Method for enumerating bacterial populations
AssigneeSirotech Ltd.
InventorSimon Feldberg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for determining the number of microorganisms in a liquid sample, including the steps of dividing the liquid sample into a plurality of separate sub-samples, measuring the magnitude of at least one impedance component across each of the sub-samples and determining the number of the sub-samples for which the measured magnitude of the at least one impedance component indicates microorganism growth. The method preferably further includes the steps of applying A.C. voltage at a plurality of frequencies across at least a portion of the sample and measuring the at least one impedance component in response to at least some of the plurality of A.C. frequencies.
Claims3
A method for determining the number of microorganisms in a liquid sample comprising:
- dividing a known volume of a liquid sample into a plurality of separate sub-samples, wherein it is known that the liquid sample contains a number of microorganisms which is substantially less than the number of sub-samples;
- measuring the magnitude of at least one impedance component across each of the sub-samples;
- and
- determining the number of the sub-samples for which the measured magnitude of the at least one impedance component is lower, by a preselected difference, from the at least one impedance component measured across others of the sub-samples, the number of sub-samples for which the measured magnitude of the at least one impedance component is lower, by a preselected difference, from the at least one impedance component measured across others of the sub-samples being an indication of the number of microorganisms in the liquid sample.
A method for evaluating the microorganism population in a plurality of separate liquid samples comprising:
- connecting the plurality of samples to a plurality of conducting rows and a plurality of conducting columns such that each sample is row wise connected to a given row and column wise connected to a given column;
- measuring the magnitude of at least one impedance component across a plurality of the samples;
- and
- evaluating the microorganism population in the samples based on the magnitude of the at least one impedance component measured across each sample,
- wherein, for each measured sample, measuring the magnitude of the at least one impedance component comprises:
- grounding all rows and all columns other than the given row and the given column which are connected to the measured sample;
- and
- measuring the at least one impedance component between the given row and the given column which are connected to the measured sample.
A method for determining the number of microorganisms in a liquid sample comprising:
- dividing a known volume of a liquid sample into a plurality of separate sub-samples, wherein it is known that the liquid sample contains a number of microorganisms which is substantially less than the number of sub-samples;
- connecting the plurality of sub-samples to a plurality of conducting rows and a plurality of conducting columns such that each sub-sample is row wise connected to a given row and column wise connected to a given column;
- measuring the magnitude of at least one impedance component across each of the sub-samples;
- and
- determining the number of the sub-samples for which the measured magnitude of the at least one impedance component indicates microorganism growth, the number of sub-samples for which microorganism growth is indicated being an indication of the number of microorganisms in the liquid sample,
- wherein, for each measured sub-sample, measuring the magnitude of at least one impedance component comprises:
- grounding all rows and all columns other than the given row and the given column which are connected to the measured sub-sample;
- and
- measuring the at least one impedance component between the given row and the given column which are connected to the measured sub-sample.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.