Method and apparatus for counting submicron sized particles
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
InventorCharles Harold Wick
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for detecting the presence of different size groups of submicron size particles in a fluid sample collected from the environment includes apparatus for collecting the environment. The collected a liquid sample containing submicron size particles selected from the group of viruses, prions, macromolecules, proteins and satellites, is directed to an electrospray assembly having an electrospray capillary for ejecting droplets of the fluid sample under the influence of an electric field. The ejected droplets from the electrospray assembly are directed to a differential mobility analyzer which passes the ejected droplets through an electric field, and the particles are then directed to a condensation particle device for counting the number of particles that pass through the electric field.
Claims20
An apparatus for detecting the presence of different size groups of submicron sized particles in a sample taken from the environment, comprising:
- (a) a collecting means for collecting a sample from the environment;
- (b) means for detecting the particles in the collected sample, the detecting means comprising:
- an electrospray assembly having an electrospray capillary which receives the collected sample from the collecting means, a differential mobility analyzer which receives the output from the electrospray;
- and a condensation particle counter means for counting the number of particles received from the differential mobility analyzer.
An apparatus for detecting the presence of different size groups of submicron sized particles in a sample taken from the environment, comprising:
- (a) a collecting means for collecting a sample containing the particles from the environment;
- and
- (b) detecting means connected to the collecting means for detecting the particles in the collected sample, the detecting means comprising a means for placing a charge on the particles, a means for separating the charged particles based on the size of the particles and a means for counting the number of separated particles in the collected sample.
A method for detecting the presence of submicron size particles in a sample taken from the environment, comprising the steps of:
- (a) collecting a fluid sample containing submicron size particles comprising viruses, prions, macromolecules, proteins, satellite and virus fragments;
- (b) directing the collected fluid sample to an electrospray assembly having an electrospray capillary for introducing droplets of the fluid sample containing the submicron size particles into an electrospray assembly under the influence of an electric field;
- (c) directing the output from the electrospray assembly to a differential mobility analyzer for separating the submicron size particles according to size;
- and
- (d) directing the separated submicron size particles from the differential mobility analyzer to a condensation particle counter for counting the number of submicron size particles in the fluid sample.
A method for detecting the presence of submicron size particles in a sample taken from the environment, comprising the steps of:
- (a) collecting a sample containing the submicron size particles;
- (b) detecting the submicron size particles in the collected sample by placing a charge on the submicron size particles, separating the charged submicron size particles based on the size of the submicron size particles, and counting the number of separated submicron size particles in the sample.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.