System Using Laser-Scatter Measurement Instrument For Organism Identification And Related Network

Abstract

An optical measurement instrument is an integrated instrument that includes an optical cavity with a light source, a sample cuvette, and an optical sensor. The instrument can be used for taking measurements of organism concentration in one or more samples. Preferably, the instrument holds multiple, individually-loaded, independent fluid samples and determines bacteria concentration via a forward-scattering signal. The instrument can incorporate onboard incubation to promote bacterial growth in the samples such that, once a certain bacterial concentration is achieved, the higher concentration sample can be used with a mass spectrometer to identify the type of bacteria. The instrument and mass spectrometer can be a part of a network for medical diagnostic testing data where data is stored in a manner that is inherently untainted by patient identifiable information.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application claims priority to (i) U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62 / 107,931, filed Jan. 26, 2015, titled “Multi-Sample Laser-Scatter Measurement Instrument With Incubation Feature” (ii) U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62 / 100,800, filed Jan. 7, 2015, titled “System And Method For Detecting and Identifying Bacteria Type in a Fluid Sample,” (iii) U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62 / 151,065, filed Apr. 22, 2015, titled “Networked Biological Data Collection System For Use With Laser-Scatter Measurement Instruments,” and (iv) U.S. application Ser. No. 14 / 562,304 titled “Cuvette Assembly Having Chambers for Containing Samples to be Evaluated through Optical Measurement,” filed on Dec. 5, 2014, each of which is herein incorporated by reference in entirety.COPYRIGHT[0002]A portion of the disclosure of this patent document may contain material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimil...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is about a network that stores medical diagnostic testing data in a way that protects against patient privacy. This means that data from different instruments in the network can be transmitted, stored, analyzed, and used without worrying about others finding out who the patient is. This reduces the bur drug database and network design, operation, maintenance, and use.

Problems solved by technology

Optical laser scattering is one of the most sensitive methods, but its implementation can be very challenging, especially when analyzing biological samples in which suspended particles are relatively transparent in the medium.

In a common analytical method, culturing of the bacteria can be time-consuming and involves the use of bacterial-growth plates placed within incubators.

In these installations, the central database for the LIS does not assist in the interpretation of the data, or impact the algorithms of interpretation for the instruments.

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