Device determining somatic cell counts in milk - research institute has developed universal instrument for measuring the viscosity of liquids, and is looking for joint venture agreement, manufacturing or technical cooperation agreement.

The innovative analytical device was developed to determine the somatic cell counts in milk in order to detect mastitis (inflammation of the mammary glands). Indicator of this inflammatory process is the increased number of somatic cells in milk, which is used to infer the severity of the mammary gland disease. The device detects the number of somatic cells in milk on the basis of measuring the altered viscosity of milk. Precise amount of freshly collected milk (100 ml) is treated with the same amount of reagent and mixed gently. The viscosity of the mixture of milk and reagent increases depending on the number of somatic cells in milk. The measurement of the viscosity is based on a simple process, in which the mixture of milk and reagent is poured into a funnel placed on the top of the device. The mixture subsequently flows into a glass tube through which within 20 seconds a stainless ball (of precise diameter) starts to drop towards the bottom. First sensor placed on the upper end of the tube detects the crossing of the ball and the device starts timing. After passing the second sensor at the lower end of the tube, the timing is stopped. Microprocessor converts measured time into somatic cell count and displays the value on the display. The measured value can be stored in the memory of the device under the number of the sample and then saved to the PC where the measurement results are numerically and graphically evaluated. The proposed device is, however, considerably more versatile and can be also used for measuring the viscosity of various other liquids for any required purposes. The research institute is interested in technology transfer with industrial companies. They prefer to cooperate via joint venture agreement, manufacturing agreement or technical cooperation agreement.