Hand-held micro-raman based detection instrument and method of detection
First Claim
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1. A hand held Raman spectroscopic instrument for pathogen detection comprising:
- a housing having a handle portion, a head portion and an end effector, the end effector comprising a disposable speculum that comprisesa base detachably secured to the head portion of the housing and a tip having an aperture formed therethrough, the disposable speculum tapering from the base to the tip; and
a filter located at the aperture, an optical window located near the base, and a port coupled to the end effector for drawing a sample through the filter and onto the optical window by vacuum;
a Raman spectroscopic probe encased in the housing and including;
a laser disposed in the handle portion and operable to emit a coherent light beam;
a laser line filter operable to transmit the light beam along an optical path and suppress ambient light;
a beam splitter disposed in the head portion and operable to reflect the light beam from the laser line filter through the aperture formed in the end effector toward onto a sample to produce a Raman-shifted sample signal;
a collector to collect the sample signal and transmit the sample signal through the beam splitter;
a beam expander to collimate the sample signal from the beam splitter and generate an expanded diameter sample signal;
an ultra-high resolution, narrow range, spatially graded filter to filter the expanded diameter sample signal based on a predetermined set of discrete spectral bands for a target pathogen to isolate at least one narrow spectral band; and
an imager for converting the at least one narrow spectral band to image data representative of the Raman-shifted sample signal; and
an electronics assembly comprising;
a micro-controller for controlling the Raman spectroscopic probe, reading the image data from the imager, analyzing the image data at the discrete spectral bands to detect the presence of the target pathogen, comparing the image data with a baseline Raman spectrum and communicating a test result based on the analysis and comparison; and
a power source operably coupled to the micro-controller and the Raman spectroscopic probe.
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Abstract
A Raman spectroscopy based system and method for examination and interrogation provides a method for rapid and cost effective screening of various protein-based compounds such as bacteria, virus, drugs, and tissue abnormalities. A hand-held spectroscope includes a laser and optical train for generating a Raman-shifting sample signal, signal processing and identification algorithms for signal conditioning and target detection with combinations of ultra-high resolution micro-filters and an imaging detector array to provide specific analysis of target spectral peaks within discrete spectral bands associated with a target pathogen.
42 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A hand held Raman spectroscopic instrument for pathogen detection comprising:
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a housing having a handle portion, a head portion and an end effector, the end effector comprising a disposable speculum that comprises a base detachably secured to the head portion of the housing and a tip having an aperture formed therethrough, the disposable speculum tapering from the base to the tip; and a filter located at the aperture, an optical window located near the base, and a port coupled to the end effector for drawing a sample through the filter and onto the optical window by vacuum; a Raman spectroscopic probe encased in the housing and including; a laser disposed in the handle portion and operable to emit a coherent light beam; a laser line filter operable to transmit the light beam along an optical path and suppress ambient light; a beam splitter disposed in the head portion and operable to reflect the light beam from the laser line filter through the aperture formed in the end effector toward onto a sample to produce a Raman-shifted sample signal; a collector to collect the sample signal and transmit the sample signal through the beam splitter; a beam expander to collimate the sample signal from the beam splitter and generate an expanded diameter sample signal; an ultra-high resolution, narrow range, spatially graded filter to filter the expanded diameter sample signal based on a predetermined set of discrete spectral bands for a target pathogen to isolate at least one narrow spectral band; and an imager for converting the at least one narrow spectral band to image data representative of the Raman-shifted sample signal; and an electronics assembly comprising; a micro-controller for controlling the Raman spectroscopic probe, reading the image data from the imager, analyzing the image data at the discrete spectral bands to detect the presence of the target pathogen, comparing the image data with a baseline Raman spectrum and communicating a test result based on the analysis and comparison; and a power source operably coupled to the micro-controller and the Raman spectroscopic probe. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for detecting a target pathogen using Raman-based spectroscopic analysis comprising:
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providing a Raman spectroscopic instrument comprising a housing having a head portion and an end effector, the end effector comprising a disposable speculum that comprises a base detachably secured to the head portion of the housing and a tip having an aperture formed therethrough, the disposable speculum tapering from the base to the tip; and a filter located at the aperture, an optical window located near the base, and a port coupled to the end effector for drawing a sample through the filter and onto the optical window by vacuum; transmitting, by the Raman spectroscopic instrument, a coherent light beam onto a sample to generate a Raman-shifted sample signal; filtering, by the Raman spectroscopic instrument, the Raman-shifted sample signal to simultaneously isolate a plurality of narrow spectral bands based on a predetermined set of discrete spectral bands for a target pathogen to generate a filtered Raman-shifted sample signal; generating, by the Raman spectroscopic instrument, image data representative of the filtered Raman-shifted sample signal; analyzing, by the Raman spectroscopic instrument, the image data at the discrete spectral bands to detect the presence of the target pathogen; comparing, by the Raman spectroscopic instrument, the image data with a baseline Raman spectrum; and displaying, by the Raman spectroscopic instrument, a positive result when the comparison of the image data with the baseline Raman spectrum indicates a match. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for detecting a target pathogen using a hand held spectroscope comprising:
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providing the hand held spectroscope comprising a housing having a head portion and an end effector, the end effector comprising a disposable speculum that comprises a base detachably secured to the head portion of the housing and a tip having an aperture formed therethrough, the disposable speculum tapering from the base to the tip; and a filter located at the aperture, an optical window located near the base, and a port coupled to the end effector for drawing a sample through the filter and onto the optical window by vacuum; transmitting, by the hand held spectroscope, a coherent light beam from a laser in the housing along an optical path through the aperture and onto a sample to generate a Raman-shifted sample signal; receiving, by the hand held spectroscope, the Raman-shifted sample signal through the aperture; filtering, by the hand held spectroscope, the Raman-shifted sample signal to simultaneously isolate a plurality of narrow spectral bands based on a predetermined set of discrete spectral bands for a target pathogen to generate a filtered Raman-shifted sample signal; projecting, by the hand held spectroscope, the filtered Raman-shifted sample signal onto an imager in the spectroscope housing to generate image data representative of the filtered Raman-shifted sample signal; analyzing, by the hand held spectroscope, the image data at the discrete spectral bands to detect the presence of the target pathogen; comparing, by the hand held spectroscope, the image data with a baseline Raman spectrum; and displaying, by the hand held spectroscope, a positive result when the comparison of the image data with the baseline Raman spectrum indicates a match. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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Specification