Biological Fluid Filtration System
A biological fluid filtration system for scanning a biological fluid so as to filter potentially undesirable constituents from the biological fluid for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes. The biological fluid filtration system generally includes a fluid receiving device adapted to receive a biological fluid. A valve including an inlet, a first outlet, and a second outlet is fluidly connected to the fluid receiving device. The biological fluid within the fluid receiving device is scanned by a scanner to produce scanned data relating to the biological fluid. A control unit in communication with the scanner and the valve receives the scanned data and controls the valve based on the scanned data. The valve is controlled to direct the biological fluid through either the first or second outlet of the valve depending upon the constituents of the biological fluid identified by the control unit.
1 . A biological fluid filtration system, comprising:
a presorting device including an inlet and an outlet, wherein the inlet is adapted to receive a biological fluid, wherein the presorting device is adapted to remove a first constituent from the biological fluid;
a fluid receiving device fluidly connected to the outlet of the presorting device, wherein the fluid receiving device is adapted to receive the biological fluid after the presorting device has removed the first constituent from the biological fluid;
a valve comprising an inlet, a first outlet, and a second outlet, wherein the inlet of the valve is fluidly connected to the fluid receiving device;
a scanner configured to scan the biological fluid within the fluid receiving device to produce a scanned data relating to the biological fluid within the fluid receiving device; and
a control unit in communication with the scanner and the valve, wherein the control unit is configured to receive the scanned data from the scanner, and wherein the control unit is configured to control the valve based on the scanned data from the scanner;
wherein the control unit is configured to control the valve to (a) direct the biological fluid through the first outlet if the control unit determines that the scanned data indicates a presence of an undesirable constituent within the biological fluid or (b) direct the biological fluid through the second outlet if the control unit determines that the scanned data does not indicate a presence of an undesirable constituent within the biological fluid.
2 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the presorting device is comprised of a centrifuge.
3 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the presorting device is adapted to apply a chemical agent to the biological fluid to remove the first constituent from the biological fluid.
4 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 3 , wherein the chemical agent is comprised of a red blood cell lysis buffer.
5 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the presorting device is comprised of a microfluidic separation device.
6 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 5 , wherein the microfluidic separation device is adapted to apply inertial focusing to the biological fluid to remove the first constituent from the biological fluid.
7 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 5 , wherein the microfluidic separation device is adapted to apply size-based separation to the biological fluid to remove the first constituent from the biological fluid.
8 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the first constituent is comprised of a healthy cell.
9 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the first constituent is comprised of a malignant cell.
10 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the first constituent is comprised of a circulating tumor cell.
11 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the first constituent is comprised of a white blood cell.
12 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the first constituent is comprised of a red blood cell.
13 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the first constituent is comprised of cell free plasma.
14 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the first constituent is comprised of a circulating tumor cell cluster.
15 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the first constituent is comprised of a bacterium.
16 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the first constituent is comprised of a virus.
17 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the first constituent is comprised of a fungus.
18 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the first constituent is comprised of an extracellular vesicle.
19 . A method of filtering a biological fluid using the biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , comprising the steps of:
receiving the biological fluid by the presorting device;
removing a first constituent from the biological fluid by the presorting device;
receiving the biological fluid by the fluid receiving device after the first constituent has been removed from the biological fluid;
scanning the biological fluid within the fluid receiving device by the scanner;
directing the biological fluid through the first outlet if the control unit determines that the scanned data indicates a presence of an undesirable constituent within the biological fluid; and
directing the biological fluid through the second outlet if the control unit determines that the scanned data does not indicate a presence of an undesirable constituent within the biological fluid.
20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising the step of applying inertial focusing to the biological fluid by the presorting device to remove the first constituent from the biological fluid.
21 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising the step of applying a chemical agent to the biological fluid by the presorting device to remove the first constituent from the biological fluid.
22 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising the step of applying centrifugation to the biological fluid by the presorting device to remove the first constituent from the biological fluid.
23 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising the step of applying dielectric sorting to the biological fluid by the presorting device to remove the first constituent from the biological fluid.
24 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising the step of applying acoustic sorting to the biological fluid by the presorting device to remove the first constituent from the biological fluid.
25 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising the step of performing diagnostics on the first constituent after the first constituent has been removed from the biological fluid.