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US 7,105,081 B2Granted
Methods and apparatus for electrosmear analysis
AssigneeBoard of Regents, The University of Texas System
InventorsPeter R. C. Gascoyne, Jody V. Vykoukal, Chandra Das, Frederick F. Becker
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus for preparing a smear for cytopathology or other analysis. In a representative embodiment, cells of a sample are subjected to a dielectrophoretic force to segregate the cells into two or more zones of a surface. The particles are attached to the surface, thereby defining a “segregated smear.” The segregated smear is then fixed and stained for cytopathology analysis.
Claims45
A method comprising:
- subjecting particles of a sample to a dielectrophoretic force by simultaneously applying a swept frequency signal to a first set of electrodes and a fixed frequency signal to a second set of electrodes;
- segregating the particles into two or more zones of a surface;
- and
- attaching the particles to the surface;
- where the swept frequency signal falls from a maximum intensity to a minimum intensity along a length of a surface in a first direction, and the fixed frequency signal falls from a maximum intensity to a minimum intensity along the length of the surface in a second direction opposing the first direction.
2 more elements
A method comprising:
- subjecting particles of a sample to a dielectrophoretic force to segregate the particles into two or more zones of a surface by simultaneously applying a swept frequency signal applied to a first set of electrodes and a fixed frequency signal to a second set of electrodes;
- attaching the particles to the surface, thereby defining a segregated smear;
- and
- fixing or staining the segregated smear;
- where the swept frequency signal falls from a maximum intensity to a minimum intensity along a length of a surface in a first direction, and the fixed frequency signal falls from a maximum intensity to a minimum intensity along the length of the surface in a second direction opposing the first direction.
2 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a surface;
- electrodes near the surface;
- a first signal generator configured to apply a fixed frequency signal to a first electrode, the fixed frequency signal falling from a maximum intensity to a minimum intensity along a length of the surface in a first direction;
- a second signal generator configured to apply a swept frequency signal to a second electrode, the swept frequency signal falling from a maximum intensity to a minimum intensity along the length of the surface in a second direction opposing the first direction, where the fixed frequency signal and the swept frequency signal are applied simultaneously;
- and
- where applying the swept frequency signal in combination with the fixed frequency signal generates a dielectrophoretic force configured to segregate particles into two or more zones of the surface.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.