Cassette for disposable microorganism culturing media and automated scanning system
First Claim
1. An apparatus for detecting microorganism colonies on at least one disposable microorganism culturing medium having a substantially planar substrate, said apparatus comprising:
- a cassette adapted for supporting a plurality of the substantially planar substrates, the cassette comprising(a) an enclosure having two ends;
(b) a plurality of plates, disposed within but not rigidly affixed to said enclosure;
(c) means for retaining said plates within said enclosure; and
(d) means for supporting said plates at least a minimum distance from each other;
imaging means for detecting colonies on the substantially planar substrate;
cassette positioning means for moving said cassette so that the substantially planar substrates supported within said cassette are moved sequentially into a predetermined position relative to said imaging means; and
ejecting means for ejecting a substantially planar substrate in said predetermined position from said cassette and into an imaging position adjacent said imaging means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for counting microorganism colonies on at least one disposable microorganism culturing medium having a substantially planar substrate. The apparatus is adapted to interact with a cassette holding a number of similar substrates at once. The apparatus includes an imaging device capable of detecting colonies on the substantially planar substrate, a cassette positioning device for moving the cassette so that the substrates supported within the cassette are moved sequentially into a predetermined position relative to the imaging device, and an ejecting device for ejecting a substantially planar substrate in turn from the cassette when that substrate is in the predetermined position from the cassette and into an imaging position adjacent the imaging device. Suitable cassettes and a method for counting colonies on substrates supported within a cassette are also disclosed.
71 Citations
11 Claims
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1. An apparatus for detecting microorganism colonies on at least one disposable microorganism culturing medium having a substantially planar substrate, said apparatus comprising:
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a cassette adapted for supporting a plurality of the substantially planar substrates, the cassette comprising (a) an enclosure having two ends; (b) a plurality of plates, disposed within but not rigidly affixed to said enclosure; (c) means for retaining said plates within said enclosure; and (d) means for supporting said plates at least a minimum distance from each other; imaging means for detecting colonies on the substantially planar substrate; cassette positioning means for moving said cassette so that the substantially planar substrates supported within said cassette are moved sequentially into a predetermined position relative to said imaging means; and ejecting means for ejecting a substantially planar substrate in said predetermined position from said cassette and into an imaging position adjacent said imaging means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A cassette adapted for supporting a plurality of substantially planar substrates, comprising:
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(a) an enclosure having two ends; (b) a plurality of plates, disposed within but not rigidly affixed to said enclosure; (c) means for retaining said plates within said enclosure; and (d) means for supporting said plates at least a minimum distance apart from each other when the cassette is oriented with the plates disposed horizontally. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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Specification