TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to blood collection tubes used in the healthcare field for transferring blood samples taken from patients to biochemistry laboratories and for conducting respective analyses.

The present invention particularly relates to a glass-coating application applied through next generation technologies to the inner portion of blood collection tubes manufactured from PET material.

STATE OF THE ART

Various laboratory analyses are carried out on biological materials in clinical biochemistry laboratories for purposes including diagnosing diseases, establishing differential diagnoses, determining the severity of an illness, monitoring the treatment of a disease, and revealing asymptomatic diseases. Blood samples are put into blood collection tubes based on the type of test to be conducted and on the test to be carried out at the laboratory department.

Glass used in the production of blood collection tubes was gradually abandoned in existing applications. Since materials of PET, PP or PE types may be produced in a much lighter and easier manner in terms of processing when compared to glass, they replaced the production of glass blood collection tubes.

Since blood is directly drawn into PET blood collection tubes, blood, as a substance, is inclined to get into chemical reactions with PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) material. Therefore, products should not be kept inside PET for extended periods of time. The fact that transmittance of plastic blood collection tubes is not as good as their glass counterparts affects the duration of use. Accordingly, the fact that these tubes have short duration of use poses a disadvantage for PET blood collection tubes.

In cases where blood collection tubes manufactured from available PET or plastic materials are to be shipped to overseas countries which takes significantly longer periods of time, various difficulties are experienced in terms of shipping and storing durations. Consequently, a certain number of blood collection tubes may not be used as the entirety of blood collection tubes drawing near to their shelf life will be expired before they can be put into use in case the shipment process takes longer than anticipated.

The patent application with the publication number of "EP1965923 B1" was identified as a result of the literature search conducted in the state of the art. When the respective patent application is examined, it is understood that the invention disclosed in said application relates to a plastic test tube for taking blood samples wherein the outer layer of the tube is made out of PET material and the inner layer comprises a protective film coated with polypropylene, polyethylene and copolymers thereof.

The patent application with the publication number of "EP2001670 B1" was identified as a result of the literature search conducted in the state of the art. When the respective patent application examined, it is understood that the invention disclosed in said application relates to a PVC-free blood collection tube comprising three layers wherein each of said layers contains polyolefin.

Consequently, the existence of the aforementioned problems and the inadequacy of available solutions necessitated making an improvement in the related technical field pertaining to blood collection tubes.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

The main object of the present invention is to provide a blood collection tube wherein the inner layer of said tube is coated with glass and the outer layer thereof is manufactured from PET material.

It is therefore an object of the inventive blood collection tube to ensure that the sample contained within the tube is preserved in the most efficient way by means of preventing ingress of oxygen in tubes manufactured from PET material.

It is thus an object of the inventive blood collection tube to ensure that blood sample contained within blood collection tubes remains purer and more natural. It is thus an object of the inventive blood collection tube to provide a more hygienic and extended shelf life by means of the fact that the primary material of glass to be applied to the PET material is (SiOx), i.e. pure quartz.

It is thus an object of the inventive blood collection tube to prevent the sample contained within the tube from coming into contact with gases as the gas permeability will be eliminated by means of high-quality glass barrier to be applied to the inner layer of the tube. It is therefore a further object of the inventive blood collection tube to prevent any losses that may potentially occur in the vacuum amount.

It is thus a further object of the inventive blood collection tube to extend the duration of use by means of gas, liquid inhibition and permeability characteristics of glass material, since the duration of use depends on the permeability of membranes (inner-outer body) as well as on the gas permeability of materials.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Figure 1 illustrates the perspective view of the inventive blood collection tube of which inner portion is manufactured from glass and the outer layer thereof is manufactured from PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) material.

Figure 2 illustrates the detailed sectional view of the inventive blood collection tube.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

A. Blood Collection Tube

1. Main Body

2. Inner Body

3. Seal Element

4. Cap

The figures are not necessarily required to be scaled, moreover, details that are not mandatory for understanding the present invention may have been omitted. Furthermore, elements that are substantially identical to one another or that have substantially identical functionalities are indicated with the same numerals. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the detailed description provided herein, preferred embodiments of the inventive blood collection tube (A) are solely provided for the purpose of ensuring a better understanding of the respective subject and therefore, they cannot be considered imposing any limiting effects.

The inventive blood collection tube (A) is used in the healthcare field for transferring blood samples taken from patients to biochemistry laboratories and for conducting respective analyses. Main body (1) of the inventive blood collection tube (A) is manufactured from PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) material. Whereas the inner body (2) is made out of glass material that completely cuts off the contact of taken sample medium with the main body (1). The seal element (3) located on the stopper portion of the blood collection tube (A) is a seal and preferably manufactured from NBR (Nitrile Rubber). The cap (4) which is engaged to the outer portion of the seal cuts off the contact of the inner volume with the outer environment. Said cap (4) is made out of HDPE (high-density polyethylene) + LDPE (low-density polyethylene) material. Seal element (3) inhibits the gas permeability.

By means of the present invention, the inner portion of the blood collection tube (A) which is manufactured from PET material is coated with the primary material of glass (Si02), i.e. silisium. Thus, a more hygienic and extended shelf life may be achieved. Performing glass coating on the inner body (2) which is the inner portion of the main body (1) made out of PET material with glass eliminates gas permeability and prevents the gasses from getting into contact with samples. Moreover, any losses that may occur in the vacuum amount are also prevented.

Sustainability characteristics in the production of tubes should be ensured in order for maintaining the volume fractions (vacuum volume, active volume, nominal volume, solution volume, etc.) of vacutainer blood collection tubes within clinically accepted limits. Therefore, the characteristics of liquid and gas inhibition of the blood collection tube (A) are the most important parameters that affect the expected life of the blood collection tube. In the present invention, the inner body (2) which is the inner surface of the main body (1), and which comes into contact with collected sample is coated with glass, and the sample is prevented from getting into contact with any gas and liquid from the outer environment by means of the sealing element (3). Well-defined blood intake capacity should be able to ensure the minimum determined expected life of the vacuum existing inside the tube during the closure of blood collection tubes (A) used for collecting blood samples. Blood intake capacity is measured as blood volume. This corresponds to a portion of the nominal volume of the blood collection tube (A). This portion is the intake vacuum volume. Therefore, the expected life of the blood collection tube (A) depends on the permeability of product's membranes, as well as gas and liquid inhibition characteristics based on these parameters. Accordingly, blood collection tube (A) obtained by means of the glass-coating process applied to the inner body (2) has a longer expected life when compared to tubes used in the state of the art and manufactured from plastic polymers.