Apparatus and method for spatially detecting or quantifying chemical species
First Claim
1. An apparatus for performing at least one of detecting a presence, determining a spatial distribution, and quantifying an amount of at least a chemical species, said apparatus comprising:
- (1) a capillary having a wall that is permeable to said at least a chemical species, said capillary being substantially filled with a fluid medium comprising a reagent that is capable of undergoing a selective interaction with said at least a chemical species permeating through said wall to produce a product having a detectable characteristic of said interaction;
(2) a detector for detecting said characteristic of said interaction; and
(3) a means for transferring a content of said capillary to said detector, said content comprising said fluid medium, and said means for transferring being capable of transferring said content in a substantial plug flow such that a time at which said characteristic of said interaction is detected provides a location of said interaction within said capillary, which location determines a location of said at least a chemical species outside said capillary.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus provides for the detection, the determination of the location or the spatial distribution, and/or the quantification of an amount of a chemical species by allowing the chemical species to come into contact with a fluid medium contained in a permeable capillary, transferring the content of the capillary after the contact to a detector, and detecting the chemical species as the content of the capillary is transferred to a detector. The fluid medium can contain a selected reagent that selectively interacts with the chemical species to produce an optically detectable interaction product. The location and amount of the chemical species are determined from a characteristic of the chemical species or its interaction product measured on the content of the capillary and the time at which the characteristic is detected. The apparatus may be used in a method for detecting, determining the location or the spatial distribution of, and quantifying a wide range of chemical compounds, such as for monitoring chemicals in environment and industrial facilities and determining products in a combinatorial experiment.
39 Citations
24 Claims
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1. An apparatus for performing at least one of detecting a presence, determining a spatial distribution, and quantifying an amount of at least a chemical species, said apparatus comprising:
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(1) a capillary having a wall that is permeable to said at least a chemical species, said capillary being substantially filled with a fluid medium comprising a reagent that is capable of undergoing a selective interaction with said at least a chemical species permeating through said wall to produce a product having a detectable characteristic of said interaction;
(2) a detector for detecting said characteristic of said interaction; and
(3) a means for transferring a content of said capillary to said detector, said content comprising said fluid medium, and said means for transferring being capable of transferring said content in a substantial plug flow such that a time at which said characteristic of said interaction is detected provides a location of said interaction within said capillary, which location determines a location of said at least a chemical species outside said capillary. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An apparatus for performing at least one of detecting a presence, determining a spatial distribution, and quantifying an amount of at least a chemical species, said apparatus comprising:
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(1) a capillary having a wall that is permeable to said at least a chemical species, said capillary being substantially filled with a fluid medium comprising a reagent that is capable of undergoing a selective interaction with said at least a chemical species permeating through said wall to produce at least an optically detectable product; and
(2) a detector for detecting said at least an optically detectable product; and
(3) a means for transferring a content of said capillary to said detector for detecting said at least an optically detectable product, thereby detecting said at least a chemical species, said content comprising said at least an optically detectable interaction product, and said means for transferring being capable of transferring said content in a substantial plug flow such that a time at which said characteristic of said interaction is detected provides a location of said interaction within said capillary, which location determines a location of said at least a chemical species outside said capillary. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An apparatus for performing one of detecting a presence, determining a spatial distribution, and quantifying an amount of at least a chemical species, said apparatus comprising:
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(1) a capillary having a wall that is permeable to said at least a chemical species, said capillary being substantially filled with a fluid medium comprising a reagent that is capable of undergoing a selective interaction with said at least a chemical species permeating through said wail to produce an optically detectable product;
(2) a detector for detecting said at least an optically detectable interaction product; and
(3) a means for transferring a content of said capillary to said detector for detecting said at least an optically detectable interaction product, thereby detecting said at least a chemical species, said content comprising said at least an optically detectable product, and said means for transferring being capable of transferring said content in a substantial plug flow such that a time at which said characteristic of said interaction is detected provides a location of said interaction within said capillary, which location determines a location of said at least a chemical species outside said capillary;
wherein said capillary comprises a polymeric material selected from the group consisting of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (“
FTFE”
), poly(vinyl chloride) (“
PVC”
), poly(vinyl alcohol) (“
PVA”
), polyurethane, polyolefins, polycarbonate, polystyrene, polyamide, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (“
PVDF”
), polyarylsuphones, polyacrylonitrile, polyether, poly(ether thioether), poly(methyl methacrylate), polyvinylpyrrolidone, polysiloxane, copolymer of perfluorosulfonic acid and polytetrafluoroethylene, random copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene and perfluoro-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxole, copolymers thereof, and blends thereof;
said detector is capable of quantitatively relating an optical signal resulting from a presence and an amount of said at least one optically detectable reaction product to said presence and said amount of said chemical species outside said capillary; and
said optical signal is selected from the group consisting of absorbance and emission of EM radiation having a wavelength in a range from about 100 nm to about 1 mm.
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Specification