Lab on a chip
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsTIMOTHY DURNIAK, ROBERT R. FRIEDLANDER, JAMES R. KRAEMER
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A Lab On a Chip (LOC) has a Sample Preparation Module (SPM) coupled to a sample inlet, a microchannel coupled to the SPM, and an optic module optically proximate to the microchannel. The optic module holds multiple lenses, each of which has a different effective focal length, such that all fields of focus within the microchannel are covered as objects suspended within the liquid sample pass through the microchannel.
Claims20
A Lab On a Chip (LOC) comprising:
- a sample inlet for receiving a liquid sample;
- a Sample Preparation Module (SPM) coupled to the sample inlet;
- a microchannel coupled to the SPM;
- a light source;
- an optic module optically proximate to the microchannel;
- a plurality of lenses within the optic module, wherein each of the plurality of lenses has a different effective focal length for focusing light images of objects suspended within the liquid sample as light from the light source illuminates the objects passing through the microchannel in different strata of the microchannel;
- and
- an image processing component within the optic module, wherein the image processing component generates a digital image of the light images of the objects.
A method of analyzing a test sample on a Lab On a Chip (LOC), the method comprising:
- a sample preparation module in a LOC receiving a fluid sample to create a prepared fluid sample;
- passing the prepared fluid sample through a microchannel that is situated between a light source and a lens chamber in the LOC, wherein the lens chamber holds multiple lenses, and wherein each of the multiple lenses have a different effective fixed focal length;
- generating an optic image of each of multiple objects suspended within the prepared fluid sample, wherein each optic image is focused by a different lens from the multiple lenses;
- and
- converting each optic image into a digital image in an image processing component of the LOC.
A computer program product for analyzing a test sample on a Lab On a Chip (LOC), the computer program product comprising:
- a computer readable storage media;
- first program instructions for receiving a fluid sample to create a prepared fluid sample;
- second program instructions for passing the prepared fluid sample through a microchannel that is situated between a light source and a lens chamber in the LOC, wherein the lens chamber holds multiple lenses, and wherein each of the multiple lenses have a different effective fixed focal length;
- third program instructions for generating an optic image of each of multiple objects suspended within the prepared fluid sample, wherein each optic image is focused by a different lens from the multiple lenses;
- and
- fourth program instructions for converting each optic image into a digital image in an image processing component of the LOC;
- and wherein the first, second, third, and fourth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage media.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.