Method and apparatus for automated determination of hemoglobin species
First Claim
1. Apparatus for simultaneously determining the relative concentration of two solutions each of unknown concentration comprising:
- a single source of light;
a source of reference voltage;
first conversion means responsive to the source of reference voltage and to the amount of light from said light source transmitted through one of said two solutions of unknown concentration for repeatedly determining the concentration of said one solution;
second conversion means responsive to said source of reference voltage and to the amount of light from said light source transmitted through the other of said two solutions of unknown concentration for repeatedly determining the concentration of said other solution; and
arithmetic means simultaneously receiving inputs from each of said first and second conversion means for repeatedly determining the relative concentration of said two solutions.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for automatically determining the amount of a hemoglobin species in a blood sample in relation to the total amount of hemoglobin in a blood sample by simultaneously determining the relative concentrations of the two samples with a spectrophotometer. The spectrophotometer has two channels each of which is associated with one sample. Each channel determines the intensity of light from a light source which is transmitted through its sample and received by a photodetector. Thereafter, the apparatus calculates the relative concentration of the two samples (A1 /A2) or optionally the normalized concentration of the samples (A1 /A1 +A2). The apparatus includes automatic self-calibration to compensate for any degradation of the optical system.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. Apparatus for simultaneously determining the relative concentration of two solutions each of unknown concentration comprising:
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a single source of light; a source of reference voltage; first conversion means responsive to the source of reference voltage and to the amount of light from said light source transmitted through one of said two solutions of unknown concentration for repeatedly determining the concentration of said one solution; second conversion means responsive to said source of reference voltage and to the amount of light from said light source transmitted through the other of said two solutions of unknown concentration for repeatedly determining the concentration of said other solution; and arithmetic means simultaneously receiving inputs from each of said first and second conversion means for repeatedly determining the relative concentration of said two solutions. - View Dependent Claims (4)
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2. Apparatus for simultaneously determining the relative concentration of two solutions each of unknown concentration comprising:
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an optical system including a light source, means for splitting light from said light source into two paths, and first and second photodetectors each of said photodetectors providing an output proportional to the amount of light from said light source which is transmitted through one of said two solutions of unknown concentration; a source of reference voltage; dual channel conversion means each channel simultaneously receiving an input from said source of reference voltage and the output from a different one of said photodetectors; each of said dual channel conversion means for repeatedly simultaneously providing an output; and first arithmetic means repeatedly receiving an input from the output of each channel of said dual channel conversion means for repeatedly determining the relative concentration of said two solutions. - View Dependent Claims (3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. Apparatus for simultaneously determining the relative concentration of two solutions each of unknown concentration comprising:
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an optical system including a single light source, means for splitting light from said light source in two paths, and first and second photodetectors each of said photodetectors providing an output proportional to the amount of light from said light source which is transmitted through one of said two solutions of unknown concentration; a source of reference voltage; dual channel electrical conversion means, each channel simultaneously repeatedly receiving an output from a different one of said photodetectors, each of said channels including comparator means to compare the reference voltage to the output of the respective photodetector;
an analog to digital converter for providing a digital value representative of the time during which the reference voltage exceeds the intensity of light received by said photodetector;
first storage means for serially storing a first predetermined number of selected outputs from said analog to digital converter in the absence of a solution; and
means for averaging a second predetermined number of values in said first storage means and providing an output, said second predetermined number being less than said first predetermined number, adder means for receiving second signals from said analog to digital converter in the presence of solutions and for receiving the output from said averaging means; andfirst arithmetic means for comparing the outputs from each of said channels for repeatedly determining the relative concentration of said two solutions. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for simultaneously determining the relative concentration of two solutions each of unknown concentration comprising the steps of:
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providing an optical system including a light source and first and second photodetectors; splitting the light from said light source into two paths; providing a source of reference voltage; comparing the reference voltage to the output of said first photodetector; simultaneously comparing the reference voltage to the output of said second photodetector; separately simultaneously and repeatedly deriving digital values representative of the time during which the reference voltage exceeds the intensity of light received by each photodetector said digital values being proportional to the actual concentration of each of said two solutions of unknown concentration; and comparing said derived digital values from one of said photodetectors with said derived digital values from the other of said photodetectors for providing an output indicative of the relative concentration of said two solutions. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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Specification