Airborne particle detection system with thermophoretic scanning

A method of analyzing particles, the method comprising:

• concentrating particles in an interior region of an air stream;
• deflecting, with a first heater element, said concentrated particles in the interior region of the air stream towards a peripheral wall, thus producing deflected particles;
• and
• scanning, onto the surface of a particle detector, with a second heater element and a third heater element, at least some of said deflected particles in a lateral direction along the peripheral wall.

A system for analyzing particles, the system comprising:

• means for concentrating particles in an interior region of an air stream;
• means for deflecting the concentrated particles in the interior region of the air stream towards a peripheral wall, thus producing deflected particles;
• and
• means for scanning said deflected particles in a lateral direction along the peripheral wall.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable program code to be executed by at least one processor for analyzing particles in an air stream, said program code comprising instructions configured to cause:

• a first heater element to concentrate particles in an interior region of an air stream;
• a second heater element to deflect said concentrated particles in the interior region of the air stream towards a peripheral wall, thus producing deflected particles;
• and
• scanning, onto the surface of a particle detector, with said second heater element and a third heater element, said deflected particles in a lateral direction along the peripheral wall.