BLOOD SEPARATION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A DRY TEST STRIP

1 . A dry test strip layer for filtering red blood cells, the dry test strip layer comprising:

a Borosilicate Glass Fiber layer; and

lectin, impregnated in the borosilicate layer, such that the dry test strip is configured to filter red blood cells from a blood sample.

2 . The dry test strip layer of claim 1 where the lectin is from kidney beans.

3 . The dry test strip layer of claim 1 where the lectin is Crude Phaseolus Vulgaris Lectin PHA-P.

4 . The dry test strip layer of claim 1 , further comprising:

Poly Vinyl Alcohol, impregnated in the Borosilicate Glass Fiber layer.

5 . The dry test strip layer of claim 1 , further comprising:

sodium Salt, impregnated in the Borosilicate Glass Fiber layer.

6 . The dry test strip layer of claim 1 , further comprising:

D-(+)-Trehalose dehydrate impregnated in the Borosilicate Glass Fiber layer.

7 . The dry test strip layer of claim 1 , further comprising:

Neo Protein Saver, impregnated in the Borosilicate Glass Fiber layer.

8 . The dry test strip layer of claim 1 where the Borosilicate Glass Fiber layer is made out of D-23.

9 . The dry test strip layer of claim 1 where the dry test strip layer is non-brittle and can withstand the pressure of a test strip holder.

10 . A method of determining a characteristic of an analyte from a plurality of analytes in a bodily fluid, said method comprising:

providing said bodily fluid containing the analyte and one or more non-selected analytes;

providing a dry test strip having a well with porous layers within said well that allow said plurality of analytes to pass creating a vertical column of said analytes having a defined volume;

applying said bodily fluid to said well in said dry test strip; and

reacting the analyte in the bodily fluid with a reactant in said dry test strip to provide an indication of said characteristic while preventing said one or more non-selected analytes from participating in said reaction, wherein the dry test strip includes a blood separation layer having lectins.

11 . The method of claim 10 where the blood separation layer is non-brittle and can withstand the pressure of the test strip.

12 . The method of claim 10 where the blood separation layer is made out of Borosilicate Glass Fiber.

13 . The method of claim 10 where the blood separation layer is impregnated with Poly Vinyl Alcohol.

14 . A system for determining a characteristic of a bodily fluid, said system being portable and of a size that can be easily held in a human hand, said system comprising:

a test strip having a test area and containing a reagent capable of interacting with said bodily fluid to determine said characteristic, wherein the test strip contains layers that slow a flow of red blood cells in said bodily fluid and the test strip further includes a red blood cell filtering layer, wherein the red blood cell filtering layer includes lectins;

a test strip holder comprising:

a test holder base having a test strip support supporting said test strip and a sensor port communicating with said test strip, and

a test holder cap having a sample port and a projecting flange;

said test holder base and said cap including an engagement mechanism, said cap secured to said test holder base with said test strip held between said flange and said test strip support along essentially the entire periphery of said test area, wherein said flange is of a length such that the distance between said test strip support and the distal end of said flange is less than the uncompressed thickness of said test strip causing the distal end of said flange and said test strip support to pinch said test strip.

15 . The system of claim 14 where the red blood cell filtering layer is non-brittle and can withstand the pressure of the test strip.

16 . The system of claim 14 where the red blood cell filtering layer is made out of Borosilicate Glass Fiber.

17 . The system of claim 14 where the blood filtering layer is impregnated with Poly Vinyl Alcohol.

18 . A carrier system for a diagnostic dry test strip for use in measuring an analyte in a fluid sample, said carrier system comprising:

a carrier base including a test strip well adapted for receiving a dry test strip and a test port communicating with said well and enabling said test strip to be observed, wherein the dry test strip includes a red blood cell separation layer having lectins;

a cover having a sample opening; and

engagement elements on said carrier base and said cover configured to engage said cover to said carrier body with said sample opening aligned over said test port and said dry test strip compressed between said carrier base and said cover;

wherein said engagement elements include: a maximum dry test strip compression stop controlling the maximum compression on said dry test strip, and a minimum dry test strip compression stop controlling the minimum compression on said dry test strip.

19 . The carrier system of claim 18 where the red blood cell separation layer is non-brittle and can withstand the pressure of the test strip.

20 . The carrier system of claim 18 where the red blood cell separation layer is impregnated with Poly Vinyl Alcohol.

21 . A dry test strip having a plurality of layers, a first layer of the plurality of layers for filtering red blood cells, the first layer comprising:

a Borosilicate Glass Fiber layer; and

lectin, impregnated in the borosilicate layer, such that the dry test strip is configured to filter red blood cells from a blood sample.

22 . A method of converting a hydrophobic filtering layer for use in red blood cell separation, the method comprising:

(a) providing a filtering layer;

(b) adding lectins causing the filtering layer to agglutinate RBCs.

23 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the filtering layer is a borosilicate glass layer.

24 . The method of claim 23 , further comprising:

(c) adding poly vinyl alcohol causing the filtering layer to be less brittle and improving its hydrophilic nature.

25 . The method of claim 24 , further comprising:

(d) adding an additive selected from the list consisting of Sorbitol/Mannitol and Sucralose/Sorbitol.