Automatic hematology analyzer
AssigneeHycel, Inc.
InventorHoward Andrew Vick
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hematology analyzer provides a pulse signal in which the number of pulses manifests the number of blood cells in a sample volume of blood and the magnitude of each pulse manifests the size of each such blood cell. The analyzer also provides an analog voltage manifesting the hemoglobin content of the blood sample. Means responsive to the pulse signal provide an analog voltage manifesting the hematocrit of the blood sample and an analog voltage manifesting the number of cells. An analog-to-digital converter is switchably responsive to the analog hemoglobin, hematocrit and cell count signals to provide required ratios reflecting the mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration of the blood sample.
Claims6
In a hematology analyzer having means for producing pulses in response to the passage of cells in a blood dilution sample through a blood cell detector and including means for providing an analog hemoglobin signal indicative of hemoglobin content of the sample, the improvement comprising:
- an analog to digital conversion means having a data input and a reference input to which respective analog signals are applied and further having an output at which a digital output signal is provided indicative of a value equal to a value of an input to said data input divided by a value of an input to said reference input;
- means responsive to said pulses for providing an analog count signal indicative of a red blood cell count for the sample;
- means coupled to receive said pulses for generating an analog hematocrit signal indicative of the hematocrit of said sample;
- and connecting means for connecting said analog hematocrit signal to the data input of said conversion means and for connecting said analog count signal to the reference input of said conversion means, whereby said digital output signal is provided indicative of mean corpuscular volume of said sample for connection to utilization means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.