| abstract |
A sampling device (210, 1710, 1910, 2110, 2310) which can be used to safely obtain samples of biological fluids, such as, for example, saliva, urine, water, tears, and vaginal fluids. The device can include a sample container (211, 1711, 1911, 2111, 2311), a sample collector for collecting a sample of biological fluids (213, 1713, 2113, 2313), and a collection container (1714, 1914, 2155). Means (214, 1715, 1915, and 2114) can be provided, so that when the sample collector selectively receives a sample of biological fluid, an indicator activated by a preselected amount of the received sample of biological fluid indicates that the collected sample of biological fluid is of adequate amount. The sample collector may, for example, include a piston (1932, 2115) fitting closely within the sample container and a porous mass which may be compressed by the piston in the sample container to extract the sample of biological fluids. For example, when the sample container (1911) is inserted into the collection container (1914) the sample container (1911) becomes fluidly coupled to the collection container (1914) which receives the collected sample of biological fluids. In another embodiment, a sampling device (2110) may also include an assembly with at least one container (2170) containing a solution which may be used to mix with the collected sample of biological fluids. |