| abstract |
A process and device for separating plasma or serum from whole blood. The device includes one or more bibulous matrices, treated to separate the serum or plasma from the cellular components of whole blood. In one embodiment of the invention, the separated, undiluted soluble constituents (plasma or serum) from the whole blood sample can then can be analyzed for a particular soluble constituent. The process includes depositing the whole blood on a treated bibulous matrix containing a nonblood specific lectin, a thrombin or mixture thereof, whereby the cellular components are separated from the whole blood as it permeates through the bibulous matrix. The essentially cell-free plasma or serum then passes to an assay area of the same, or an adjacent, bibulous matrix for detection of a particular soluble constituent of whole blood. |