Breath Spectrometer With Vortex Mask for Asymptomatic Virus Screening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing viral infection screening methods are impractical for wide-scale screening due to lack of speed, accuracy, and resource constraints, particularly failing to detect asymptomatic carriers during the virus's incubation period, leading to uncontrollable virus spread.
Innovation Solution
A noninvasive health screening system using a spectrometer with a vortex mask to enhance signal detection, employing a vortex coronagraph for destructive interference and amplifying faint signals from breath samples, coupled with a discriminator for rapid infection categorization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional testing methods (PCR, ELISA) are used for wide-scale screening, then diagnostic accuracy can be maintained, but screening speed and resource efficiency deteriorate due to reagent depletion and days-long processing times
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical/chemical testing methods (PCR, ELISA requiring reagents and incubation) with an optical detection system using a spectrometer and vortex coronagraph. Light passes through the breath sample and the vortex mask creates destructive interference to isolate faint viral signals from overwhelming background light, enabling rapid detection without reagents or long processing times.
Solution Approach 2:
The vortex mask acts as an optical intermediary that mediates between the strong light source and the detector. By creating a vortex pattern with destructive interference at the center, it selectively blocks overwhelming background light while allowing faint viral signals to pass through to the detector, solving the signal-to-noise ratio problem in rapid screening.
2Loss of substance
If testing is performed only on symptomatic individuals, then resource consumption is reduced, but detection of asymptomatic carriers deteriorates, leading to uncontrolled virus spread
Solution Approach 1:
The optical detection system replaces reagent-based testing with light interaction, eliminating reagent consumption entirely. The spectrometer with vortex mask can rapidly analyze breath samples without any consumable reagents, enabling unlimited screening of asymptomatic populations to identify carriers before they spread the virus.
3Measurement precision
If a vortex mask is introduced to amplify faint signals from breath samples, then detection sensitivity improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The vortex mask serves as a simple yet effective optical intermediary—a thin plate with etched concentric circles—that mediates the interaction between light and the breath sample. This single component creates the necessary destructive interference pattern to isolate faint viral signals without requiring complex multi-component optical systems, maintaining relative simplicity while achieving high detection sensitivity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables rapid, noninvasive detection of viral infections, including asymptomatic cases, allowing for quick identification and containment of infected individuals without the need for reagents, thus reducing virus spread.
Implementation Method 1
the vortex mask configured to provide destructive interference of coherent light received from the at least one light source
Data Source
AI summary
A method comprising at least one light source configured to generate a light of at least one wavelength and project the light over an optical path, a sample device, the device containing a sample obtained from exhalation of a person, a vortex mask configured to receive the light after the light passes through at least a portion of the sample device, the vortex mask including a series of concentric circles etched in a substrate, the vortex mask configured to provide destructive interference of coherent light received from the at least one light source, a detector configured to detect and measure wavelength intensities from the light in the optical path, the wavelength intensities being impacted by the light passing through the sample, the detector receiving the light that remained after passing through the vortex mask, and a processor configured to provide measurement results based on the wavelength intensities.