Aerosol detection system using optical and mass discrimination
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorMinas Tanielian
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system to detect and identify various aerosol agents, such as biological agents which have been aerosolized, is disclosed. The system generally includes a mechanism to collect a selected sample of atmosphere which may include the aerosol agent, a sub-system to detect the presence and type of agent, and a sub-system to communicate the type of agent detected.
Claims27
A method of determining the presence of a selected agent in an atmospheric sample with a system including a sample collector, a sample tagger, a sample separator, and a detection component, the method comprising:
- collecting an atmospheric sample of a selected size of an atmosphere;
- mixing a tag with the atmospheric sample;
- forming a volume including at least one of an interacted tag and an uninteracted tag;
- forcing the formation of a collection from the volume of at least one of the interacted tag and the uninteracted tag;
- detecting the presence of the collection of at least one of the interacted tag and the uninteracted tag;
- and
- outputting the result of the detection;
- wherein an interacted tag is formed generally only in the presence of a selected agent.
A method of determining the presence of a selected agent in an atmospheric sample with a system including a sample collector, a sample tagger, a sample separator, and a detection component, the method comprising:
- collecting an atmospheric sample of a selected size of an atmosphere;
- providing at least a portion of the atmospheric sample to a mixing cell;
- injecting from at least a single injector a tag into the mixing cell;
- mixing the injected tag with the at least a portion of the atmospheric sample;
- forming a volume including at least one of an interacted tag and an uninteracted tag;
- moving the volume to a separation system;
- determining the identity of at least one constituent of the at least a portion of the atmospheric sample at least in part by separating the interacted tag and the uninteracted tag;
- and
- outputting the result of the determination;
- wherein an interacted tag is formed generally only in the presence of a selected agent.
A method of determining the presence of a selected agent in an atmospheric sample with a system including a sample collector, a sample tagger, a sample separator, and a detection component, the method comprising:
- collecting an atmospheric sample of a selected size of an atmosphere;
- providing at least a portion of the atmospheric sample to a mixing cell;
- injecting from at least a single injector a tag into the mixing cell;
- ultrasonically mixing the injected tag with the at least a portion of the atmospheric sample;
- forming a volume including at least one of an interacted tag and an uninteracted tag;
- moving the volume to a separation system;
- separating the volume by spinning the volume in a separation device causing the interacted tag to be separated from the uniteracted tag and both moving to an area including a transmission window, wherein two groups of particles are formed if a selected agent is present, a first group of particles that includes the interconnected tag and a second group of particles that includes the uninteracted tag;
- providing an excitation source to transmit energy through the transmission window to excite at least a portion of the interacted tag or the uninteracted tag;
- receiving an emission from at least a portion of the interacted tag or the uninteracted tag;
- determining the presence of one or more groups of particles;
- and
- outputting the result of the determination.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.