Apparatus and methods for magnetic separation
US6361749B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 18, 1999 |
| Grant date | Mar 26, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 18, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T436/24
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Separation apparatus and method for separating magnetic and/or magnetically-labeled particles from a test medium in a reaction chamber which incorporates baffles, a spinner, a stirrer, or a plunger operable to be displaced along a collection surface to define a narrow flow path through which the particle-laden test medium must flow. The collection surface is a thin-walled non-magnetic material having a plurality of magnetic pole faces positioned therearound. Test medium within a reaction chamber is caused to flow past a collecting surface, and a high-gradient magnetic field is applied to the surface to capture magnetically responsive particles in the test medium. The particles are deflected toward the collection surface in the flow path for the test medium. The narrow flow path assures that substantially all of the particles pass within the high-gradient magnetic field along the collection surface. The particles are normally suspended in the medium, and are separated out of suspension by adhesion to the collection surface. The particles may be resuspended by removal of the surface from the high-gradient field, or removal of the high-gradient field from the surface.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.