Process and apparatus for heartworm microfilariae detection

摘要

Methods and apparatus are already in use in the field of veterinary medicine for detecting microfilariae of heartworm in blood, comprising lysing blood samples to destroy corpuscular components, filtering the lysed samples on microporous transparent filters, staining any microfilariae on the filter, and observing the stained microfilariae under a microscope. The present invention simplifies and improves upon the older practices by providing a premix of lysing solution and staining dye, in a disposable vial, and a disposable filtrate vial surmounted by disposable filter cap holding a microporous filter element. The blood sample is injected into the premix for simultaneous lysing and staining, transferred to the filter cap for filtration and the filter element transferred to a microscope slide for observation.