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 adapted to receive a biological fluid, wherein the presorting device is adapted to separate a first subset of constituents of the biological fluid from a second subset of constituents of the biological fluid, wherein the presorting device includes a first outlet and a second outlet;
an isolation channel fluidly connected to the first outlet of the presorting device, wherein the presorting device is adapted to direct the first subset of constituents to the isolation channel;
a fluid filtration device fluidly connected to the second outlet of the presorting device, wherein the presorting device is adapted to direct the second subset of constituents to the fluid filtration device, wherein the fluid filtration device is fluidly connected to the isolation channel; and
a return channel fluidly connected to the fluid filtration device;
wherein the fluid filtration device is adapted to (a) direct the second subset of constituents to the isolation channel if the fluid filtration device determines that the second subset of constituents indicates a presence of an undesirable constituent within the second subset of constituents or (b) direct the second subset of constituents to the return channel if the fluid filtration device determines that the second subset of constituents does not indicate the presence of the undesirable constituent within the second subset of constituents.
2 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , further comprising a drug infuser device fluidly connected to the return channel.
3 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 2 , wherein the drug infuser device is configured to infuse a drug within the second subset of constituents.
4 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the fluid filtration device is adapted to count the first subset of constituents within the isolation channel.
5 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the fluid filtration device is adapted to count the second subset of constituents within the isolation channel.
6 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the presorting device is adapted to separate a third subset of constituents from the biological fluid.
7 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 6 , wherein the presorting device includes a third outlet, wherein the third outlet is fluidly connected to the return channel, and wherein the presorting device is adapted to direct the third subset of constituents to the return channel.
8 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 6 , wherein the first subset of constituents includes only undesirable constituents.
9 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 8 , wherein the second subset of constituents includes a mix of desirable constituents and undesirable constituents.
10 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 9 , wherein the third subset of constituents includes only desirable constituents.
11 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the presorting device is comprised of a centrifuge.
12 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the presorting device is comprised of a microfluidic separation device.
13 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 12 , wherein the microfluidic separation device is adapted to apply inertial focusing to the biological fluid to separate the first subset of constituents from the second subset of constituents.
14 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 12 , wherein the microfluidic separation device is adapted to apply size-based separation to the biological fluid to remove the first subset of constituents from the second subset of constituents.
15 . A method of filtering a biological fluid using the biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , comprising the steps of:
separating the first subset of constituents from the second subset of constituents by the presorting device;
directing the first subset of constituents to the isolation channel;
directing the second subset of constituents to the fluid filtration device; and
counting the first subset of constituents within the isolation channel.
16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising the step of profiling the first subset of constituents within the isolation channel.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the step of profiling is comprised of applying genomic profiling to the first subset of constituents within the isolation channel.
18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the step of profiling is comprised of applying transcriptomic profiling to the first subset of constituents within the isolation channel.
19 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising the step of testing a drug ex vivo on the first subset of constituents within the isolation channel.
20 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the return channel is fluidly connected to a source of the biological fluid.
21 . The biological fluid filtration system of claim 1 , wherein the fluid filtration device is comprised of:
a fluid receiving device adapted to receive the second subset of constituents;
a scanner configured to scan the second subset of constituents within the fluid receiving device to produce a scanned data relating to the second subset of constituents within the fluid receiving device; and
a control unit in communication with the scanner, wherein the control unit is configured to receive the scanned data from the scanner;
wherein the control unit is configured to (a) direct the second subset of constituents to the isolation channel if the control unit determines that the scanned data indicates the presence of the undesirable constituent within the second subset of constituents or (b) direct the second subset of constituents to the return channel if the control unit determines that the scanned data does not indicate the presence of the undesirable constituent within the second subset of constituents.