A sensor for particle detection in a fluid
AssigneeWater Optics Technology PTE. Ltd
InventorsAi Qun LIU, Lei LEI, Wei HUANG, Shahnawaz PUKKEYIL SHAMSUDDIN
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sensor is provided for detecting and characterizing particles in a fluid. The sensor has a microfluidic channel for receiving the fluid sample, an acoustic transducer module configured to generate a standing wave for concentrating the particles in a region of the microfluidic channel; an optical detection module configured to detect optical signals scattered by the particles upon illuminating the region of the fluid sample with a light source; and a data processing module configured to characterize the particles of the fluid sample based on the optical signals using a classifier.
Claims22
A sensor for characterizing microorganism particles in a fluid sample comprising:
- a microfluidic channel for receiving the fluid sample;
- an acoustic transducer module configured to generate a standing wave for concentrating the particles in at least one region of the microfluidic channel;
- an optical detection module configured to detect optical signals scattered by the particles upon illuminating the at least one region of the microfluidic channel with a light source;
- and
- a data processing module configured to characterize the particles of the fluid sample based on the optical signals using a classifier.
A method of characterizing particles comprising:
- receiving a fluid sample containing the particles into a microfluidic channel;
- generating a standing wave to concentrate the particles in at least one region of the microfluidic channel;
- detecting optical signals scattered by the particles upon the at least one region of the microfluidic channel being illuminated with a light source;
- and
- characterizing the particles based on the optical signals using a classifier.
A method of identifying a species of a microorganism particle in a fluid sample comprising:
- illuminating the particle with a light source;
- detecting optical signals scattered by the particle;
- wherein the optical signals comprises a forward scattering pattern;
- and
- characterizing the particle into one of a plurality of categories based on the forward scattering pattern.
A method of managing water risk comprising:
- (a) receiving optical signals scattered by a microorganism particle in the fluid, said optical signals comprising a forward scattering pattern;
- (b) characterizing the microorganism particle into one of a plurality of categories based on the forward scattering pattern using a classifier;
- (c) updating a record data representing the number of microorganism particles of the plurality of categories;
- (d) determining a risk level based on the record data;
- (e) comparing the risk level to a reference level;
- and
- (f) depending on the result of the comparison, producing a warning signal indicating an elevated risk of pathogens in the fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.