Photo-acoustic detection device and method
First Claim
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1. An in vitro method for detecting an analyte in a sample of a bodily fluid comprising the steps of:
- extracting a bodily fluid sample from a subject;
exposing the bodily fluid sample as it flows through a test chamber to a pulsed laser beam to cause a thermoelastic expansion in the analyte, and capturing the entire cross sectional flow of said bodily fluid sample in said test chamber with said beam; and
,detecting a photoacoustic signal in the sample that results from said thermoelastic expansion.
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Abstract
An example method for detecting an analyte in a sample of a bodily fluid comprises the steps of exposing the bodily fluid sample to electromagnetic energy to cause a thermoelastic expansion in the analyte, and detecting a photoacoustic signal in the sample that results from the thermoelastic expansion.
19 Citations
17 Claims
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1. An in vitro method for detecting an analyte in a sample of a bodily fluid comprising the steps of:
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extracting a bodily fluid sample from a subject; exposing the bodily fluid sample as it flows through a test chamber to a pulsed laser beam to cause a thermoelastic expansion in the analyte, and capturing the entire cross sectional flow of said bodily fluid sample in said test chamber with said beam; and
,detecting a photoacoustic signal in the sample that results from said thermoelastic expansion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An in vitro method for detecting one or more circulating cancer cells comprising the steps of:
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separating white blood cells from a quantity of blood; suspending said white blood cells in a carrier liquid to create a test sample; causing said test sample to flow through a test chamber at a first velocity wherein a laser beam captures the entire cross section of said flowing test sample and wherein said beam induces a thermoelastic expansion of said one or more cancer cells in said test sample, said beam transmitted through a test chamber transparent sidewall, said first velocity selected to cause said one or more cancer cells in said test sample to be excited by said beam more than once as it passes through said test chamber; and
,using an acoustic sensor to detect an acoustic signal that results from said thermoelastic expansion in said test sample, said sensor arranged on a sidewall of said test chamber not in the direct path of said beam. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. An in vitro method for detecting an analyte in a sample of a bodily fluid comprising the steps of:
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extracting a bodily fluid sample from a subject; exposing the bodily fluid sample as it flows through a test chamber that is at least partially transparent to a pulsed laser beam that captures the entire cross sectional width of said test chamber to cause a thermoelastic expansion in the analyte; and
,detecting a photoacoustic signal in the sample that results from said thermoelastic expansion by measuring an electrical perturbation that results when a piezoelectric layer is deflected. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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Specification