Patent number: 9797898

Methods and devices for using mucolytic agents including N-acetyl cysteine (NAC)

Original Assignee: Rapid Pathogen Screening, Inc.

Field of technology: Medical

Patent granted on: Tue, 24 Oct 2017

Patent drawing

Abstract

Devices and methods incorporate mucolytic agents into a point-of-care testing device. The sample is loaded, and then the sample travels until it encounters one or more lysis agents and/or mucolytic agents. The mucolytic agent is preferably pre-loaded onto the collection device. In a preferred embodiment, the mucolytic agent is localized between the sample application zone and the conjugate zone. In embodiments with a sample compressor, one or more mucolytic agents may be pre-loaded and dried on the sample compressor, the sample collector, in various locations on the test strip, or in the running buffer.