Systems and devices for profiling microbiota of skin
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A microbe profiling system comprising:
- a replaceable microbe sampling unit includinga substrate including a microbe-capture region, the microbe-capture region configured to capture at least one type of microbe from one or more regions of a skin surface of an individual; and
a location information storage component configured to store information associated with the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual;
a microbe sampling device includinga device head including an epidermis-engaging component and at least one access opening, the epidermis-engaging component configured to dislodge at least one type of microbe from the skin surface of the individual; and
a hand-held housing, at least a portion of the hand-held housing defining an opening aligned with the at least one access opening of the device head and includinga region sized for receiving the replaceable microbe sampling unit, the region configured to position at least a portion of the substrate of the replaceable microbe sampling unit in operable communication with the opening defined by the hand-held housing;
at least one motivatable component configured to move at least a portion of the substrate of the replaceable microbe sampling unit;
a motor operably coupled to the at least one motivatable component, the motor including circuitry to drive the at least one motivatable component; and
a location-capture component including circuitry to determine the location of one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual as the epidermis-engaging component contacts said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual and to output information associated with the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface to the location information storage component of the replaceable microbe sampling unit; and
an analyzer includinga receiving region sized to accept the replaceable microbe sampling unit;
at least one sensor component including circuitry configured to detect one or more signals emitted or reflected from the microbe-capture region of the replaceable microbe sampling unit and to transform the detected one or more signals into a sensor output including information associated with at least one property of the detected one or more signals; and
at least one location information reader including circuitry configured to read the information associated with the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual from the location information storage component of the replaceable microbe sampling unit and to transform the information into a location output.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Devices and systems for sampling and profiling microbiota of skin are described which include a replaceable microbe sampling unit including a substrate and a location information storage component, the substrate including a microbe-capture region configured to capture at least one type of microbe from one or more regions of a skin surface of an individual, and the location information storage component configured to store information associated with the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual.
84 Citations
36 Claims
-
1. A microbe profiling system comprising:
-
a replaceable microbe sampling unit including a substrate including a microbe-capture region, the microbe-capture region configured to capture at least one type of microbe from one or more regions of a skin surface of an individual; and a location information storage component configured to store information associated with the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual; a microbe sampling device including a device head including an epidermis-engaging component and at least one access opening, the epidermis-engaging component configured to dislodge at least one type of microbe from the skin surface of the individual; and a hand-held housing, at least a portion of the hand-held housing defining an opening aligned with the at least one access opening of the device head and including a region sized for receiving the replaceable microbe sampling unit, the region configured to position at least a portion of the substrate of the replaceable microbe sampling unit in operable communication with the opening defined by the hand-held housing; at least one motivatable component configured to move at least a portion of the substrate of the replaceable microbe sampling unit; a motor operably coupled to the at least one motivatable component, the motor including circuitry to drive the at least one motivatable component; and a location-capture component including circuitry to determine the location of one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual as the epidermis-engaging component contacts said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual and to output information associated with the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface to the location information storage component of the replaceable microbe sampling unit; and an analyzer including a receiving region sized to accept the replaceable microbe sampling unit; at least one sensor component including circuitry configured to detect one or more signals emitted or reflected from the microbe-capture region of the replaceable microbe sampling unit and to transform the detected one or more signals into a sensor output including information associated with at least one property of the detected one or more signals; and at least one location information reader including circuitry configured to read the information associated with the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual from the location information storage component of the replaceable microbe sampling unit and to transform the information into a location output. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 35, 36)
-
-
24. A microbe profiling system comprising:
-
a replaceable microbe sampling unit including a substrate including a microbe-capture region; and a location information storage component; a microbe sampling device including a device head including an epidermis-engaging component and at least one access window, the device head configured to dislodge at least one type of microbe from a skin surface of the individual; and a hand-held housing, at least a portion of the hand-held housing defining an opening aligned with the at least one access window of the device head, the hand-held housing including a region sized for receiving the replaceable microbe sampling unit, the region configured to position at least a portion of the substrate of the replaceable microbe sampling unit in operable communication with the opening defined by the hand-held housing; at least one motivatable component operably coupled to the substrate of the replaceable microbe sampling unit; a motor operably coupled to the at least one motivatable component, the motor including circuitry to drive the at least one motivatable component; and a location-capture component including circuitry to determine a location of one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual as the epidermis-engaging component contacts said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual and to output information associated with the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual to the location information storage component of the replaceable microbe sampling unit; an analyzer including a receiving region sized to accept the replaceable microbe sampling unit; at least one sensor component including circuitry configured to detect one or more signals emitted or reflected from the microbe-capture region of the substrate of the replaceable microbe sampling unit and to transform the detected one or more signals into a sensor output including information associated with at least one property of the detected one or more signals; and at least one location information reader including circuitry to read the information associated with the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual from the location information storage component of the replaceable microbe sampling unit and to transform the information into a location output; and a computing device including a processor, the computing device including circuitry configured to receive the location output from the analyzer, the location output including information associated with the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual; receive the sensor output from the analyzer, the sensor output including the information associated with the at least one property of the detected one or more signals emitted or reflected from the microbe-capture region; compare the at least one property of the one or more signals emitted or reflected from the microbe-capture region with a database of reference signal properties; generate an alignment of the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual with the detected one or more signals emitted or reflected from the microbe-capture region; generate a microbe profile based on the alignment, the microbe profile including a spatial distribution of at least one type of microbe on the skin surface of the individual; and report the microbe profile to a user.
-
-
25. A microbe profiling system comprising:
-
a replaceable microbe sampling unit including at least one motivatable component; a substrate disposed in relation to the at least one motivatable component, the substrate including a microbe-capture region; and a location information storage component; a microbe sampling device including a device head including an epidermis-engaging component and at least one access window, the device head configured to dislodge at least one type of microbe from the skin surface of the individual; and a hand-held housing, at least a portion of the hand-held housing defining an opening aligned with the at least one access window of the device head, the hand-held housing including a region sized for receiving the replaceable microbe sampling unit, the region configured to position at least a portion of the substrate of the replaceable microbe sampling unit in operable communication with the opening defined by the hand-held housing; a motor operably coupled to the at least one motivatable component of the replaceable microbe sampling unit, the motor including circuitry to drive the at least one motivatable component; and a location-capture component including circuitry to determine a location of one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual as the epidermis-engaging component contacts said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual and to output information associated with the location of the one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual to the location information storage component of the replaceable microbe sampling unit; an analyzer including a receiving region sized to accept the replaceable microbe sampling unit; at least one sensor component including circuitry configured to detect one or more signals emitted or reflected from the microbe-capture region of the substrate of the replaceable microbe sampling unit and to transform the detected one or more signals into a sensor output including information associated with at least one property of the detected one or more signals; and at least one location information reader including circuitry to read the information associated with the location of the one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual from the location information storage component of the replaceable microbe sampling unit and to transform the information into a location output; and a computing device including a processor, the computing device including circuitry configured to receive the location output from the analyzer, the location output including information associated with the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual; receive the sensor output from the analyzer, the sensor output including the information associated with the at least one property of the detected one or more signals emitted or reflected from the microbe-capture region; compare the at least one property of the one or more signals emitted or reflected from the microbe-capture region with a database of reference signal properties; generate an alignment of the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual with the detected one or more signals emitted or reflected from the microbe-capture region; generate a microbe profile based on the alignment, the microbe profile including a spatial distribution of at least one type of microbe on the skin surface of the individual; and report the microbe profile to a user.
-
-
26. A microbe sampling unit comprising:
-
a substrate including a microbe-capture region, the microbe-capture region configured to capture at least one type of microbe from one or more regions of a skin surface of an individual; and a location information storage component configured to store information associated with the location of the one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
-
-
31. A microbe profiling system comprising:
-
an analyzer including a receiving region sized to accept a replaceable microbe sampling unit, the replaceable microbe sampling unit including a substrate with a microbe-capture region to capture at least one type of microbe from one or more regions of a skin surface of an individual and a location information storage component including information associated with a location of said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual; at least one sensor component including circuitry configured to detect one or more signals emitted or reflected from the microbe-capture region of the substrate of the replaceable microbe sampling unit and to transform the detected one or more signals into a sensor output including information associated with at least one property of the detected one or more signals; and at least one location information reader including circuitry to read the information associated with the location of the one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual from the location information storage component of the replaceable microbe sampling unit and to transform the information into a location output; a computing device including a processor, the computing device operably coupled to the analyzer; and non-transitory machine readable media bearing one or more instructions for generating a microbe profile, the one or more instructions including one or more instructions for receiving the location output from the analyzer, the location output including information associated with the location of the one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual; one or more instructions for receiving the sensor output from an analyzer, the sensor output including information associated with the at least one property of the one or more signals emitted or reflected from the microbe-capture region of the replaceable microbe sampling unit; one or more instructions for comparing the at least one property of the one or more signals emitted or reflected from the microbe-capture region of the replaceable microbe sampling unit with a database of reference signal properties; one or more instructions for identifying the at least one type of microbe captured on the microbe-capture region of the replaceable microbe sampling unit based on the comparison of the at least one property of the one or more signals emitted or reflected from the microbe-capture region of the replaceable microbe sampling unit with the database of reference signal properties; one or more instructions for generating an alignment of the location of said one or more regions of the skin surface of the individual with the one or more signals emitted or reflected from the microbe-capture region; one or more instructions for generating the microbe profile based on the alignment, the microbe profile including at least one of an identity or a spatial distribution of the at least one type of microbe on the skin surface of the individual; and one or more instructions for reporting the microbe profile to a user. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34)
-
Specification