Appeal No. 1997-2389
Application No. 08/987,233
distributing a defined volume of a liquid sample as a number of equal volume
aliquots into a number of receptacles each associated with membrane material so that the
microbe is randomly distributed on the membrane material associated with said
receptacles,
filtering the aliquots [sic] to collect on the membrane material microbes contained in
the liquid sample and
sequentially performing in a single assay
a first test to determine the presumptive presence of the specific microbe and to
confirm the presence of the microbe, which first test comprises:
(a) contacting the membrane material with a non-selective medium permitting
growth of the microbes collected, said medium including metabolizable substrates;
(b) incubating the membrane material so that the microbes multiply;
(c) analyzing the medium for a metabolic by-product which indicates the
presumptive presence of the viable specific microbe to be determined and for the
presence of another metabolic by-product which confirms the presence of said viable
microbe; and
(d) removing the non-selective medium from the membrane material and
a second test to completely determine and quantify the presence of the microbe,
which second test comprises:
(a) contacting the microbe collected on the membrane material with a
predetermined amount of a detectable immunoreactive reagent specific for the microbe to
be determined under conditions permitting formation of complexes between the
immunoreactive reagent and the microbe,
(b) completing the identification of the microbe based on said complex and
(c) determining the amount of complex formed and thereby the amount of the
specific microbe originally present in the liquid sample.
3
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007