CELL DETECTION USING SMALL VOLUME ELEMENTS

摘要

Disclosed is a system for detecting living cells in a fluid comprising or suspected of comprising the living cells. In one aspect, the system comprises: a) a first implementation adapted to receive the fluid and to render at least a portion of any living cells in the fluid suitable for concentration; b) a second implementation adapted to receive at least a portion of the fluid from the first implementation, wherein the second implementation comprises an array of individual elements adapted to concentrate the living cells from the fluid and to reduce diffusion of the fluid between each element, the system being further adapted to disperse the living cells from the first implementation into each of the individual elements; and c) a detector operably linked to each individual element in the array, the detector being capable of registering elements having at least one living cell therein, wherein, detection of cells by the system is indicative of the presence of the living cells in the fluid. Additionally disclosed are methods for using the system to detect living cells in a fluid of interest such as blood or a blood-related product such as plasma.