Particle Detection Using Thin Lenses

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020018684-A1
Application number	US-201716335578-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 18, 2017
Priority date	Sep 22, 2016
Publication date	Jan 16, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

An optical excitation system comprises a substrate ( 105 ) comprising at least one delivery means ( 104 ), for delivering analytes ( 109 ) into at least one region of interest ( 103 ), at least one radiation carrier ( 101 ) for directing at least one radiation beam from the at least one radiation carrier ( 101 ) into the at least one region of interest ( 103 ). The substrate ( 105 ) includes a thin lens system ( 120 ) comprising at least a first thin lens ( 121 ), for collimating radiation from the at least one region of interest ( 103 ) to a remote detection system ( 130 ). A particle sensor and sensing system comprising the excitation system are also provided, for example a modular particle sensor and modular sensing system, wherein the optical excitation system may be single use and disposable.

First claim

1 . An optical excitation system for a particle sensor, the system comprising:
(a) a substrate comprising
at least one delivery means for delivering analytes into at least one region of interest, and
at least one radiation carrier for carrying radiation and directing at least one radiation beam from the at least one radiation carrier into the at least one region of interest; and
(b) a thin lens system comprising at least a first thin lens for collimating radiation from the at least one region of interest to a remote detection system.

2 . The optical excitation system according to claim 1 , wherein the at least a first thin lens is integrated in or on the substrate.

3 . The optical excitation system according to claim 1 , wherein the thin lens system comprises at least one thin film lens.

4 . The optical excitation system according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one delivery means comprises at least one microfluidic channel.

5 . A particle sensor comprising:
an optical excitation system according to claim 1 ; and a detection system comprising at least a first detector for detecting radiation within a predetermined range of wavelengths.

6 . The particle sensor according to claim 5 , wherein the thin lens system of the optical excitation system is adapted to allow transmission and direction of radiation within a predetermined range of wavelengths from the region of interest into the detection system.

7 . The particle sensor according to claim 5 , wherein the thin lens system of the optical excitation system comprises at least a second thin lens for detecting radiation within a further range of wavelengths,
wherein the particle sensor further comprising comprises at least a second detector part of the detection system, for detecting radiation within the further range of wavelengths, and wherein the thin lens system is adapted to direct radiation within a first range of wavelengths towards the first detector, and radiation within a further range of wavelengths to the second detector.

8 . The particle sensor according to claim 7 , wherein each of the thin lenses of the thin lens system is adapted to collimate radiation of different ranges of wavelengths from a region of interest to a different detector of the detection system.

9 . The particle sensor according to claim 5 , wherein the thin lenses of the thin lens system are positioned on a surface of the substrate between the delivery means and the detection system.

10 . The particle sensor according to claim 5 , further comprising at least a further thin lens and a further detector, the thin lens adapted for directing side-scattered and/or forward-scattered radiation into at the further detector.

11 . The particle sensor according to claim 5 , comprising four thin lenses in a 2×2 matrix configuration between the region of interest and four detectors in a 2×2 matrix configuration.

12 . The particle sensor according to claim 5 , further comprising a radiation source for sending, into the radiation carrier, radiation within the range of wavelength of visible light, the substrate comprising a glass layer.

13 . A sensing system comprising a plurality of particle sensors according to claim 5 , a plurality of radiation carriers being provided along the at least one delivery means, wherein the at least one delivery means is at least one microfluidic channel for providing particles to a plurality of regions of interest.

14 . The sensing system of claim 13 , wherein the at least one delivery means comprises a plurality of channels.

15 . The sensing system according to claim 13 , wherein an excitation grating is provided for directing the at least an excitation radiation beam from at least one of the plurality of radiation carriers into a region of interest comprising the whole width of the channel.

16 . The sensing system of claim 13 , wherein the detection system comprises a plurality of detectors that are integrated in a single unit.

17 . The optical excitation system according to claim 3 , wherein a thickness of the thin film lens is 1 micron or less.

18 . The optical excitation system according to claim 1 , wherein the radiation carrier is selected from a wave guide, an optical fiber, or a multilayer structure comprising metal and SiN layers.

19 . The optical excitation system according to claim 1 , wherein the radiation carrier comprises an excitation grating.

20 . The optical excitation system according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate is transparent.

Assignees

• Imec Vzw

Inventors

• Vercruysse Dries

Classifications

• G01N21/47

  Scattering, i.e. diffuse reflection (G01N21/25, G01N21/41 take precedence {G01N21/55 takes precedence}) · CPC title

• G01N15/1434 Primary

  Optical arrangements · CPC title

• G01N2015/1006

  for cytology · CPC title

• G01N15/1436 Primary

  the optical arrangement forming an integrated apparatus with the sample container, e.g. a flow cell · CPC title

• G01N15/147

  the analysis being performed on a sample stream · CPC title