US 11,745,182 B2
Collapsible centrifugation vial system and method
John R. Chapman, Sacramento, CA (US)
Assigned to Stem Cell Partners, LLC, Sacramento, CA (US)
Filed by Stem Cell Partners, LLC, Sacramento, CA (US)
Filed on Jan. 9, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/738,277.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/790,124, filed on Jan. 9, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2020/0215533 A1, Jul. 9, 2020
Int. Cl. B01L 3/00 (2006.01); B01L 9/00 (2006.01); B04B 5/04 (2006.01); B01D 15/10 (2006.01)
CPC B01L 3/505 (2013.01) [B01D 15/10 (2013.01); B01L 9/00 (2013.01); B04B 5/0428 (2013.01); B01L 2300/0681 (2013.01); B01L 2300/0832 (2013.01); B01L 2300/0858 (2013.01); B01L 2300/12 (2013.01); B01L 2400/06 (2013.01)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for separation of components of a fluid mixture, the method including the steps of:
loading a vial with the fluid mixture, the vial having a first end opposite a second end, and with a collapsible sidewall extending at least partially between the first end and the second end, and with an inlet spaced from the first end;
rotating the vial in a centrifuge about a rotational axis, with the first end further from the rotational axis than the second end, until the fluid mixture is at least partially separated into at least two components, including a first component and a second component, the first component closer to the first end of the vial than the second component;
ejecting at least a portion of the second component of the fluid mixture from the vial through the inlet by collapsing the sidewall of the vial to reduce vial volume; and
wherein said loading step includes the vial having a bulb adjacent to the first end, and with a neck extending from the bulb toward the second end, said bulb having a larger cross-sectional area perpendicular to a long axis, extending between the first end and the second end, than a cross-sectional area of the neck.