Method and system for characterizing the agglomeration or speed of particles contained in a liquid, such as blood particles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016299158-A1
Application number	US-201615094565-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 8, 2016
Priority date	Jun 1, 2012
Publication date	Oct 13, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

The method is provided for characterizing agglomeration of particles in a liquid containing an analyte, including introducing liquid into a fluid chamber; mixing the liquid with a bifunctional reagent, lighting the fluid chamber using an excitation light beam extending through the fluid chamber in a longitudinal direction (X); acquiring at least one image using a matrix photodetector, each image including pixels (I n (x,y), x,y representing the coordinates of a pixel of an image, the image (I(x,y)) being formed by radiation transmitted by the lighted fluid chamber; and calculating from at least one acquired image (I(x,y)), at least one indicator (Ind 2 ) characterizing the particle agglomeration. The photodetector can be positioned less than 1 cm from the fluid chamber, and during the calculation step, the calculated indicator (Ind 2 ) is representative of the intensity of the pixels of the image. The method advantageously allows for charactering the agglomeration of particles in a liquid.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for characterizing an agglomeration of particles being contained in a liquid, the liquid including an analyte, the method comprising the following steps:
a) introducing the liquid into a fluid chamber; b) mixing the liquid with a bifunctional reagent capable of creating an agglomeration of said particles within said liquid, due to said analyte, said bifunctional reagent being able to bond with both a particle and an analyte within said liquid; c) lighting the fluid chamber using an excitation light beam emitted by a light source, the light beam extending through the fluid chamber in a longitudinal direction (X); d) acquiring at least one image using a matrix photodetector, each image including pixels (I n (x,y), x,y representing the coordinates of a pixel of an image, the image (I(x,y)) being formed by radiation transmitted by the lighted fluid chamber; and e) calculating, from said at least one acquired image (I(x,y)), at least one indicator (Ind 2 ) characterizing the agglomeration of the particles;
wherein:
during the acquisition step, the photodetector is positioned at a distance smaller than 1 cm from the fluid chamber in the longitudinal direction;
during the calculation step, the calculated indicator (Ind 2 ) is representative of the intensity of the pixels of said image; and
the method further comprises estimating a quantity of said analyte from said indicator.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the particles comprise red blood cells.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the fluid chamber includes several fluid circulation channels, and wherein, during the calculation step, an indicator is calculated for each of the channels.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the indicator represents the distribution of intensity of the pixels in each acquired image.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the indicator represents the segmentation of each acquired image into different areas, each area including pixels of comparable intensity.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein there is no magnifying lens between the fluid chamber and the matrix photodetector.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the light source is a light emitting diode.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the fluid chamber has a thickness ranging from 20 μm to 1000 μm.

9 . A method for characterizing an agglomeration of particles being contained in a liquid, the liquid including an analyte, the method comprising the following steps:
a) introducing the liquid into a fluid chamber; b) mixing the liquid with a reagent capable of creating an agglomeration of said particles within said liquid, due to said analyte; c) lighting the fluid chamber using an excitation light beam emitted by a light source, the light beam extending through the fluid chamber in a longitudinal direction (X); d) acquiring at least one image using a matrix photodetector, each image including pixels (I n (x,y), x,y representing the coordinates of a pixel of an image, the image (I(x,y)) being formed by radiation transmitted by the lighted fluid chamber; and e) calculating, from said at least one acquired image (I(x,y)), at least one indicator (Ind 2 ) characterizing the agglomeration of the particles;
wherein:
during the acquisition step, the photodetector is positioned at a distance smaller than 1 cm from the fluid chamber in the longitudinal direction;
during the calculation step, the calculated indicator (Ind 2 ) is representative of the intensity of the pixels of said image; and
the method further comprises determining a quantity or a presence of said analyte from said indicator.

10 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the particles comprise red blood cells.

11 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the fluid chamber includes several fluid circulation channels, and wherein, during the calculation step, an indicator is calculated for each of the channels.

12 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the indicator represents the distribution of intensity of the pixels in each acquired image.

13 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the indicator represents the segmentation of each acquired image into different areas, each area including pixels of comparable intensity.

14 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein there is no magnifying lens between the fluid chamber and the matrix photodetector.

15 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the light source is a light emitting diode.

16 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the fluid chamber has a thickness ranging from 20 μm to 1000 μm.

17 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the liquid is blood, the reagent comprises an antibody, and the analyte comprises an antigen, the method further including deriving a blood group from the calculated indicator.

Assignees

• Commissariat L Energie Atomique Et Aux Energies Alternatives

Inventors

• Poher Vincent
• Cubizolles Myriam-Laure
• Pouteau Patrick
• Allier Cédric
• Spiaczka Johanna

Classifications

• G01N2015/0092

  Monitoring flocculation or agglomeration · CPC title

• G01N21/77

  by observing the effect on a chemical indicator · CPC title

• G01N15/1434

  Optical arrangements · CPC title

• G01N2015/1497

  Particle shape · CPC title

• G01N33/86 Primary

  involving blood coagulating time {or factors, or their receptors} · CPC title