Photo-acoustic detection device and method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for detecting a plurality of different analytes in a single bodily fluid sample comprising:
- a test chamber having at least one sidewall and configured to contain at least a portion of a flowing bodily fluid sample;
at least one excitation electromagnetic energy source configured to direct a first energy beam having a first wavelength but not a second wavelength, and at a different time to direct a second energy beam having the second wavelength but not the first wavelength into the test chamber, the first energy beam inducing a first thermoelastic expansion in a first analyte that absorbs the first wavelength but not the second wavelength, the second beam inducing a second thermoelastic expansion in a second analyte that absorbs the second wavelength but not the first wavelength, the first and second beams extending across the entire cross sectional area of the flowing sample wherein no portion of the sample escapes illumination by the beam as it flows through the test chamber; and
,a sensor configured to detect said first and second thermoelastic expansions in the flowing bodily fluid sample in the test chamber, the sensor configured to measure changes in optical reflectance that result from the thermoelastic expansion of the first and second analytes and to independently determine the presence of each of the first and second analytes based on the independent detection of the first and second thermoelastic expansions.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An example system for detecting an analyte in a sample of a bodily fluid comprises a test chamber having at least one sidewall and configured to contain at least a portion of a bodily fluid sample, an excitation electromagnetic energy source configured to direct an energy source into the test chamber through the at least one sidewall and to induce a thermoelastic expansion in the one or more analytes, and a sensor configured to detect said thermoelastic expansion in the bodily fluid sample in the test chamber, the sensor configured to measure changes in optical reflectance that result from the thermoelastic expansion.
28 Citations
18 Claims
-
1. A system for detecting a plurality of different analytes in a single bodily fluid sample comprising:
-
a test chamber having at least one sidewall and configured to contain at least a portion of a flowing bodily fluid sample; at least one excitation electromagnetic energy source configured to direct a first energy beam having a first wavelength but not a second wavelength, and at a different time to direct a second energy beam having the second wavelength but not the first wavelength into the test chamber, the first energy beam inducing a first thermoelastic expansion in a first analyte that absorbs the first wavelength but not the second wavelength, the second beam inducing a second thermoelastic expansion in a second analyte that absorbs the second wavelength but not the first wavelength, the first and second beams extending across the entire cross sectional area of the flowing sample wherein no portion of the sample escapes illumination by the beam as it flows through the test chamber; and
,a sensor configured to detect said first and second thermoelastic expansions in the flowing bodily fluid sample in the test chamber, the sensor configured to measure changes in optical reflectance that result from the thermoelastic expansion of the first and second analytes and to independently determine the presence of each of the first and second analytes based on the independent detection of the first and second thermoelastic expansions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18)
-
-
15. An in vitro flow system for detecting one or more circulating cancer cells comprising:
-
a test chamber in communication with a conduit; a pump urging a bodily fluid sample to flow through the conduit and through the test chamber, a pulsing excitation laser source that directs a laser beam into the test chamber and illuminates an entire cross section of the flowing bodily fluid sample wherein no portion of the sample escapes illumination as it flows through the test chamber and operating at a frequency that is greater than the residence time of the bodily fluid sample in the test chamber; a sensor comprising; a transparent solid sandwiching a thin water layer between it and the test chamber; a detection laser source directing a laser beam into the transparent solid and reflecting from the interface of the solid and thin water layer; a receiver that receives the laser beam reflected from the transparent solid and water interface and that measures a disturbance in the reflected laser beam when a change in the refractive index of reflection occurs when a wave travels through the thin water layer; and
,a controller linked to the sensor for receiving waveforms from the sensor resulting from thermoelastic expansion of the one or more cancer cells, the controller having at least a processor and a memory, the memory having a plurality of known waveforms stored thereon, the processor operative to compare a waveform received from the sensor to the stored plurality of recorded waveforms to identify an unknown cancer when its waveform matches one of the stored waveforms. - View Dependent Claims (16)
-
Specification