Centrifugal separation container, centrifugal separation device, and centrifugal separation method using said container and device

Abstract

A storage portion forming a storage space 10, includes an inclined inner wall portion 20 that is connected to a base portion so that the diameter of the inclined inner wall portion gradually decreases; a concave portion 22 is formed at a part of the inclined inner wall portion; and the concave portion 22 includes a concave portion side surface 22 b that is connected to a concave portion bottom surface 22 a. The concave portion 22 is formed at a position, where the concave portion crosses an interface S between the specimen centrifuged during rotation and air, in a radial direction with respect to the central axis; and the maximum width of the concave portion 22 in a circumferential direction around the central axis is included in a range of 2 mm to a length of 20% of the whole circumference.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A centrifugal separation container that is used in a method of centrifugally separating a first specific gravity component and a second specific gravity component, of which a specific gravity of the second gravity component is higher than a specific gravity of the first specific gravity component, contained in a specimen injected into a storage space by rotating a container about a central axis of the container as a rotation axis, the centrifugal separation container comprising:
 a storage portion that forms the storage space,   wherein the storage portion includes an inclined inner wall portion of which a diameter gradually decreases from an upper end toward a lower end thereof and the lower end is connected to a base portion,   a concave portion is formed at a part of the inclined inner wall portion,   the concave portion includes a concave portion side surface that is connected to a concave portion bottom surface with a width of the concave portion gradually decreases toward the concave portion bottom surface from the inclined inner wall portion,   the concave portion is formed at a position, where the concave portion crosses an interface between the specimen centrifuged during rotation and air, in a radial direction with respect to the central axis, and   the maximum width of the concave portion in a circumferential direction around the central axis is included in a range of 2 mm to a length of 20% of the whole circumference passing through the concave portion having a center on the central axis.   
     
     
         2 . The centrifugal separation container according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein a connecting portion between the inclined inner wall portion and the concave portion side surface has a curvature.   
     
     
         3 . The centrifugal separation container according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein a connecting portion between the concave portion side surface and the concave portion bottom surface has a curvature.   
     
     
         4 . The centrifugal separation container according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein a connecting portion between the concave portion side surface and the concave portion bottom surface has a curvature.   
     
     
         5 . The centrifugal separation container according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein a mean depth of the concave portion is 0.5 mm or more.   
     
     
         6 . The centrifugal separation container according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein a mean depth of the concave portion is 0.5 mm or more.   
     
     
         7 . The centrifugal separation container according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the maximum depth of the concave portion is in the range of 0.5 mm to 2 mm.   
     
     
         8 . The centrifugal separation container according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the maximum width of the concave portion is 10 mm or less.   
     
     
         9 . The centrifugal separation container according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the concave portion has the shape of a fan.   
     
     
         10 . The centrifugal separation container according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein one concave portion is formed.   
     
     
         11 . The centrifugal separation container according to  claim 10 , further comprising:
 a balancing portion that offsets a deviation of the center of gravity from the central axis caused by the formation of the concave portion to balance the container.   
     
     
         12 . The centrifugal separation container according to  claim 11 ,
 wherein the balancing portion is provided on the inclined inner wall portion at a position that is symmetrical to the position of the concave portion with respect to the central axis.   
     
     
         13 . The centrifugal separation container according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein two to four concave portions are formed.   
     
     
         14 . The centrifugal separation container according to  claim 13 ,
 wherein the concave portions are evenly disposed in the circumferential direction.   
     
     
         15 . The centrifugal separation container according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the maximum length of the concave portion is in the range of 5 mm to 15 mm.   
     
     
         16 . The centrifugal separation container according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the concave portion is formed from the uppermost portion of the inclined inner wall portion.   
     
     
         17 . The centrifugal separation container according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the storage portion includes a trap portion that is connected to an upper end of the inclined inner wall portion and forms a trap space housing the second specific gravity component when the specimen is centrifugally separated and a layer structure body is formed on an outer peripheral side of the storage space.   
     
     
         18 . The centrifugal separation container according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein a thixotropic separating agent, which has a specific gravity between the specific gravity of the first specific gravity component and the specific gravity of the second specific gravity component, is provided in the storage space.   
     
     
         19 . A centrifugal separation device comprising:
 the centrifugal separation container according to  claim 1 ; and   a container holder that rotates about a central axis of the container as a rotation axis while holding the container.   
     
     
         20 . A centrifugal separation method comprising:
 injecting a specimen into the centrifugal separation container according to  claim 1 ; and   centrifugally separating a first specific gravity component and a second specific gravity component, of which a specific gravity of the second gravity component is higher than a specific gravity of the first specific gravity component, contained in the specimen by rotating the container about a central axis of the container as a rotation axis.