Gas sampling cell

• US 10,012,585 B2
• Filed: 10/12/2015
• Issued: 07/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oridion Medical 1987 Limited (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: Oridion Medical 1987 Limited (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Goldring, Alon, Sasson, Alon, Bar-Lev, Avner, Levitsky, Gershon
• Primary Examiner(s): Gaworecki, Mark R
• Application Number:
  US14/880,280
• Publication Number:
  US 20170102322A1
• Time in Patent Office: 995 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0233 Special features of optical sensors or probes classified in A61B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/00 Measuring for diagnostic purposes radiation diagnosis A61B6/00; diagnosis by ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves A61B8/00; Identification of persons
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0082 adapted for particular medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/082 Evaluation by breath analysis, e.g. determination of the chemical composition of exhaled breath A61B5/083, A61B5/091 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0836 Measuring rate of CO2 production
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 1/00 Sampling; Preparing specimens for investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/3504 for analysing gases, e.g. multi-gas analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/0037 NOx
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/004 CO or CO2
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 50/20 Air quality improvement or preservation, e.g. vehicle emission control or emission reduction by using catalytic converters

Abstract

A sensor for detecting concentration of a component in a breath sample including a gas sampling cell having an inlet, an outlet, a light source, a first light detector, a sampling channel configured to receive gas samples from the inlet; the sampling channel defining a light path between said light source and said first light detector; and a volume occupying material located within the sampling channel, the volume occupying material having an absorption coefficient for mid-infra-red light below 0.5 cm⁻¹ at room temperature.

Claims

1. A sensor for detecting concentration of a component in a breath sample, the sensor comprising a gas sampling cell comprising:

an inlet;

an outlet;

a light source;

a first light detector;

a sampling channel configured to receive gas samples from the inlet and comprising a length extending from a first end to a second end of the sampling channel;

the sampling channel defining an optic path along the length between the light source and the first light detector, wherein the light source is positioned adjacent to the first end and the first light detector is positioned adjacent to the second end; and

a volume occupying material located within the sampling channel, wherein the volume occupying material extends the length of the sampling channel from the first end to the second end, the volume occupying material having an absorption coefficient for mid-infra-red light below 0.5 cm<sup>−

1</sup>.

2. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the volume occupying material having an absorption coefficient for mid-infra-red light below 0.3 cm⁻

1.

3. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the volume occupying material having an absorption coefficient for mid-infra-red light below 0.1 cm⁻

1.

4. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the volume occupying material occupies between 25%-75% of the volume of the sampling channel.

5. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the volume occupying material occupies between 35%-65% of the volume of the sampling channel.

6. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the volume occupying material comprises sapphire, silicone, germanium or any combination thereof.

7. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the light source is an infra-red (IR) light source.

8. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the first light detector comprises a first optical filter.

9. The sensor of claim 8, wherein the first light detector comprise a second optical filter;

wherein the first optical filter is configured to transmit light having a first wavelength; and

wherein the second optical filter is configured to transmit light having a second wavelength.

10. The sensor of claim 8, wherein the gas sampling cell further comprises a reference light detector.

11. The sensor of claim 10, wherein the reference light detector comprise a first and a second optical filter;

wherein the first optical filter is configured to transmit light having a first wavelength;

wherein the second optical filter is configured to transmit light having a second wavelength.

12. The sensor of claim 10, wherein a path length between the light source and the first light detector and/or the reference light detector is in the range of 5-15 mm.

13. The sensor of claim 10, wherein a distance between a first end of the volume occupying material and the light source is less than 5 mm.

14. The sensor of claim 10, wherein a distance between a second end of the volume occupying material and the first light detector and/or the reference light detector is less than 5 mm.

15. The sensor of claim 1, wherein a wall of the volume occupying material is covered with a reflective material.

16. The sensor of claim 1, wherein a wall of the sampling channel is covered with a reflective material.

17. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the gas sampling cell is devoid of a reference channel.

18. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the component is CO₂.

19. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the component is Nitric Oxide.