Method for the detection of biologic particle contamination
First Claim
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1. A method for the detection of particles in a fluid and for the identification of the source of the particles comprising:
- drawing a fluid to be sampled through a sample cell;
illuminating particles in the fluid continuously as the particles pass through the sample cell;
using a detector system to detect individual particles continuously as the particles pass through the sample cell;
time-stamping a signal from the detector indicating the presence of particles in the sample cell;
using one or more image recording devices to record image data of the environment of the detector;
time-stamping the image data;
time correlating the time-stamped image data to the time-stamped detector signal to determine the source of contamination; and
classifying individual particles as biologic or non-biologic particles on the basis of both particle size and fluorescence intensity measured for each individual particle.
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Abstract
Methods for detecting particles in a fluid, including determining particle size and intrinsic fluorescence of a particle, and time correlating the particle detection data with image data in the vicinity of the detector or detector inlet to identify contamination sources in clean environments are described.
191 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method for the detection of particles in a fluid and for the identification of the source of the particles comprising:
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drawing a fluid to be sampled through a sample cell; illuminating particles in the fluid continuously as the particles pass through the sample cell; using a detector system to detect individual particles continuously as the particles pass through the sample cell; time-stamping a signal from the detector indicating the presence of particles in the sample cell; using one or more image recording devices to record image data of the environment of the detector; time-stamping the image data; time correlating the time-stamped image data to the time-stamped detector signal to determine the source of contamination; and classifying individual particles as biologic or non-biologic particles on the basis of both particle size and fluorescence intensity measured for each individual particle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15)
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10. A method of detecting particles in a fluid which comprises drawing a fluid to be sampled through a sample cell, illuminating particles in the fluid continuously as the particles pass through the sample cell, simultaneously measuring particle size of the particle and detecting intrinsic fluorescence from the particle continuously as the particle passes through the sample cell, visually recording the environment in which detection occurs to determine sources of contamination, and classifying individual particles as biologic or non-biologic particles.
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11. A method for detection of biologic and non-biologic particles in a fluid comprising:
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drawing a fluid to be sampled through a sample cell; illuminating particles in the fluid continuously as the particles pass through the sample cell; measuring particle size and fluorescence from particles in the fluid continuously as the particles pass through the sample cell; determining if particles are biologic or non-biologic from the particle size and fluorescence data; classifying individual particles as biologic or non-biologic particles; assigning a time-stamp to data regarding the presence of biologic and non-biologic particles passing through the sample cell; recording image data of the environment in the vicinity of the detector; time-stamping the image data; time correlating the data regarding the presence of biologic and non-biologic particles passing through the sample cell and image data. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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Specification