Systems and methods for analyzing a microvolume sample

Abstract

An illustrative system for analyzing a sample includes a first surface; a first cap including a first conductive material and configured to be removably engaged with the first surface; a second surface; a second cap including a second conductive material and configured to be removably engaged with the second surface, wherein, while the first cap is removably engaged with the first surface and the second cap is removably engaged with the second surface, the second cap is positioned opposite the first cap for holding the sample between the first cap and the second cap by surface tension; and an electronic processing unit configured to: detect, using the first conductive material and the second conductive material, a signal associated with the sample; and determine, based on the signal, an electrochemical property of the sample. For example, the electrochemical property may correspond to a pH level of a microliter sample.

Description

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ANALYZING A MICROVOLUME SAMPLERELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 690,457, filed September 4, 2024, the contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND INFORMATION

[0002] Microvolume analytic devices are important tools in clinical and research implementations to facilitate analysis of one or more properties of a liquid sample. Through such microvolume analytic devices, it is possible to quickly and easily understand various properties of the liquid sample, such as the quantity and / or purity of a liquid sample. For example, a microvolume analytic device may be configured to perform a nucleic acid and protein quantification assessment with respect to a liquid sample. Although various different types of microvolume analytic devices have been developed to make such assessments, there remains room to improve the use and / or design of microvolume analytic devices to facilitate analysis of one or more properties of a liquid sample.SUMMARY

[0003] An example system for analyzing a sample comprises a first surface; a first cap including a first conductive material and configured to be removably engaged with the first surface; a second surface; a second cap including a second conductive material and configured to be removably engaged with the second surface, wherein, while the first cap is removably engaged with the first surface and the second cap is removably engaged with the second surface, the second cap is positioned opposite the first cap for holding the sample between the first cap and the second cap by surface tension; and an electronic processing unit configured to: detect, using the first conductive material and the second conductive material, a signal associated with the sample; and determine, based on the signal, an electrochemical property of the sample.

[0004] An example computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for performing a process. The process comprises determining that a sample is positionedbetween a first cap and a second cap while the first cap is removably engaged with a first surface and the second cap is removably engaged with a second surface, wherein the sample is held between the first cap and the second cap via surface tension, the first cap includes a first conductive material, and the second cap includes a second conductive material; receiving, while the sample is positioned between the first cap and the second cap, a signal from the sample by way of the first conductive material and the second conductive material; and determining an electrochemical property of the sample based on the received signal.

[0005] An example method for measuring an electrochemical property of a sample, comprises: determining, by a sample analytic system, that a sample is positioned between a first cap and a second cap while the first cap is removably engaged with a first surface and the second cap is removably engaged with a second surface, wherein the sample is held between the first cap and the second cap via surface tension, the first cap includes a first conductive material, and the second cap includes a second conductive material; receiving, by the sample analytic system and while the sample is positioned between the first cap and the second cap, a signal from the sample by way of the first conductive material and the second conductive material; and determining, by the sample analytic system, the electrochemical property of the sample based on the received signal.

[0006] An example cap comprises a first side that includes a first conductive material; a second side that is configured to be removably engaged with a first surface of the sample analytic system, while the cap is removably engaged with the first surface, the cap is positioned opposite an additional cap that is removably engaged with a second surface of the sample analytic system for holding the sample between the cap and the additional cap by surface tension, the additional cap including a second conductive material; and a wire configured to transmit a signal to an electronic processing unit, the signal used by the electronic processing unit to determine an electrochemical property of the sample.

[0007] It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] The accompanying drawings illustrate various implementations and are a part of the specification. The illustrated implementations are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the disclosure. Throughout the drawings, identical or similar reference numbers designate identical or similar elements.

[0009] FIG. 1 illustrates an example sample analytic system according to principles described herein.

[0010] FIG. 2A illustrates an example liquid analysis system that may be implemented by the sample analytic system of FIG. 1 according to principles described herein.

[0011] FIG. 2B illustrates an example block diagram of a controller that may be included in the liquid analysis system of FIG. 2A according to principles described herein.

[0012] FIG. 3 illustrates another example liquid analysis system that may be implemented by the sample analytic system of FIG. 1 and that includes a visible lightemitting device according to principles described herein.

[0013] FIG. 4-6 illustrate example configurations of caps that may be implemented in the sample analytic system of FIG. 1 according to principles described herein.

[0014] FIG. 7 illustrates an example method for analyzing a microvolume sample according to principles described herein.

[0015] FIG. 8 illustrates an example computing device according to principles described herein.

[0016] FIGS. 9-10 illustrate perspective views of a cap that may be implemented according to principles described herein.

[0017] FIGS. 11-12 illustrate perspective views of an additional cap that may be implemented according to principles described herein.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] Systems and methods for analyzing a microvolume sample are described herein. As will be described in more detail below, an illustrative system for analyzing a sample comprises a first surface; a first cap including a first conductive material and configured to be removably engaged with the first surface; a second surface; a second cap including a second conductive material and configured to be removably engagedwith the second surface, wherein, while the first cap is removably engaged with the first surface and the second cap is removably engaged with the second surface, the second cap is positioned opposite the first cap for holding the sample between the first cap and the second cap by surface tension; and an electronic processing unit configured to: detect, using the first conductive material and the second conductive material, a signal associated with the sample; and determine, based on the signal, an electrochemical property of the sample.

[0019] Various advantages and benefits are associated with systems and methods described herein. For example, systems and methods such as those described herein may implement removable caps to increase and / or improve the measurement capabilities of a sample analytic system as compared to conventional sample analytic systems. Through such removable caps, the systems and methods described herein may be configured to facilitate quickly and efficiently measuring one or more properties (e.g., electrochemical properties, optical properties, etc.) of a sample. For example, such removable caps may be configured to facilitate measuring a pH level of a sample, a conductivity of a sample, an optical property of a sample, and / or any other suitable property. Accordingly, the systems and methods described herein may make measurements of properties of microliter volumes routine, inexpensive, and widely accessible. For example, measurements of pH may be used to monitor and maintain the proper pH of the buffer of DNA during purification, amplification, and / or storage. By measuring signal via the removable caps, additional coating of the conductive materials to the surfaces of the sample analytic device is not needed. Further, since the conductive material may be damaged by the sample during measurement, by including the conductive material in the removable cap, the damaged cap may be replaced without affecting the sample analytic device. These and other benefits that may be realized by the systems and methods described herein will be evident from the disclosure that follows.

[0020] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary sample analytic system 100 (“system 100”) that may be implemented according to principles described herein. As shown, system 100 may include, without limitation, an electronic processing unit 101 communicatively coupled to a sample analytic device 105. System 100 may be implemented in any suitable manner. For example, as shown, electronic processing unit 101 and sample analytic device 105 may be implemented by separate devices that are communicatively coupled with one another by way of any suitable wired and / or wireless communication protocol. In some alternative implementations, electronic processing unit 101 may beincluded within sample analytic device 105. Illustrative implementations of system 100 are described herein.

[0021] Electronic processing unit 101 may be implemented by one or more computing devices that have processing capabilities, such as one or more desktop computers, controllers, mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablet computers), etc. As shown, electronic processing unit 101 includes a memory 102 and a processor 104 selectively and communicatively coupled to one another. Memory 102 and processor 104 may each include or be implemented by hardware and / or software components (e.g., processors, memories, communication interfaces, instructions stored in memory for execution by the processors, etc.).

[0022] Memory 102 may maintain (e.g., store) executable data used by processor 104 to perform any of the operations described herein. For example, memory 102 may store instructions 106 that may be executed by processor 104 to perform any of the operations described herein. Instructions 106 may be implemented by any suitable application, software, code, and / or other executable data instance.

[0023] Memory 102 may also maintain any data received, generated, managed, used, and / or transmitted by processor 104. Memory 102 may store any other suitable data as may serve a particular implementation. For example, memory 102 may store measurement data (e.g., pH data, optical property data, sample concentration data, sample volume data, conductivity data, etc.), image data, calibration data, user interface content, and / or any other suitable data.

[0024] Processor 104 may be configured to perform (e.g., execute instructions 106 stored in memory 102 to perform) various processing operations associated with analyzing a microvolume sample using components of sample analytic device 105. For example, processor 104 may perform one or more operations described herein to detect a signal associated with a sample and determine, based on the signal, an electrochemical property of the sample. These and other operations that may be performed by processor 104 are described herein.

[0025] Processor 104 may be configured to execute a computer program to perform any of the operations described herein. A computer program may be written in any form of programming language including compiled and / or interpreted languages, and may be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computing program may be deployed to be executed by processor 104 at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a network.

[0026] Sample analytic device 105 may be implemented by any suitable device, apparatus, or system having components that may be used to analyze one or more microvolume samples. For example, sample analytic device 105 may be implemented by a spectrophotometer. Examples of spectrophotometers are disclosed in U.S. Patents US6809826B2 and US6628382B2, the entire contents of both are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

[0027] Sample analytic device 105 may use the confinement of the sample by surface tension to measure one or more properties of a liquid sample. The liquid sample may have, for example, a volume of 0.25 microliters to 10 microliters, or any other suitable volume. The properties may include physical properties, electrochemical properties, and / or optical properties, such as sample volume, electrical conductivity, pH level, optical density, optical absorbance, optical transmission, etc.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 1 , sample analytic device 105 of system 100 includes a first pedestal 131 including a first surface 108-1 , and a second pedestal 132 including a second surface 108-2. A first cap 110-1 includes a first conductive material 112-1 and is configured to be removably engaged with first surface 108-1. A second cap 110-2 includes a second conductive material 112-2 and is configured to be removably engaged with the second surface 108-2. Sample analytic device 105 may include additional or alternative components as may serve a particular implementation.

[0029] Surfaces 108-1 and 108-2 (collectively “surfaces 108”) are surfaces of components (e.g., pedestals or anvils) of sample analytic device 105. As described herein, first and second caps 110-1 and 110-2 (collectively “caps 110”) may be removably engaged with surfaces 108 (e.g., by placing caps 110 on surfaces 108) such that sample 114 can be held between caps 110 with the surface tension while the one or more properties of sample 114 are measured.

[0030] For example, while first cap 110-1 is removably engaged with first surface 108-1 and second cap 110-2 is removably engaged with second surface 108-2, second cap 110-2 may be positioned opposite first cap 110-1 for holding sample 114 between first cap 110-1 and second cap 110-2 by surface tension. In this configuration, system 100 (e.g., sample analytic device 105 under the direction of electronic processing unit 101 ) may measure a pH level and / or other electrochemical or optical property of sample 114. After the measurement is completed, caps 110 may be removed from being engaged with surfaces 108. After removal of caps 110 from being engaged with surfaces 108, system 100 may optionally be configured to measure one or moreadditional properties (e.g., conductivity, optical properties, etc.) of an additional sample by holding the additional sample directly between surfaces 108.

[0031] In certain examples, a plurality of different properties may be concurrently or sequentially measured by system 100 while caps 110 are engaged with sample analytic device 105. For example, while caps 110 are engaged, system 100 may sequentially measure a first property (e.g., an optical property), then a second property (e.g., a first electrochemical property such as pH level) of the sample, and then a third property (e.g., a second electrochemical property such as conductivity).

[0032] In the example shown in FIG. 1 , first surface 108-1 is shown in dashed lines because first surface 108-1 is provided within a recess formed in first cap 110-1. Similarly, second surface 108-2 is shown in dashed lines because second surface 108-2 is provided within a recess formed in second cap 110-2.

[0033] First cap 110-1 and second cap 110-2 may be formed of any suitable material as may serve a particular implementation. For example, first cap 110-1 and second cap 110-2 may be formed of a metal (e.g., stainless steel), a combination of a metal and plastic, and / or a plurality of different metals.

[0034] First cap 110-1 and second cap 110-2 may be engaged with first and second surfaces 108 in any suitable manner. For example, first cap 110-1 may be in direct contact with first surface 108-1 while engaged with first surface 108-1. In addition, second cap 110-2 may be in direct contact second surface 108-2 while engaged with second surface 108-2. In certain alternative examples, one or more of first cap 110-1 or second cap 110-2 may not be in direct contact with a respective surface 108 while engaged. For example, first cap 110-1 may be spaced apart from first surface 108-1 while first cap 110-1 is engaged with first surface 108-1. In such examples, while first cap 110-1 is engaged with first surface 108-1 , first cap 110-1 may only be in direct contact with a side surface of a pedestal that includes first surface 108-1 as a distal surface.

[0035] First cap 110-1 and second cap 110-2 may be configured in any suitable manner. In certain examples, the sample facing surfaces of first cap 110-1 and second cap 110-2 that face one another may be essentially flat and parallel to each other, as shown in FIG. 1. In certain alternative implementations, one or both of the sample facing surfaces of caps 110 may be curved. In one example, first cap 110-1 and second cap 110-2 may be positioned horizontally. That is, in certain alternative implementations, first cap 110-1 and second cap 110-2 may hold sample 114 on the left and right sides of sample 114 instead of the top and the bottom as shown in FIG. 1.

[0036] In certain examples, first cap 110-1 may include a first insulating layer (not shown in FIG. 1) configured to electrically insulate first cap 110-1 from first surface 108-1 while first cap 110-1 is removably engaged with first surface 108-1. Second cap 110-2 may include a second insulating layer (not shown in FIG. 1 ) configured to electrically insulate second cap 110-2 from second surface 108-2 while second cap 110-2 is removably engaged with second surface 108-2. In such examples, the first and second insulating layers may be formed of any suitable insulating material as may serve a particular implementation. In certain examples, the first insulating layer may completely insulate first cap 110-1 from first surface 108-1 and the second insulating layer may completely insulate second cap 110-2 from second surface 108-2. In certain alternative implementations, the first insulating layer may partially insulate first cap 110-1 from first surface 108-1 and / or the second insulating layer may partially insulate second cap 110-2 from second surface 108-2. In such examples, first cap 110-1 and / or second cap 110- 2 may each include one or more conductive portions that electrically connect to portions (e.g., electrodes) of first surface 108-1 or second surface 108-2.

[0037] First conductive material 112-1 may include any suitable conductive material as may serve a particular implementation. In certain examples, first conductive material 112-1 may include a metal oxide, such as a zinc oxide (ZnO). The first conductive material may be coated onto the surface of the first cap facing the second cap and used to measure a pH level and / or any other electrochemical property of sample 114. The metal oxide coating may have any suitable thickness. For example, the metal oxide coating (e.g., a ZnO coating) of first cap 110-1 may be less than 200 nm thick in certain implementations. In certain alternative implementations, the metal oxide coating of first cap 110-1 may be less than 100 nm thick. The metal oxide coating may be applied to first cap 110-1 in any suitable manner. For example, the metal oxide coating may be applied to first cap 110-1 by way of a radio frequency (RF) sputtering method. In examples where first cap 110-1 is formed of stainless steel, a thin (approximately 5 nm) layer of titanium may be applied to first cap 110-1 prior to application of the metal oxide to improve the adhesion of the metal oxide to the surface of the stainless steel.

[0038] First conductive material 112-1 may cover any suitable portion of first cap 110-1 as may serve a particular implementation. In the example shown in FIG. 1 , first conductive material 112-1 covers more than 90% of the sample facing surface of first cap 110-1 that directly faces second cap 110-2. In certain alternative implementations, all of the sample facing surface of first cap 110-1 that directly faces second cap 110-2 may be covered by first conductive material 112-1. Moreover, in certain alternativeimplementations, first conductive material 112-1 may also extend to side surfaces of first cap 110-1 in addition to being provided on a surface of first cap 110-1 that directly faces second cap 110-2.

[0039] Second conductive material 112-2 may also include any suitable conductive material as may serve a particular implementation that may be used together with first conductive material 112-1 to measure a pH level and / or any other electrochemical property of sample 114. In certain examples, second conductive material 112-2 may include silver chloride (AgCI). In such examples the AgCI may be applied to second cap 110-2 in any suitable manner. For example, the AgCI coating may be an AgCI ink that is painted on second cap 110-2 in certain implementations. In certain examples, an AgCI coating may further include a thin gel saturated with chloride ions, a nano-scale pool of potassium chloride (KCI) with a gel, and / or any other suitable material or combination of materials.

[0040] Second conductive material 112-2 may cover any suitable portion of second cap 110-2 as may serve a particular implementation. For example, second conductive material 112-2 may cover all or more than 90% of the sample facing surface of the second cap 110-2 that directly faces first cap 110-1. In the example shown in FIG. 1 , second conductive material 112-2 covers only the sample facing surface of the second cap 110-2. This is because providing second conductive material 112-2 such that second conductive material 112-2 extends to other parts of the cap, such as along the side surfaces of second cap 110-2, may result in excessive noise in the measurements or in a completely open (disconnected) circuit, preventing voltage measurements.

[0041] The examples described above mention having a ZnO coating on first cap 110-1 (the upper cap) and an AgCI coating on second cap 110-2 (the lower cap). However, it is understood that in certain alternative implementations, the coatings may be reversed with first cap 110-1 having an AgCI coating and second cap 110-2 having a ZnO coating.

[0042] In certain examples, a conductive protective coating may be applied to first conductive material 112-1 and / or second conductive material 112-2 to prevent damage to those materials. In such examples, the conductive protective coating may be formed of any suitable thin, permeable, optically transparent material as may serve a particular implementation.

[0043] It should be understood that various coatings may be used for pH measurements of a sample and the coatings described herein are provided only asexamples. For example, other insoluble compounds with high electron mobility, wide band gap, or both may be used to coat one or both of caps 110.

[0044] During the measurement, first cap 110-1 and second cap 110-2 are positioned opposite and facing each other, holding sample 114 in between. Electronic processing unit 101 is configured to detect, using first conductive material 112-1 and second conductive material 112-2, an electrical signal associated with sample 114. In certain examples, the electrical signal may be indicative of an open circuit voltage between first conductive material 112-1 and second conductive material 112-2 while sample 114 is held between first cap 110-1 and second cap 110-2.

[0045] Based on the signal, electronic processing unit 101 may determine an electrochemical property of sample 114. The electrochemical property may correspond to any suitable electrochemical property or combination of electrochemical properties that may be associated with sample 114. For example, the electrochemical properties may include a pH level of sample 114, wherein the pH level is a quantitative measure of the acidity or basicity of sample 114.

[0046] Additionally or alternatively, an additional electrochemical property may be measured after caps 110 are removed from surfaces 108. For example, first surface 108-1 may include at least part of a first electrode, and second surface 108-2 may include at least a part of a second electrode. System 100 may be configured to receive, by way of at least one of the first electrode or the second electrode, electrical signals from sample 114 to determine the additional electrochemical property. In such examples, the additional electrochemical property may include electrical conductivity. In some examples, sample analytic device 105 may apply an electrical signal, such as an AC voltage signal, across sample 114 via the electrodes associated with first surface 108-1 and second surface 108-2. Sample analytic device 105 may measure a resulting current using the same electrodes. Based on the applied voltage signal and the current, sample analytic device 105 may determine a resistivity of sample 114. The conductivity may then be calculated based on the resistivity and a cell constant.

[0047] In some examples, to regulate the geometry of sample placed between the surfaces, a hydrophobic coating or treatment may optionally be applied to one or both of first cap 110-1 or second cap 110-2. The hydrophobic coating may be coated over the conductive material. In some examples, additive materials may be added to the conductive material to make them hydrophobic. This coating or treatment may be applied to help constrain the position of the drop solely to surfaces of caps 110 themselves throughout the course of an experiment.

[0048] The relative position, such as the separation distance, between first cap 110-1 and second cap 110-2 may be adjustable. In one example, at least one of the pedestals associated with the respective caps 110 may be coupled to an actuator. At least one of the pedestals may be driven by an actuator. As such, a different pedestal position corresponds to a different separation distance between surfaces 108 and / or the sample facing surfaces of the caps 110.

[0049] In some examples, optical fibers are integrated with surfaces 108 for performing optical measurement of sample 114 while caps 110 are not engaged with surfaces 108. For example, a first optical fiber may be integrated with first surface 108-1 and a second optical fiber may be integrated with second surface 108-2. In such examples, one of the first and second optical fibers may be configured to radiate light through sample 114 and the other of the first and second optical fibers may be configured to collect the light transmitted through sample 114. As such, the electrochemical and optical properties of the same sample (e.g., same droplet) may be measured. In some examples, the electrochemical and optical properties of the same droplet may be measured simultaneously.

[0050] In examples where system 100 is configured to determine an optical property of a sample with the caps engaged with the surfaces 108. First cap 110-1 may include a first light transparent portion for passing light irradiated through sample 114. Second cap 110-2 may include a second light transparent portion for passing the light radiated through the sample. In such examples, the first light transparent portion may be positioned on first cap 110-1 to line up with the position of the first optical fiber integrated with first surface 108-1. Likewise, the second light transparent portion may be positioned on second cap 110-2 to line up with the position of the second optical fiber integrated with second surface 108-2. Such light transparent portions may be configured in any suitable manner. In certain examples, the light transparent portions may correspond to through holes that are drilled or otherwise formed in the respective caps. In such examples, the through holes are positioned directly above the fiber optics so that light may pass through the holes and to / from the fiber optics.

[0051] In certain examples, a material layer may be provided over the sample facing side of the through holes to prevent liquid from falling through the through holes. Such a material layer may be configured in any suitable manner. For example, such a material layer may be installed on a top side (e.g., the side that faces away from the pedestal with which the cap is engaged) of a cap. Alternatively, such a material layer may be installed on an underside (e.g., the side that faces the pedestal with which the cap isengaged) of the cap. Such a material layer may be formed of any suitable material as may serve a particular implementation. For example, a thin UV transparent polymer, RTV 615, cellulose acetate, polyvinyl alcohol, etc. may be used in certain examples.

[0052] In certain examples, system 100 may further include a camera for imaging the position of surfaces 108, the sample facing surfaces of caps 110, and / or sample 114. Imaging the position of surfaces may include imaging the position of caps 110 and / or pedestals (e.g., the sample contacting surfaces of the caps / pedestals). The camera may acquire cap images (images including at least one cap 110 without sample 114) and / or sample images (images of the droplet positioned between caps 110). The actuator position (e.g., motor position) corresponding to a plurality of cap positions (e.g., measurement positions) may be updated / corrected based on the reference cap images. The volume of the sample may be determined based on the geometry of sample 114 in the sample image. The actuator position and the sample volume may be determined by comparing the cap image and sample image with reference images in a respective image library.

[0053] First cap 110-1 and second cap 110-2 engaged with first surface 108-1 and second surface 108-2, respectively, may be positioned at a measurement separation distance (or measurement position) while system 100 measures one or more properties of sample 114. The measurement separation distance may be determined based on the sample volume. The sample volume may be a default volume, a volume specified via user input, or determined based on the sample image acquired by the camera.

[0054] Parameters for calculating the electrochemical property may be determined using a reference sample held with caps 110 positioned at the measurement position. For example, for determining conductivity, the cell constant may be calculated based on the received current, applied AC signal, and known conductivity of the reference sample. The cell constant may be used for calculating the conductivity of a sample of interest.

[0055] FIG. 1 depicts a simplified block diagram of exemplary components that may be included as part of system 100. It is understood that system 100 may have additional or alternative components in certain alternative implementations. In addition, the relative size and / or shape of caps 110 in relation to each other and other features is not to scale and may be different in different implementations.

[0056] FIG. 2A illustrates a liquid analysis system 200 (“system 200”) in which system 100 and removable caps such as those described herein may be implemented in certain examples. As illustrated in FIG. 2A, liquid analysis system 200 includes caps202 and 204 coupled to respective pedestals, a sample facing surface 206 of the cap 202 and a sample facing surface 208 of cap 204 configured to hold a sample 210 of a microvolume liquid, a controller 212, electrical connections (e.g., wires) 214 and 216, a camera 218, an actuator 220 (e.g., one or more stepper motors and one or more associated lead screws), and an electronic processing unit 222. Various components shown in FIG. 2A may be similar to and / or implement components shown in FIG. 1. For example, electronic processing unit 222 may be an implementation of electronic processing unit 101 , and various other components shown in FIG. 2A may be an implementation of sample analytic device 105. System 200 may be used to measure one or more electrochemical properties of sample 210 via one or more of the methods described herein. System 200 may be positioned vertically so that the first and second surfaces are horizontal (in X-Y plane).

[0057] In some implementations, the components of system 200 illustrated in FIG. 2A may be included in a common housing forming an instrument or device. However, in other implementations, one or more components of system 200 may be contained in separate housings or devices and may be coupled (e.g., communicatively, electrically, mechanically, or the like) as needed to carry out the methods described herein. It is understood that the functionality described herein as being performed by the components of system 200 may be combined and distributed in various ways. For example, in some implementations, electronic processing unit 222 may be part of controller 212, wherein controller 212 is configured to perform the functionality of electronic processing unit 222 as described herein. Furthermore, the functionality described herein as being performed by controller 212 may be distributed among multiple controllers 212. Liquid analysis system 200 may also include additional components (such as power components), a user interface 224 (such as a display and / or user input device), a housing, and the like.

[0058] In addition, in some implementations, although the sample facing surfaces 206 and 208 are illustrated in FIG. 2A as being positioned horizontally (e.g., to establish an upper surface and a lower surface), it should be understood that other orientations are possible, such as, for example, a vertical orientation wherein sample facing surfaces 206 and 208 establish a left surface and a right surface. Accordingly, although implementations may be described herein with respect to an upper and lower surface, implementations described here may similarly be applied to systems including two surfaces in other orientations.

[0059] As illustrated in FIG. 2A, sample 210 is loaded onto one of the sample facing surface 206 or 208, such as, for example, the sample facing surface 206 of cap 202, with a pipette. Sample 210, when emptied from the pipette and if the droplet has sufficient volume, will spread to cover the sample facing surface 206 until it encounters an edge of the sample facing surface 206 or 208, such as, for example, an edge of sample facing surface 206. Sample 210 is contained by surface tension between sample facing surface 206 of cap 202 and sample facing surface 208 of cap 204. In some implementations, 2 microliters of a water-based solution may effectively cover an area of one or both of sample facing surfaces 206 and 208 having approximately a 2- millimeter diameter. Alternatively, the spread of sample 210 may be limited by a change in the surface tension characteristic. For example, in some implementations, a polymer surface of a material may be used to limit the spread of the solution.

[0060] Using one or more actuator(s) 220 (such as, for example, one or more stepper motors), cap 202 is brought into a measurement position and, optionally, then into close proximity to cap 204, making contact with deposited sample 210 and wetting the entire confining surface before returning to a sample measurement position. Actuator 220 herein is shown mechanically coupled to lower cap 204 for adjusting sample facing surface 208. It is understood that actuator 220 may be mechanically coupled to a pedestal to which cap 204 is engaged. In some examples, actuator 220 may instead be coupled to cap 202 and / or a pedestal to which cap 202 is engaged. In some examples, each of the caps may be coupled with an actuator.

[0061] In some examples, sample facing surfaces 206 and 208 may have roughly identical areas. Alternatively, sample facing surfaces 206 and 208 may have different areas. For example, in some implementations, sample facing surface 208 may be larger than sample facing surface 206 to provide a larger loading target. When two different sizes of surfaces are used and when the smaller surface is brought into sample compression position, sample 210 may be pulled into the gap between the caps by capillary action. In this configuration, the diameter of the smaller surface may center the sample between sample facing surface 206 and sample facing surface 208.

[0062] In some examples, the sample facing surfaces 206 and 208 may be flat surfaces positioned horizontally for holding sample 210. In other implementations, one or both of sample facing surfaces 206 and 208 may have a curved surface. Using a curved surface may assist in positioning sample 210 between sample facing surfaces 206 and 208, and, in some implementations, may assist in creating a consistent shape of sample 210.

[0063] To measure an electrochemical property of the liquid sample (e.g., conductivity), sample facing surfaces 206 and 208 may be used as a two-pole conductivity meter. In particular, each of sample facing surface 206 and sample facing surface 208 may include at least a portion 226 and 228 that is electrically conductive. In some examples, the entire surface 206, the entire sample facing surface 208, or both may be electrically conductive. Conductive portions 226 and 228 may act as electrodes for passing and receiving electrical signals to and from sample 210 that is in direct contact with conductive portions 226 and 228. Herein, portions 226 and 228 are also referred to as electrodes 226 and 228. Conductive portions may be metal surfaces with a diameter between 1 millimeter and 3 millimeters, such as, for example, 2.5 millimeters. One or both of conductive portions 226 and 228 may be hydrophobic. For example, in some implementations, one or both of portions 226 and 228 may be coated with a hydrophobic substance coating or a laser treatment may be applied to the surface to make it hydrophobic. In some examples, a portion (226 and 228) of each of sample facing surfaces 206 and 208 may be electrically coupled to electronic processing unit 222 via connections 214 and 216.

[0064] The separation distance between sample facing surfaces 206 and 208 (and, hence, electrodes 226 and 228) may be controlled by moving, vertically, the position of one or more of sample facing surfaces 206 and 208 (for example, via moving one or more of the pedestals engaged with the caps). For example, the bottom pedestal (i.e., the one engaged with cap 204) may be moved via operating actuator 220.

[0065] Electronic processing unit 222 is configured to measure electrical signals via one or both of electrodes 226 and 228 and, in some implementations, is also configured to apply an oscillating (AC) voltage to sample 210 via one or more both of electrodes 226 and 228.

[0066] For example, in some implementations, electronic processing unit 222 includes an electrical signal generator. Electronic processing unit 222 may include a circuit board for reading measured electrical signals (e.g., AC voltages) from electrodes 226 and 228 (and optionally applying electrical signals via electrodes 226 and 228) and software or firmware associated with the board may be configured to translate voltages directly into electrochemical parameters (e.g., conductivity values) that be communicated to other components of system 200. In other implementations, rather than translating voltage directly into electrochemical parameters, electronic processing unit 222 may process voltages into one or more intermediary or filtered value, which may be communicated to controller 212 for further processing, including, for example,determination of an electrochemical property of sample 210. In some implementations, electronic processing unit 222 may include an electronic processor (e.g., a microprocessor), which may instruct the signal generator, process measured electrical signals, or a combination thereof. For example, to measure the conductivity of sample 210, electrical signals may be measured by one or both of electrodes 226 and 228 while an oscillating (AC) voltage is applied to the sample positioned between the two flat metal surfaces via one or more of electrodes 226 and 228.

[0067] Camera 218 is positioned to capture one or more images of caps 202 and 204, such as, for example, at least a portion of sample facing surface 206 and sample facing surface 208 and the separation between these sample facing surfaces 206 and 208, including any sample positioned between sample facing surfaces 206 and 208. Images captured via camera 218 may be used to identify actuator positions (or stepper motor positions) for one or more separation distances, a volume of a sample positioned between sample facing surfaces 206 and 208, or a combination thereof. In some examples, liquid analysis system 200 may include a light source for illuminating sample 210 while capturing the images by camera 218.

[0068] As described above, actuator 220 is configured to move at least one of sample facing surface 206 and sample facing surface 208 (i.e. , at least one of caps 202 and 204). As also noted above, in some implementations, system 200 includes multiple actuators 220. In some implementations, actuator 220 may include one or more stepper motors.

[0069] Controller 212 is configured to communicate with the electronic processing unit 222 to receive measured electrical signals and, in some implementations, to send commands to the electronic processing unit 222 for applying electrical signals via electrodes 226 and 228. Controller 212 is configured to communicate with camera 218 to send commands to camera 218 to capture images and receive the captured images. As also illustrated in FIG. 2A, controller 212 is further configured to communicate with actuator 220 to send commands to actuator 220 and receive position information from actuator 220 (e.g., a number of motor steps). Controller 212 may communicate with electronic processing unit 222, camera 218, and actuator 220 via a wired connection, wireless connection, or a combination thereof.

[0070] As illustrated in FIG. 2B, controller 212 may include an electronic processor 230, an input / output (I / O) interface 232, and a data storge device 234. However, it should be understood that controller 212 may have additional or fewer components as suitable for the application and setting, such as, for example, multiple electronicprocessors, multiple I / O interfaces, multiple data storage devices, or a combination thereof. In some implementations, some or all of the components included in controller 212 may be attached to one or more motherboards and enclosed in a housing (e.g., including plastic, metal, and / or other materials). In some implementations, some of these components may be fabricated onto a single system-on-a-chip (SoC) (e.g., an SoC may include one or more processing devices and one or more storage devices).

[0071] As used herein, “processor” or “electronic processor” refers to any device or portion of a device that processes electronic data from registers and / or memory to transform that electronic data into other electronic data that may be stored in registers and / or memory.

[0072] Data storage device 234 may include one or more memory devices such as random-access memory (RAM) devices, hard drive-based memory devices, solid-state memory devices, networked drives, cloud drives, or any other memory devices. In some implementations, data storage device 234 may include non-transitory computer readable media having instructions thereon that, when executed by one or more processors (e.g., processor 230), causes controller 212 to perform any appropriate ones or portions of the methods disclosed herein. For example, one or more data storage devices 234 included in controller 212 may store various applications and data for perform one or more of the methods described herein or portions described herein. For example, one or more data storage devices 234 may store a liquid analysis program 236, stepper motor positions 238 used to position caps 202 and 204 at a plurality of different separation distances, reference images 240 used by one or more of the described methods, or a combination thereof. It should be understood that each method described herein may be implemented via one application or multiple applications.

[0073] I / O interface 232 of controller 212 may include one or more communication chips, connectors, and / or other hardware and software to govern communications between controller 212 and other components such as user interface 224.

[0074] In some implementations, liquid analysis system 200 provides a stand-alone or dedicated instrument or device (or set of instruments or devices) configured to measure an electrochemical property of a liquid sample. However, in other implementations, a liquid analysis system may be configured to perform additional measurements or analysis of a liquid sample, including, for example, additional measurements or analysis of sample’s physical properties and / or optical properties. Combining such measurements or analysis in one system (e.g., one instrument) creates efficiencies and more accurate analysis as multiple measurements may be taken on thesame sample without having to change the position of the sample, move the sample to a different instrument, or use a separate sample of the same solution in a different instrument, all of which may introduce delays and potentials for contamination or unintended variances between measurements.

[0075] FIG. 3 illustrates another liquid analysis system 300 (“system 300”) in which system 100 and removable caps such as those described herein may be implemented in certain examples. System 300 may measure both electrochemical and optical properties of the same sample positioned between the surfaces. In some examples, measurements of the electrochemical and optical properties may be conducted simultaneously. As illustrated in FIG. 3, liquid analysis system 300 includes similar components as liquid analysis system 200, as described above. In particular, system 300 includes caps 202 and 204 and sample facing surfaces 206 and 208 for holding sample 210 via surface tension, controller 212, one or more electrical connections (e.g., wires) 214 and 216, camera 218, first electrode 226 and second electrode 228, actuator 220 (e.g., one or more stepper motors), and electronic processing unit 222. Accordingly, with these components, system 300 is configured to perform electrochemical measurements and analysis such as described herein.

[0076] However, as illustrated in FIG. 3, liquid analysis system 300 also includes a first optical fiber 302 connected to a light source 304, and a second optical fiber 306 connected to a detector 308. Optical fibers 302 and 306 may have endings that are a part of sample facing surfaces 206 and 208. One fiber is the source, and the other fiber is the receiver. The optical fibers may be mounted coaxially with and perpendicular to the parallel surfaces. For example, in this configuration, the liquid analysis system 300 may include a detector. The detector may include a spectrograph for splitting the light based on its wavelengths. Such an instrument is configured to quantitatively measure the reflection or other optical transmission property of a sample, which may be used to determine the amount of a particular compound in a sample.

[0077] In certain examples, optical fibers 302 and 306 may be replaced by miniature sources like light emitting diodes (LEDs). Small solid-state detectors with associated filters like those used in color charge coupled devices (CCDs) for imaging may replace the receiving fiber and detector.

[0078] Combining the electrochemical measurement and analysis described herein with the optical-based measurements provided by such an optical instrument facilitates different types of measurements to be performed on the same sample positioned withinthe instrument, which, as noted above, introduces efficiencies and improved data collection and associated processing.

[0079] It should be understood that although implementations are described herein as being used with a spectrophotometer or other optical instrument, implementations may be constructed as stand-alone devices for measuring an electrochemical property (e.g., a pH level) of a microvolume liquid sample (i.e., without optical instrument components). Furthermore, although some implementations are described herein with respect to measuring pH of a sample, the methods and systems described herein may be used to also measure other electrochemical properties, such as, for example, a conductivity, a resistance, or the like of the sample.

[0080] It should be understood that the electrochemical measurement methods described herein may be performed via various types of optical measurement instruments for detecting an optical property of the liquid sample positioned between sample facing surface 206 and sample facing surface 208 and is not limited to the example system illustrated in FIG. 3 or example types or brands of such instruments described herein. For example, as noted above, in some implementations, the optical fibers may be replaced by miniature sources like LEDs and detectors (e.g., solid-state detectors) with optical filters. Also, as noted above, in some implementations, the optical measurement device may have different surface orientations for holding sample 210, including, for example, a vertical orientation. It should also be understood that, in some implementations, the detection of an optical property of sample 210 positioned between sample facing surfaces 206 and 208 may occur simultaneously with at least some portions of the electrochemical measurement methods described herein, which may provide further efficiencies in sample analysis.

[0081] With respect to the example liquid analysis system 300 in FIG. 3, light from light source 304 may travel through first optical fiber 302 positioned in the cap 202 where the light radiates downward through sample 210 and is collected by second optical fiber 306, which may act as a light pipe. It should be understood light may be transmitted in either direction through sample 210 and is not limited to being transmitted from first optical fiber 302 downward through sample 210. Detector 308 receives the collected light. A concentration of a particular component in sample 210 may be determined based on the collected light.

[0082] In some implementations, controller 212 may cause display of a communication on, for example, a display device, informing the user of the determined electrochemical property of the sample of the micro-liquid of interest. Alternatively, or inaddition, controller 212 may output the determined electrochemical properties to one or more external devices, networks, or data storage devices. The data may be provided in raw form, as part of a report, or a combination thereof. One or more alerts may also be generated based on the determined electrochemical property, such as, for example, to warn a user of an error, an out-of-range conductivity, or the like.

[0083] If another sample needs to be measured, the new sample of interest may be loaded to the system using the same pipette and the measurement may be done by repeating operations described herein without re-calibrating the system. If a sample at a different volume needs to be analyzed, a new calibration process may be performed.

[0084] As noted above, systems such as liquid analysis system 200 and liquid analysis system 300 described above may be configured to measure properties such as conductivity and / or optical properties of a sample (e.g., sample 210). To measure the pH level of a sample, caps such as those described herein may be removably engaged with components of system 200 and / or system 300. To illustrate, FIG. 4 shows an exemplary implementation 400 in which a first cap 202 is removably engaged with a first surface 402 of a pedestal 404 and a second cap 204 is removably engaged with second surface 406 of a pedestal 408. First cap 202 includes a first side (the downwardly facing side) that includes a first conductive material 410 (e.g., a zinc oxide coating). First cap 202 includes a second side (the upwardly facing side in FIG. 4) that is configured to be removably engaged with first surface 402 of pedestal 404. Second cap 204 includes a first side (the upwardly facing side) that includes a second conductive material 412 (e.g., an AgCI coating). Second cap 204 includes a second side (the downwardly facing side in FIG. 4) that is configured to be removably engaged with second surface 406 of pedestal 408. As shown in FIG. 4, first cap 202 and second cap 204 are positioned opposite one another for holding sample 210 between first cap 202 and second cap 204 by surface tension.

[0085] In the example shown in FIG. 4, first conductive material 410 of first cap 202 is shown as only being provided on a part of the horizontally extending surface that is in contact with sample 210. In certain alternative examples, first conductive material 410 may also extend along the diagonally sloped side surfaces of first cap 202.

[0086] Second conductive material 412 of second cap 202 is shown as only being provided part of the horizontally extending surface of second cap 202 that is in contact with sample 210. This is because, as noted above, providing second conductive material 412 such that second conductive material 412 extends along the side surfacesof second cap 202 may result in excessive noise in the measurements or in a completely open (disconnected) circuit, preventing voltage measurements.

[0087] In the example shown in FIG. 4, first cap 202 has a size and a shape that matches the size and shape of pedestal 404. As such, pedestal 404 is configured to extend into a recess of first cap 202 while first cap 202 is engaged with pedestal 404. Similarly, second cap 204 has a size and shape that matches the size and shape of pedestal 408. As such, pedestal 408 is configured to extend into a recess of second cap 204 while second cap 204 is engaged with pedestal 408. The size and / or shape of first cap 202 and second cap 204 shown in FIG. 4 are provided for illustrative purposes. It is understood that first cap 202 and second cap 204 may have different sizes and / or shapes in alternative implementations. In certain examples, first cap 202 and second cap 204 may have the same size and / or shape. In certain alternative implementations, first cap 202 and second cap 204 may have different sizes and / or shapes.

[0088] While sample 210 is held between first cap 202 and second cap 204, the pH level of sample 210 may be measured in any suitable manner. For example, the pH level of sample 210 may be measured based on received electrical signals without applying electrical signals to sample 210 (e.g., by measuring electrical signals of sample 210 in an open circuit configuration).

[0089] The direct open circuit voltages that may be detected in measuring the pH level of sample 210 may be too low to be converted by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for measurement. Accordingly, in certain examples, system 100 (e.g., electronic processing unit 222) may be configured to amplify the electrical signals to facilitate measuring the pH level of sample 210. This may be accomplished in any suitable manner. For example, system 100 may implement a 10x voltage amplifier and an ADC to raise the recorded voltages from the caps into a range that system 100 may record.

[0090] The electrical signals of sample 210 may be transmitted to system 100 (e.g., electronic processing unit 222) in any suitable manner. In certain implementations, wires attached to the conductive portions of removable caps may be used to transmit the electrical signals used for pH level measurement to system 100. To illustrate, FIG. 5 shows an exemplary implementation 500 in which wires are used to transmit the electrical signals for pH level measurement. As shown in FIG. 5, electronic processing unit 222 is electrically coupled to first conductive material 410 of first cap 202 by way of a first wire 502. In addition, electronic processing unit 222 is electrically coupled to a second conductive material 412 of second cap 204 by way of a second wire 504.

[0091] In the example shown in FIG. 5, wire 502, which is connected to first conductive material 410 (e.g., ZnO) of cap 202, may be grounded. Wire 504, which is connected to second conductive material 412 (e.g., AgCI) of cap 204, may connect to an amplifier (e.g., a 10x amplifier). In such examples, the output of the amplifier may be sent to an ADC on a microcontroller (e.g., a Teensy Board). The ADC may convert the voltage to a digital level. For example, 100mV corresponds to roughly 150 digital units while 500mV corresponds to roughly 700 digital units.

[0092] In certain alternative implementations, the electrical signals used for pH level measurement may be transmitted to system 100 by way of the pedestals associated with the caps instead of by wires such as those shown in FIG. 5. In such examples, the caps may include one or more conductive vias or additional wires within the caps that are configured to conductively connect conductive coatings on the surfaces of the caps with conductive portions (e.g., electrodes 226 and 228) of the pedestals to facilitate transmitting the electrical signals to electronic processing unit 222.

[0093] Removable caps such as those described herein may be removably engaged with surfaces of a liquid analysis system (e.g., liquid analysis system 200) in any suitable manner. For example, in certain implementations, one or more magnets may be used to facilitate removable caps engaging with the surface of the liquid analysis system. In such examples, a first cap may include one or more magnets to engage the first cap with a first surface and a second cap may include one or more additional magnets to engage the second cap with a second surface. To illustrate, FIG. 6 shows an exemplary implementation 600 in which magnets are used to maintain a first cap 602 and a second cap 604 respectively in position in relation to pedestal 404 and pedestal 408. As shown in FIG. 6, first cap 602 includes a first plurality of magnets 606 (e.g., magnets 606-1 through 606-4) and second cap 604 includes a second plurality of magnets 608 (e.g., magnets 608-1 through 608-4). In the example shown in FIG. 6, first cap 602 and second cap 604 are each shown as having four magnets disposed therein. However, it is understood that any suitable number of magnets may be used as may serve a particular implementation. For example, first cap 602 and second cap 604 may each only include one magnet in certain alternative implementations.

[0094] In the example shown in FIG. 6, magnets 606 and 608 are shown as being provided respectively along surfaces 402 and 406. However, the magnets may be arranged differently in certain alternative implementations. For example, first cap 602 may only include two magnets including a first magnet that may be arranged on left-sidesurface of first cap 602 and a second magnet that may be arranged on a right-side surface of first cap 602.

[0095] In certain alternative implementations, a resistance fit or a snap fit may additionally or alternatively be used to removably engage the caps with the respective surfaces of pedestals 404 and 408.

[0096] FIG. 7 illustrates an example method 700 for analyzing a microvolume sample. While FIG. 7 illustrates example operations according to one embodiment, other implementations may omit, add to, reorder, and / or modify any of the operations shown in FIG. 7. One or more of the operations shown in FIG. 7 may be performed by a system such as system 300, any components included therein, and / or any implementation thereof.

[0097] At operation 702, a sample analytic system (e.g., sample analytic system 100) determines that a sample is positioned between a first cap and a second cap while the first cap is removably engaged with a first surface and the second cap is removably engaged with a second surface. The sample analytic system confirms that the sample is in contact with the conductive materials of the first cap and the second cap. Operation 702 may be performed in any of the ways described herein.

[0098] At operation 704, the sample analytic system receives, while the sample is positioned between the first cap and the second cap, a signal from the sample by way of the first conductive material and the second conductive material. The signal may be an open circuit voltage received from wires 502 and 504 of FIG. 5. Operation 704 may be performed in any of the ways described herein.

[0099] At operation 706, the sample analytic system determines an electrochemical property of the sample based on the received signal. For example, the sample analytic system calculates the pH level of the sample may be calculated based on the open circuit voltage and a correlation between voltage level and pH level. In general, a higher voltage level corresponds to a higher pH level. In certain examples, a cap specific reference curve may be generated and / or used by the sample analytic system to determine the correlation between a specific pH level and a voltage level. Operation 706 may be performed in any of the ways described herein.

[0100] In some examples, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions may be provided in accordance with the principles described herein. The instructions, when executed by a processor of a computing device, may direct the processor and / or computing device to perform one or more operations, including one or more of the operations described herein. Such instructionsmay be stored and / or transmitted using any of a variety of known computer-readable media.

[0101] In certain examples, a calibration solution (such as a pH7 solution) may be measured first to calibrate the sample analytic device before measuring a pH level of a sample of interest to facilitate scaling pH measurements. For example, if the measured pH level of the pH7 calibration solution is 7.1 , the measured pH level of the sample would have to be lowered downward by 0.1.

[0102] A non-transitory computer-readable medium as referred to herein may include any non-transitory storage medium that participates in providing data (e.g., instructions) that may be read and / or executed by a computing device (e.g., by a processor of a computing device). For example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, any combination of non-volatile storage media and / or volatile storage media. Illustrative non-volatile storage media include, but are not limited to, read-only memory, flash memory, a solid-state drive, a magnetic storage device (e.g., a hard disk, a floppy disk, magnetic tape, etc.), ferroelectric random-access memory (“RAM”), and an optical disc (e.g., a compact disc, a digital video disc, a Blu-ray disc, etc.). Illustrative volatile storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM (e.g., dynamic RAM).

[0103] FIG. 8 illustrates an example computing device 800 that may be specifically configured to perform one or more of the processes described herein. As shown in FIG. 8, computing device 800 may include a communication interface 802, a processor 804, a storage device 806, and an input / output (“I / O”) module 808 communicatively connected one to another via a communication infrastructure 810. While an example computing device 800 is shown in FIG. 8, the components illustrated in FIG. 8 are not intended to be limiting. Additional or alternative components may be used in other implementations. Components of computing device 800 shown in FIG. 8 will now be described in additional detail.

[0104] Communication interface 802 may be configured to communicate with one or more computing devices. Examples of communication interface 802 include, without limitation, a wired network interface (such as a network interface card), a wireless network interface (such as a wireless network interface card), a modem, an audio / video connection, and any other suitable interface.

[0105] Processor 804 generally represents any type or form of processing unit capable of processing data and / or interpreting, executing, and / or directing execution of one or more of the instructions, processes, and / or operations described herein.Processor 804 may perform operations by executing computer-executable instructions 812 (e.g., an application, software, code, and / or other executable data instance) stored in storage device 806.

[0106] Storage device 806 may include one or more data storage media, devices, or configurations and may employ any type, form, and combination of data storage media and / or device. For example, storage device 806 may include, but is not limited to, any combination of the non-volatile media and / or volatile media described herein. Electronic data, including data described herein, may be temporarily and / or permanently stored in storage device 806. For example, data representative of computer-executable instructions 812 configured to direct processor 804 to perform any of the operations described herein may be stored within storage device 806. In some examples, data may be arranged in one or more databases residing within storage device 806.

[0107] I / O module 808 may include one or more I / O modules configured to receive user input and provide user output. One or more I / O modules may be used to receive input for a single virtual experience. I / O module 808 may include any hardware, firmware, software, or combination thereof supportive of input and output capabilities. For example, I / O module 808 may include hardware and / or software for capturing user input, including, but not limited to, a keyboard or keypad, a touchscreen component (e.g., touchscreen display), a receiver (e.g., an RF or infrared receiver), motion sensors, and / or one or more input buttons.

[0108] I / O module 808 may include one or more devices for presenting output to a user, including, but not limited to, a graphics engine, a display (e.g., a display screen), one or more output drivers (e.g., display drivers), one or more audio speakers, and one or more audio drivers. In certain implementations, I / O module 808 is configured to provide graphical data to a display for presentation to a user. The graphical data may be representative of one or more graphical user interfaces and / or any other graphical content as may serve a particular implementation.

[0109] In some examples, any of the systems, computing devices, and / or other components described herein may be implemented by computing device 800. For example, processor 104, controller 212, and / or electronic processing unit 222 may be implemented by processor 804.

[0110] FIGS. 9-10 illustrate perspective views of an exemplary cap 902 that may be implemented according to principles described herein. Cap 902 may be considered as a bottom (or second) cap that is configured to engage with a bottom pedestal such as pedestal 132 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 9 shows a bottom perspective view of cap 902. Thecap 902 has a recess 914 for engaging with the pedestal. The recess 914 has bottom surface 904 that is directly in contact with the second surface of the pedestal. The recess 914 of the cap 902 is sloped in region 910 that is in connection with a cylindrical surface of the recess 914. The cap 902 includes a handle 908 for the user to hold the cap 902. As shown in FIG. 9, cap 902 includes side holes 906 in the side wall 912 (on the side surface of the side wall) of the cap 902, which are configured to accommodate magnets that facilitate keeping cap 902 in position with respect to a pedestal. FIG. 10 shows a top perspective view of cap 902. The cap 902 has a sample facing surface 916 that is in direct contact with the sample during measurement. The sample facing surface 916 is surrounded by the side wall 912 that includes a sloped surface 918 and the cylindrical region. At least a portion of the sample facing surface 916 is coated with a conductive material such as silver chloride. The conductive material coating is confined within the sample facing surface 916, without spreading to other parts (e.g., the sloped surface 918) of the cap 902. The sample facing surface 916 has a through hole 920 for passing light. The through hole 920 is covered with a light transparent window (such as UV transparent polymer). The through hole 920 is optically coupled to the optical fiber of the liquid analysis system, when the cap 902 is mounted to the pedestal.

[0111] FIGS. 11-12 illustrate perspective views of another exemplary cap 1102 that may be implemented according to principles described herein. Cap 1102 may be considered as a top (first) cap that is configured to engage with a top pedestal such as pedestal 131 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 11 shows a bottom perspective view of cap 1102. The cap 1102 includes a recess 1114 for receiving the pedestal. The recess 1114 is formed by the bottom surface 1104 and inner surfaces of the side wall 1101. The bottom surface 1104 of the recess 1114 is in direct contact with the first surface of the pedestal when the cap 1102 is engaged with the pedestal. The bottom surface 1104 includes a through hole 1106 allowing light to pass through. The cap 1102 includes a handle 1108 for the user to hold the cap 1102. FIG. 12 shows a top perspective view of cap 1102. The sample facing surface 1110 includes the through hole 1106. At least a portion of the sample facing surface 1110 is coated with a conductive material such as oxide coating. The oxide coating may extend to the sloped region 1116 of the side wall 1101. The through hole 1106 is covered with a light transparent window (such as UV transparent polymer). The through hole 1106 is optically coupled to the optical fiber of the liquid analysis system, when the cap 1102 is mounted to the pedestal.

[0112] Advantages and features of the present disclosure may be further described by the following statements:

[0113] 1. A system for analyzing a sample, comprising: a first surface; a first cap including a first conductive material and configured to be removably engaged with the first surface; a second surface; a second cap including a second conductive material and configured to be removably engaged with the second surface, wherein, while the first cap is removably engaged with the first surface and the second cap is removably engaged with the second surface, the second cap is positioned opposite the first cap for holding the sample between the first cap and the second cap by surface tension; and an electronic processing unit configured to: detect, using the first conductive material and the second conductive material, a signal associated with the sample; and determine, based on the signal, an electrochemical property of the sample.

[0114] 2. The system of the preceding statement, wherein the signal is indicative of an open circuit voltage between the first and second conductive materials while the sample is held between the first and second caps.

[0115] 3. The system of any of the preceding statements, wherein the electrochemical property is a pH level of the sample.

[0116] 4. The system of any of the preceding statements, wherein the first conductive material is a metal oxide coating.

[0117] 5. The system of the preceding statement, wherein the metal oxide coating is a zinc oxide coating.

[0118] 6. The system of the preceding statement, wherein the zinc oxide coating is less than 200 nm thick.

[0119] 7. The system of any of the preceding statements, wherein the second conductive material is a silver chloride (AgCI) coating.

[0120] 8. The system of any of the preceding statements, wherein the electronic processing unit is electrically coupled to the first conductive material by way of a first wire and is electrically coupled to the second conductive material by way of a second wire.

[0121] 9. The system of any of the preceding statements, wherein the electronic processing unit is further configured to amplify the signal associated with the sample.

[0122] 10. The system of any of the preceding statements, wherein: the first cap includes one or more magnets to engage the first cap with the first surface; and the second cap includes one or more additional magnets to engage the second cap with the second surface.

[0123] 11. The system of any of the preceding statements, wherein: the first cap includes a first insulating layer configured to electrically insulate the first cap from thefirst surface while the first cap is removably engaged with the first surface; and the second cap includes a second insulating layer configured to electrically insulate the second cap from the second surface while the second cap is removably engaged with the second surface.

[0124] 12. The system of any of the preceding statements, wherein: the first surface includes at least part of a first electrode; the second surface includes at least part of a second electrode; and the electronic processing unit is further configured to receive, by way of at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode, electrical signals from the sample to determine an additional electrochemical property of the sample.

[0125] 13. The system of the preceding statement, wherein the additional electrochemical property of the sample includes a conductivity of the sample.

[0126] 14. The system of any of the preceding statements, further comprising: a first optical fiber integrated with the first surface; a second optical fiber integrated with the second surface, wherein one of the first and second optical fibers is configured to radiate light through the sample and the other of the first and second optical fibers is configured to collect the light transmitted through the sample; and the electronic processing unit is further configured to determine an optical property of the sample based on the light.

[0127] 15. The system of any of the preceding statements, wherein: the first cap includes a first light transparent portion for passing the light radiated through the sample; and the second cap includes a second light transparent portion for passing the light radiated through the sample.

[0128] 16. A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for performing a process comprising: determining that a sample is positioned between a first cap and a second cap while the first cap is removably engaged with a first surface and the second cap is removably engaged with a second surface, wherein the sample is held between the first cap and the second cap via surface tension, the first cap includes a first conductive material, and the second cap includes a second conductive material; receiving, while the sample is positioned between the first cap and the second cap, a signal from the sample by way of the first conductive material and the second conductive material; and determining an electrochemical property of the sample based on the received signal.

[0129] 17. The computer program product of the preceding statement, wherein the electrochemical property is a pH level of the sample.

[0130] 18. A method for measuring an electrochemical property of a sample, comprising: determining, by a sample analytic system, that a sample is positioned between a first cap and a second cap while the first cap is removably engaged with a first surface and the second cap is removably engaged with a second surface, wherein the sample is held between the first cap and the second cap via surface tension, the first cap includes a first conductive material, and the second cap includes a second conductive material; receiving, by the sample analytic system and while the sample is positioned between the first cap and the second cap, a signal from the sample by way of the first conductive material and the second conductive material; and determining, by the sample analytic system, the electrochemical property of the sample based on the received signal.

[0131] 19. The method of the preceding statement, wherein: a first optical fiber is integrated with the first surface; a second optical fiber is integrated with the second surface; one of the first and second optical fibers is configured to radiate light through the sample and the other of the first and second optical fibers is configured to collect the light transmitted through the sample; and the method further comprises determining, by the sample analytic system, an optical property of the sample based on light transmitted through the sample based on the light.

[0132] 20. The method of any of the preceding statements, wherein: the first surface includes at least part of a first electrode; the second surface includes at least part of a second electrode; and the method further comprises: receiving, by the sample analytic system and by way of at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode, an electrical signal from the sample; and determining, by the sample analytic system, an additional electrochemical property of the sample based on the electrical signal.

[0133] 21. A cap configured to be used in a sample analytic system, the cap comprising: a first side that includes a first conductive material; a second side that is configured to be removably engaged with a first surface of the sample analytic system, while the cap is removably engaged with the first surface, the cap is positioned opposite an additional cap that is removably engaged with a second surface of the sample analytic system for holding the sample between the cap and the additional cap by surface tension, the additional cap including a second conductive material; and a wire configured to transmit a signal from the first conductive material to an electronic processing unit, the signal used by the electronic processing unit to determine an electrochemical property of the sample.

[0134] 22. The cap of the preceding statement, wherein the first conductive material is silver chloride (AgCI).

[0135] 23. The cap of any of the preceding statements, wherein the first conductive material is a metal oxide coating.

[0136] 24. The cap of the preceding statement, wherein the metal oxide coating is a zinc oxide coating.

[0137] 25. The cap of the preceding statement, wherein the zinc oxide coating is less than 200 nm thick.

[0138] 26. The cap of any of the preceding statements, wherein the electrochemical property is a pH level of the sample.

[0139] 27. The cap of any of the preceding statements, further comprising one or more magnets to engage the cap with the first surface.

[0140] 28. The cap of any of the preceding statements, further comprising an insulating layer configured to electrically insulate the cap from the first surface while the first cap is removably engaged with the first surface.

[0141] 29. The cap of any of the preceding statements, further comprising a light transparent portion for passing light radiated through the sample.

[0142] The above-indicated and possibly some other related problems in the state of the art may beneficially be addressed using various examples, aspects, features, and implementations of systems and methods for image analysis disclosed herein.Accordingly, incorporating image analysis into a system and method for measuring electrochemical properties of a liquid sample creates technological problems implementations described herein solve through particular computing systems and devices and image analysis. Thus, implementations, disclosed herein provide improvements to measurements of electrochemical properties of liquid samples (e.g., improvements in the computer technology supporting such measuring functionality, among other improvements).

[0143] As described above in the detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout, and in which is shown, by way of illustration, implementations that may be practiced. It is to be understood that other implementations may be utilized, and structured or logical changes may be made, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, detailed description as described above is not to be taken in a limiting sense.

[0144] Various operations may be described as multiple discrete actions or operations in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the subject matter disclosed herein. However, the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular, these operations may not be performed in the order of presentation. Operations described may be performed in a different order from the described embodiment. Various additional operations may be performed, and / or described operations may be omitted in additional implementations.

[0145] For the purpose of the present disclosure, the phrases “A and / or B” and “A or B” mean (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrases “A, B, and / or C” and “A, B, or C” mean (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), or (A, B, and C). Although some elements may be referred to in the singular (e.g., “a processing device”), any appropriate elements may be represented by multiple instances of those elements, and vice versa. For example, a set of operations described as performed by a processing device may be implemented with different ones of the operations performed by different processing devices.

[0146] The description uses the phrases “an embodiment,” “various embodiments,” and “some embodiments,” each of which may refer to one or more of the same or different embodiments or implementations. Furthermore, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like, as used with respect to implementations of the present disclosure, are synonyms. When used to describe a range of values, the phrase “between X and Y” represents a range that includes X and Y. As used herein, an “apparatus” and / or “system” may refer to any individual device, collection of devices, part of a device, or collections of parts of devices. The drawings are not necessarily to scale.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:1 . A system for analyzing a sample, comprising: a first surface; a first cap including a first conductive material and configured to be removably engaged with the first surface; a second surface; a second cap including a second conductive material and configured to be removably engaged with the second surface, wherein, while the first cap is removably engaged with the first surface and the second cap is removably engaged with the second surface, the second cap is positioned opposite the first cap for holding the sample between the first cap and the second cap by surface tension; and an electronic processing unit configured to: detect, using the first conductive material and the second conductive material, a signal associated with the sample; and determine, based on the signal, an electrochemical property of the sample.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the signal is indicative of an open circuit voltage between the first and second conductive materials while the sample is held between the first and second caps.

3. The system of any of the preceding claims, wherein the electrochemical property is a pH level of the sample.

4. The system of any of the preceding claims, wherein the first conductive material is a metal oxide coating.

5. The system of any of the preceding claims, wherein the metal oxide coating is a zinc oxide coating.

6. The system of any of the preceding claims, wherein the zinc oxide coating is less than 200 nm thick.

7. The system of any of the preceding claims, wherein the second conductive material is a silver chloride (AgCI) coating.

8. The system of any of the preceding claims, wherein the electronic processing unit is electrically coupled to the first conductive material by way of a first wire and is electrically coupled to the second conductive material by way of a second wire.

9. The system of any of the preceding claims, wherein the electronic processing unit is further configured to amplify the signal associated with the sample.

10. The system of the preceding claims, wherein: the first cap includes one or more magnets to engage the first cap with the first surface; and the second cap includes one or more additional magnets to engage the second cap with the second surface.

11. The system of any of the preceding claims, wherein: the first cap includes a first insulating layer configured to electrically insulate the first cap from the first surface while the first cap is removably engaged with the first surface; and the second cap includes a second insulating layer configured to electrically insulate the second cap from the second surface while the second cap is removably engaged with the second surface.

12. The system of any of the preceding claims, wherein: the first surface includes at least part of a first electrode; the second surface includes at least part of a second electrode; and the electronic processing unit is further configured to receive, by way of at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode, electrical signals from the sample to determine an additional electrochemical property of the sample.

13. The system of any of the preceding claims, wherein the additional electrochemical property of the sample includes a conductivity of the sample.

14. The system of any of any of the preceding claims, further comprising: a first optical fiber integrated with the first surface; a second optical fiber integrated with the second surface, wherein one of the first and second optical fibers is configured to radiate light through the sample and the other of the first and second optical fibers is configured to collect the light transmitted through the sample; and the electronic processing unit is further configured to determine an optical property of the sample based on the light.

15. The system of any of the preceding claims, wherein: the first cap includes a first light transparent portion for passing the light radiated through the sample; and the second cap includes a second light transparent portion for passing the light radiated through the sample.

16. A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for performing a process comprising: determining that a sample is positioned between a first cap and a second cap while the first cap is removably engaged with a first surface and the second cap is removably engaged with a second surface, wherein the sample is held between the first cap and the second cap via surface tension, the first cap includes a first conductive material, and the second cap includes a second conductive material; receiving, while the sample is positioned between the first cap and the second cap, a signal from the sample by way of the first conductive material and the second conductive material; and determining an electrochemical property of the sample based on the received signal.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the electrochemical property is a pH level of the sample.

18. A method for measuring an electrochemical property of a sample, comprising: determining, by a sample analytic system, that a sample is positioned between a first cap and a second cap while the first cap is removably engaged with a first surfaceand the second cap is removably engaged with a second surface, wherein the sample is held between the first cap and the second cap via surface tension, the first cap includes a first conductive material, and the second cap includes a second conductive material; receiving, by the sample analytic system and while the sample is positioned between the first cap and the second cap, a signal from the sample by way of the first conductive material and the second conductive material; and determining, by the sample analytic system, the electrochemical property of the sample based on the received signal.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein: a first optical fiber is integrated with the first surface; a second optical fiber is integrated with the second surface; one of the first and second optical fibers is configured to radiate light through the sample and the other of the first and second optical fibers is configured to collect the light transmitted through the sample; and the method further comprises determining, by the sample analytic system, an optical property of the sample based on light transmitted through the sample based on the light.

20. The method of any of claims 18-19, wherein: the first surface includes at least part of a first electrode; the second surface includes at least part of a second electrode; and the method further comprises: receiving, by the sample analytic system and by way of at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode, an electrical signal from the sample; and determining, by the sample analytic system, an additional electrochemical property of the sample based on the electrical signal.

21. A cap configured to be used in a sample analytic system, the cap comprising: a first side that includes a first conductive material; a second side that is configured to be removably engaged with a first surface of the sample analytic system, while the cap is removably engaged with the first surface, the cap is positioned opposite an additional cap that is removably engaged with a second surface of the sample analytic system for holding the sample between the capand the additional cap by surface tension, the additional cap including a second conductive material; and a wire configured to transmit a signal from the first conductive material to an electronic processing unit, the signal used by the electronic processing unit to determine an electrochemical property of the sample.

22. The cap of claim 21 , wherein the first conductive material is silver chloride (AgCI).

23. The cap of claim 21 , wherein the first conductive material is a metal oxide coating.

24. The cap of claim 23, wherein the metal oxide coating is a zinc oxide coating.

25. The cap of claim 24, wherein the zinc oxide coating is less than 200 nm thick.

26. The cap of any of claims 21-25, wherein the electrochemical property is a pH level of the sample.

27. The cap of any of claims 21-26, further comprising one or more magnets to engage the cap with the first surface.

28. The cap of any of claims 21-27, further comprising an insulating layer configured to electrically insulate the cap from the first surface while the first cap is removably engaged with the first surface.

29. The cap of any of claims 21-28, further comprising a light transparent portion for passing light radiated through the sample.

Images