Patent Claims
The provisional patent application contains 10 focused claims: 2 independent claims establishing the core method and diagnostic kit, and 8 dependent claims covering specific sub-methods, toxin classes, and applications.
Note: These claims are from a provisional patent application filed for the purpose of establishing a priority date. They are presented here for educational and research reference only. The final claim language will be refined in the non-provisional application.
A method for comprehensive environmental toxin assessment comprising: (a) isolating PBMCs from a blood sample; (b) performing both HRMS and EIS analysis on the PBMC sample; and (c) integrating chemical toxin data from HRMS with functional cellular data from EIS to provide a multi-modal assessment.
The method of claim 1, wherein the HRMS analysis comprises one or more of LC-HRMS, GC-HRMS, or an ambient ionization mass spectrometry technique.
The method of claim 2, wherein the ambient ionization technique is selected from MALDI, DART, and LAESI.
The method of claim 1, wherein detected toxins include one or more of: heavy metals, organochlorine pesticides, organophosphate pesticides, PCBs, POPs, mycotoxins, silicone oligomers, PFAS, dioxins, PAHs, microplastics, and nanoplastics.
The method of claim 1, wherein the EIS analysis is performed in a microfluidic device to measure intracellular electrical capacity (iEC) and cellular impedance.
The method of claim 1, wherein the multi-modal assessment is correlated with the diagnosis, prognosis, or monitoring of a disease associated with environmental toxin exposure.
The method of claim 6, wherein the disease or condition is Autoimmune/Inflammatory Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants (ASIA).
The method of claim 1, wherein the subject is a non-human animal.
The method of claim 8, wherein the subject is a livestock animal and the method is used to assess mycotoxin exposure to predict impacts on agricultural production.
A kit for performing the method of claim 1, comprising: (a) materials for PBMC isolation; (b) reagents and certified reference standards for HRMS analysis; and (c) a microfluidic device with interdigitated electrodes for EIS measurement.
Claim Structure
Stand-alone claims that define the broadest scope of the invention. Claims 1 and 10 are independent.
Claims that reference and narrow an independent claim. They provide fallback positions and cover specific embodiments.
Core Innovation
The central novel element is the synergistic combination of HRMS and EIS on a single PBMC sample — providing both chemical identification and functional assessment in one workflow. No prior art was found that discloses this specific multi-modal combination for environmental toxin assessment.
Filing Status
This is a provisional patent application. It establishes a priority date and grants 12 months to file a non-provisional (utility) application with the USPTO. During this period, the invention may be described as "Patent Pending."