Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company

3m Innovative Properties Company

Richard R Matner

William E Foltz

Lewis P Woodson

William Bedingham

Kenneth Brian Wood

Joel R Dufresne

Diane North

Michael R Harms

The present invention provides methods and devices for distributing sample material to a plurality of process chambers in a sample processing device by rotating the device about an axis of rotation. The process chambers are located along conduits extending from a loading chamber and, together, the loading chamber, conduits, and process chambers form process arrays that are aligned along a length of the sample processing devices. The process arrays are unvented, i.e., access to the interior volume of the process arrays is available only through the loading chamber. Also disclosed are methods of centrifugally loading sample material into the process chambers, as well as an assembly including a sample processing device and a carrier.

Centrifugal filling of sample processing devices

A rapid method of determining the efficacy of a sterilization cycle, and an indicator adapted to perform such method, comprising subjecting to the sterilization cycle a source of active enzyme having activity which correlates with the viability of a microorganism commonly used to monitor sterilization, and incubating the enzyme source, following the completion of the sterilization cycle, with an effective amount of a substrate system capable of reacting with any residual active enzyme to produce a detectable enzyme-modified product.

Rapid read-out biological indicator

A unitary sterility indicator and a method for its use, the indicator comprising an outer container having liquid impermeable and gas non-absorptive walls, and having a gas-transmissive, bacteria impermeable opening therein; contained within the outer container, a detectable amount of a source of active enzyme and/or another microorganism commonly used to monitor sterilization; a sealed, openable gas and liquid impermeable inner container containing an aqueous medium and/or a nutrient growth medium, disposed in the outer container; an enzyme substrate system capable of reacting with active enzyme to produce a detectable enzyme-modified product and/or a detector material sensitive to microorganism growth, contained in one of the containers; and means contained within the outer container for restricting the area in which enzyme-modified product and/or growing microorganisms are contained, after the inner container is opened, to an area which is less than the volume of aqueous solution contained in the inner container.

Rapid read-out sterility indicator

A method and article for the identification of colonies of microbes involves the use of a reconstitutable dry culture medium plate in combination with a transfer membrane. Microbe-specific antigen can be extracted from the surface of the growth medium of the plate and its presence determined, e.g., by immunoassay.

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Saint Paul, MN, United States of America

Richard R Matner