The sample also comes into contact with the patient's skin which can offer further bacteriological contamination. Bacteriologists consider that the technique does not always give useful results.

The present invention seeks to provide a device which will collect a mid- or latestream urine specimen substantially uncontaminated by early-stream urine.

Accordingly, the invention provides a liquid collector comprising a sampling member slidably but non rotatably mounted within a sleeve, the sampling member being buoyant in water and having a sample chamber and an aperture connecting the sample chamber to the exterior of the sampling member, the said aperture extending transversely of the direction of sliding of the sampling member within the sleeve, the sampling member being movable between a first position, in which the aperture is closed by the sleeve, and a second position, in which the aperture is not closed by the sleeve, and a hollow body fixedly connected to the sleeve so as to surround the sampling member and at least partially surround the sleeve, the body having an inlet opening extending from the exterior to the interior thereof and disposed so that when the sampling member is in its second position, the inlet opening and the aperture in the sampling member are aligned, such that when the liquid collector is disposed in an operative position in which the direction of sliding of the sampling member is vertical and the inlet opening lies adjacent the upper end of the collector, partial filling of the body with water will cause the sampling member to move from its first to its second position.

The sampling member is conveniently provided with the necessary buoyancy by forming a sealed flotation chamber therein.

In addition, the sampling member is preferably provided with a flange extending laterally thereof, such that when the sampling member is in its first position, the flange will engage that end surface of the sleeve which lies adjacent the inlet opening of the body member. When such a collector is used for sampling urine the provision of the flange helps to reduce the risk of early-stream urine passing between the sleeve and the sampling member, and thus entering the sample chamber, whilst the sampling member is still in its first position.

The sampling member is made nonrotatable relative to the sleeve for example by making at least part of the passage in the sleeve and at least part of the sampling member of non-circular cross-section, such that the engagement between the two noncircular cross-sections prevents the sampling member rotating relative to the sleeve. Alternatively, the passage in the sleeve and the sampling member may both be of circular cross-section and be provided with a tongue-and-groove arrangement which prevents rotation of the sampling member relative to the sleeve.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, though by way of illustration only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a vertical section through a urine collector of the invention with its sampling member in its first position; Figure 2 is a section similar to that of Figure 1, but with the sampling member in its second position; Figures 3 and 4 are front elevations of the urine collector shown in Figures 1 and 2 looking in the direction of arrows A and B in Figures 1 and 2 respectively; and Figures 5 and 6 are sections through two urethral adaptors intended for use with the urine collector shown in Figures 1 to 4.

The urine collector as shown in Figures I to 4 comprises a sampling member 1 which is slidably but non-rotatably mounted within a passage 2 extending axially through a sleeve 3. Both the sampling member 1 and the passage 2 are of circular cross-section and, in order to prevent relative rotation therebetween, the sampling member is provided with a tongue (not shown) slidable within a groove (also not shown) formed in the sleeve 3. The sampling member 1 is provided with a sealed flotation chamber 4 which renders the sampling member 1 buoyant in water. The sampling member 1 is also provided with a sample chamber 5 which is connected to the exterior of the sampling member 1 by an aperture 6 extending transversely of the direction of sliding of the sampling member 1 within the sleeve 3. The aperture 6 is circular and of such a diameter that a jet of urine can enter therein and fill the sample chamber 5, but such that the sample chamber 5 cannot be filled simply by immersion of the sampling member 1 in urine. In addition the diameter of the aperture 6 ensures that once the sample chamber 5 is full of urine, will not easily be displaced therefrom. The small size of the aperture 6 also minimizes contact between the middle- or late-stream urine collected within the sample chamber 5 (see the description of the method operation of the collector given below) and other urine outwith the sampling member 1.

The upper end of the sampling member 1 has the form of a removable protective cap 7 which fits sealingly within the remaining part of the sampling member and which is provided with a laterally-extending flange 8, such that when the sampling member is in its first position, the flange 8 contacts the upper end surface of the sleeve 3, thereby helping to prevent urine passing along the passage 2 and entering the sample chamber 5. (If desired, the tongue-and-groove arrangement in the sampling member 1 and the sleeve 3 may be omitted and the protecting cap 7 and the upper end of the passage 2 formed in a non-circular crosssection, such that the engagement between the two non-circular cross-sections when the sampling member 1 is in the position shown in Figure 1 will prevent relative rotation between the sampling member 1 and the sleeve 3.) When the protective cap 7 is removed, an inoculation loop may be placed directly in a urine specimen in the sample chamber 5.

The sampling member 1 is slidable between its first position (shown in Figure 1), in which the aperture 6 is closed by the sleeve 3, and its second position (shown in Figure 2), in which the aperture 6 is not closed by the sleeve 3. Thus, urine can only enter the aperture 6 whilst the sampling member I is in its second position.

The sleeve 3 is integral with a hollow body 9 which also surrounds the sampling member 1, part of the wall of the sleeve being formed integrally with part of the hollow body wall so that the hollow body partly surrounds the sleeve. The hollow body 9 is provided with a urine inlet opening 10 extending from the exterior to the interior thereof and disposed so that when the sampling member is in its second position, the urine inlet opening 10 overlies the aperture 6. The lower end of the body 9 is provided with a drain opening 11 extending from the interior to the exterior thereof and which is smaller in area than the urine inlet opening 10. The body 9 is also provided with an overflow opening 12 extending from the interior to the exterior thereof and disposed so that when the urine collector is in the position shown in Figure 2, the overflow opening 12 lies below the aperture 6 but above the drain opening 11.

Finally, the body 9 is provided with a deflecting wall 13 disposed adjacent the urine inlet opening 10 such that when the urine collector is in the position shown in Figure 1, a horizontal jet of urine entering the body 9 through the urine inlet opening 10 will strike the deflecting wall 12 and be deflected downwardly.

The mode of use of the urine collector shown in Figures 1 to 4 is as follows. The urine collector is first attached to the patient by means of an adaptor (the adaptor shown in Figure 5 being used for males and that shown in Figure 6 being used for females), so that the urine inlet opening 10 lies at the upper end of the collector and covers the urethral opening. Although, ideally, the body 9 should assume the position shown in Figures 1 and 2, in which the direction of sliding of the sampling member 1 is vertical, the collector will function satisfactorily when the said direction is somewhat inclined to the vertical. The collector is made in various sizes; all sizes have a 1 ml. sample chamber but the volume of the body varies from 5 ml.

(for a neonatal model) to 200 ml. (for an adult). Until the patient passes urine, the sampling member 1 remains in its first position. The early-stream part of the urine passed by the patient enters the body 9 via the urine inlet opening 10, strikes the deflecting wall 13 and is deflected downwardly into the lower end of the body 9: since the aperture 6 is still covered and the flange 8 in contact with the upper end of the sleeve 3, none of this early-stream urine can enter the sample chamber 5. The earlystream urine thus fills the lower end of the body 9 and causes the buoyant sampling member 1 to float upwardly from its first position shown in Figure 1 to its second position shown in Figure 2; during this movement, the aperture 6 always remains above the level of the urine in the body 9.

Although naturally some urine will drain through the drain opening 11 as soon as urine is present in the lower end of the body 9, the size of the drain opening 11 is chosen so that this flow will be much smaller than the rate at which urine enters the inlet opening 10 during normal urination.

Once the sampling member I has assumed its second position, its aperture 6 is in line with the inlet opening 10 of the body 9 (see Figure 4) and the sample chamber 5 is thus rapidly filled with middle- or latestream urine uncontaminated with earlystream urine. The overflow opening 12 serves to prevent the urine sample in the sample chamber 5 becoming admixed with the urine in the lower end of the body 9; should the level of urine in the body 9 rise as far as the overflow opening 12, any further urine entering the body 9 will be discharged through the overflow opening 12. Thus, the body 9 cannot fill with urine to such a depth that the urine within the body 9 can flow through the aperture 6 and contaminate the sample in the sample chamber 5.

Once urination ceases, the urine in the body 9 will quickly drain away through the drain opening 11. As this occurs, the sampling member 1 will sink back to its first position; throughout this movement, the aperture 6 remains above the level of urine in the body 9. Thus, all possible contaminating urine is removed from the collector. Once the body 9 has thus been drained, the protective cap 7 can be removed and part or all of the sample taken out of the sample chamber 5.

It will be appreciated that once the collector has been fitted to a patient, the patient can be left alone except for periodic checks to see if urine has been passed.

Although the collector is designed primarily for use in collecting urine, it may be used to obtain a mid-stream sample of any liquid emitted from a discrete source as a let or stream.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A liquid collector comprising a sampling member slidably but non-rotatably mounted within a sleeve, the sampling member being buoyant in water and having

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (10)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. is removed, an inoculation loop may be placed directly in a urine specimen in the sample chamber 5. The sampling member 1 is slidable between its first position (shown in Figure 1), in which the aperture 6 is closed by the sleeve 3, and its second position (shown in Figure 2), in which the aperture 6 is not closed by the sleeve 3. Thus, urine can only enter the aperture 6 whilst the sampling member I is in its second position. The sleeve 3 is integral with a hollow body 9 which also surrounds the sampling member 1, part of the wall of the sleeve being formed integrally with part of the hollow body wall so that the hollow body partly surrounds the sleeve. The hollow body 9 is provided with a urine inlet opening 10 extending from the exterior to the interior thereof and disposed so that when the sampling member is in its second position, the urine inlet opening 10 overlies the aperture 6. The lower end of the body 9 is provided with a drain opening 11 extending from the interior to the exterior thereof and which is smaller in area than the urine inlet opening 10. The body 9 is also provided with an overflow opening 12 extending from the interior to the exterior thereof and disposed so that when the urine collector is in the position shown in Figure 2, the overflow opening 12 lies below the aperture 6 but above the drain opening 11. Finally, the body 9 is provided with a deflecting wall 13 disposed adjacent the urine inlet opening 10 such that when the urine collector is in the position shown in Figure 1, a horizontal jet of urine entering the body 9 through the urine inlet opening 10 will strike the deflecting wall 12 and be deflected downwardly. The mode of use of the urine collector shown in Figures 1 to 4 is as follows. The urine collector is first attached to the patient by means of an adaptor (the adaptor shown in Figure 5 being used for males and that shown in Figure 6 being used for females), so that the urine inlet opening 10 lies at the upper end of the collector and covers the urethral opening. Although, ideally, the body 9 should assume the position shown in Figures 1 and 2, in which the direction of sliding of the sampling member 1 is vertical, the collector will function satisfactorily when the said direction is somewhat inclined to the vertical. The collector is made in various sizes; all sizes have a 1 ml. sample chamber but the volume of the body varies from 5 ml. (for a neonatal model) to 200 ml. (for an adult). Until the patient passes urine, the sampling member 1 remains in its first position. The early-stream part of the urine passed by the patient enters the body 9 via the urine inlet opening 10, strikes the deflecting wall 13 and is deflected downwardly into the lower end of the body 9: since the aperture 6 is still covered and the flange 8 in contact with the upper end of the sleeve 3, none of this early-stream urine can enter the sample chamber 5. The earlystream urine thus fills the lower end of the body 9 and causes the buoyant sampling member 1 to float upwardly from its first position shown in Figure 1 to its second position shown in Figure 2; during this movement, the aperture 6 always remains above the level of the urine in the body 9. Although naturally some urine will drain through the drain opening 11 as soon as urine is present in the lower end of the body 9, the size of the drain opening 11 is chosen so that this flow will be much smaller than the rate at which urine enters the inlet opening 10 during normal urination. Once the sampling member I has assumed its second position, its aperture 6 is in line with the inlet opening 10 of the body 9 (see Figure 4) and the sample chamber 5 is thus rapidly filled with middle- or latestream urine uncontaminated with earlystream urine. The overflow opening 12 serves to prevent the urine sample in the sample chamber 5 becoming admixed with the urine in the lower end of the body 9; should the level of urine in the body 9 rise as far as the overflow opening 12, any further urine entering the body 9 will be discharged through the overflow opening 12. Thus, the body 9 cannot fill with urine to such a depth that the urine within the body 9 can flow through the aperture 6 and contaminate the sample in the sample chamber 5. Once urination ceases, the urine in the body 9 will quickly drain away through the drain opening 11. As this occurs, the sampling member 1 will sink back to its first position; throughout this movement, the aperture 6 remains above the level of urine in the body 9. Thus, all possible contaminating urine is removed from the collector. Once the body 9 has thus been drained, the protective cap 7 can be removed and part or all of the sample taken out of the sample chamber 5. It will be appreciated that once the collector has been fitted to a patient, the patient can be left alone except for periodic checks to see if urine has been passed. Although the collector is designed primarily for use in collecting urine, it may be used to obtain a mid-stream sample of any liquid emitted from a discrete source as a let or stream. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A liquid collector comprising a sampling member slidably but non-rotatably mounted within a sleeve, the sampling member being buoyant in water and having

a sample chamber and an aperture connecting the sample chamber to the exterior of the sampling member, the said aperture extending transversely of the direction of sliding of the sampling member within the sleeve, the sampling member being movable between a first position, in which the aperture is closed by the sleeve, and a second position, in which the aperture is not closed by the sleeve, and a hollow body fixedly connected to the sleeve so as to surround the sampling member and at least partially surround the sleeve, the body having an inlet opening extending from the exterior to the interior thereof and disposed so that when the sampling member is in its second position, the inlet opening and the aperture in the sampling member are aligned, such that when the liquid collector is disposed in an operative position in which the direction of sliding of the sampling member is vertical and the inlet opening lie adiacent the upper end of the collector, partial filling of the body with water will cause the sampling member to move from its first to its second position.

2. A liquid collector as claimed in Claim 1, in which the sampling member is provided with a sealed flotation chamber.

3. A liquid collector as claimed in either of the preceding claims, in which the sampling member is provided with a flange extending laterally thereof, such that when the sampling member is in its first position, the flange engages that end surface of the sleeve which lies adjacent the inlet opening of the body.

4. A liquid collector as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which at least part of the sleeve and at least part of the sampling member are of non-circular crosssection, such that the engagement between the two non-circular cross-sections prevents the sampling member rotating relative to the sleeve.

5. A liquid collector as claimed in any of the Claims 1 to 3, in which the sleeve and the sampling member are both of circular cross-section and are provided with a tongue-and-groove arrangement which prevents rotation of the sampling member relative to the sleeve.

6. A liquid collector as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which the body is provided with a drain opening extending from the interior to the exterior thereof, smaller in area than the inlet opening, and disposed so that when the liquid collector is in its operative position, the drain opening lies at or adjacent the lower end of the body.

7. A liquid collector as claimed in Claim 6, in which the body is further provided with an overflow opening extending from the interior to the exterior thereof, and disposed so that when the liquid collector is in its operative position and the sampling member is in its second position, the overflow opening lies below the aperture in the sampling member but above the drain opening.

8. A liquid collector as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the body has a deflecting wall disposed opposite the inlet opening such that when the liquid collector is in its operative position and the sampling member is in its first position, a horizontal jet of liquid entering the body through the inlet opening will strike the deflecting wall and be deflected downwardly.

9. A liquid collector as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which part of the sleeve wall is formed integrally with part of the hollow body wall whereby said hollow body is fixedly connected to the sleeve.

10. A liquid collector substantially as herein described, with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings.