Flow analyzer and system for analysis of fluids with particles
First Claim
1. Apparatus for analysis of particles in a fluid which comprisesa flow chamber having an inlet and an outlet and shaped to convey fluid from the inlet to the outlet with particles in the fluid suspended in a path, a portion of said path having a width substantially greater than its thickness;
- said path shaped to convey said fluid such that said particles are aligned in the flow stream substantially with their minimum cross-sectional area extended transverse to their direction of flow and their maximum cross-sectional area extended substantially parallel to said width;
microscopic means adapted to be focused on the path including an area of the path substantially greater than the area of the largest of the particles, andimage pick-up means for picking up substantially still frame images of particles in the path through the microscopic means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The method and apparatus for analyzing particles and particularly blood cells by conveying the particles along a broad shallow path where the path is magnified and converted into a series of still frame images with multiple particles in individual images. The still frame images are manipulated and combined as digital images to generate measures of the blood cells in the overall fluid sample giving different selected measures, such as, particle count, particle count of different kinds of cells, cell area, and cell count of different predetermined categories of cell type.
201 Citations
16 Claims
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1. Apparatus for analysis of particles in a fluid which comprises
a flow chamber having an inlet and an outlet and shaped to convey fluid from the inlet to the outlet with particles in the fluid suspended in a path, a portion of said path having a width substantially greater than its thickness; -
said path shaped to convey said fluid such that said particles are aligned in the flow stream substantially with their minimum cross-sectional area extended transverse to their direction of flow and their maximum cross-sectional area extended substantially parallel to said width; microscopic means adapted to be focused on the path including an area of the path substantially greater than the area of the largest of the particles, and image pick-up means for picking up substantially still frame images of particles in the path through the microscopic means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 7)
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4. Apparatus for analysis of predetermined particles in a liquid which comprises
a flow chamber having an inlet and an outlet and shaped to convey liquid from the inlet to the outlet with particles in the liquid suspended in a path, a portion of said path having a width at least ten times it thickness, shear force distributing means for conveying said fluid such that said particles are aligned in the flow stream substantially with their minimum cross-sectional area extended transverse to their direction of flow and their maximum cross-sectional area extended substantially parallel to said width, microscopic means adapted to be focused on the path including an area of the path at least one hundred times the area of the largest particles, image pick-up means for picking up substantially still frame images of particles in the path through the microscopic means with the image pick-up means including means for storing at least one of the still frame images at a time in digital form, and processor means connected to the image pick-up means for algebraically combining selected components of the recorded still frame images to generate algebraic sums representing the particles in multiple images.
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8. The method of analyzing particles in a fluid which comprises
having a predetermined direction of motion while distributing the fluid sample over an extended area having a width and a thickness both measured perpendicular to the direction of flow, with the width many times the thickness, such that said particles are aligned in the direction of motion substantially with their minimum cross-sectional area extended transverse to the direction of motion and their maximum cross-sectional area extended substantially parallel to said width, forming a series of still frame images of the fluid sample at a predetermined location in the flow path viewed in a direction parallel to the thickness, and algebraically combining the number of particles located and their characteristics.
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15. A flow chamber for analysis of fluid containing particles flowing therethrough said chamber comprising:
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an inlet; an outlet; a path for said fluid flowing from said inlet to said outlet; said path having a portion adapted for viewing with said portion having a width substantially greater than its thickness and an area substantially greater than the area of the largest of the particles; said path having a cross-sectional area which decreases substantially as said path extends from the inlet to said portion, a thickness which decreases substantially as said path moves from the inlet to said portion, and a width which decreases from the inlet then increases substantially as said path moves to said portion. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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Specification