Lensless Meningitis Diagnosis via Mobile Diffraction Pattern Counting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for diagnosing meningitis by counting white blood cells in cerebrospinal fluid are tedious, imprecise, and costly, often requiring bulky equipment like cytometry.
Innovation Solution
A lensless imaging system with a matrix photodetector and information processing unit that acquires successive images of cerebrospinal fluid, identifies mobile diffraction figures, and counts moving particles, allowing for continuous and precise detection of white blood cells without the need for magnification optics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional microscopy methods are used to count white blood cells, then the equipment is simple and inexpensive, but the counting operation is tedious and imprecise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical manual counting process with an automated image processing system. The matrix photodetector captures images of blood cells, and computer algorithms automatically identify and count mobile diffraction figures, eliminating the need for manual microscopy operations while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates optical copies of blood cells through diffraction patterns captured by the matrix photodetector. These diffraction figures serve as representations of the actual cells, allowing automated detection and counting without directly observing the cells themselves under a microscope.
2Measurement precision
If cytometry methods are used to count white blood cells, then the measurement precision is high, but the equipment is bulky and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential counting function from complex cytometry equipment by using a simplified matrix photodetector system. Only the necessary components (light source, photodetector, image processing) are retained, while bulky cytometry hardware is eliminated, achieving comparable precision with reduced complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes complex mechanical cytometry instruments with an optical imaging system. The matrix photodetector captures diffraction patterns that enable automated cell counting, replacing the need for sophisticated mechanical sorting and analysis equipment while maintaining measurement accuracy.
3Productivity
If manual counting under a microscope is performed, then the equipment is simple, but the counting process is time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables continuous automated counting by continuously capturing images with the matrix photodetector and processing them in real-time. The system continuously identifies mobile diffraction figures and updates cell counts without interruption, eliminating the stop-start nature of manual counting and significantly increasing productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the time-consuming manual scanning process with automated image acquisition and processing. The matrix photodetector continuously captures optical information, and computer algorithms automatically identify and count cells, reducing the time required from minutes of manual observation to seconds of automated processing.
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
This method provides a cost-effective and easier-to-implement solution for diagnosing meningitis by accurately counting white blood cells, offering results consistent with cytometry while avoiding the limitations of traditional microscopy.
Implementation Method 1
a light source (30) and a matrix photodetector (32) adapted to acquire successive images of radiation transmitted by a drop (28) of said bodily fluid illuminated by said light source (30)
Implementation Method 2
The detection system 20 is generally adapted to detect the particles 22 in the bodily fluid 24 via a lensless imaging methodology
Data Source
AI summary
This method for detecting at least one particle in a bodily fluid is carried out by a detecting system (20) comprising a light source (30), a transparent substrate (26) and a matrix-array photodetector (32), the substrate being placed between the light source and the photodetector. This method comprises placing a droplet (28) of bodily fluid on the substrate, illuminating the droplet via the light source, acquiring a plurality of successive images of the droplet via the photodetector, each image being formed by radiation transmitted by the illuminated droplet and comprising at least one elementary diffraction pattern, each elementary diffraction pattern corresponding to waves diffracted by a particle during the illumination of the droplet, identifying, via the acquired images, mobile elementary diffraction patterns, and counting particles moving in the droplet, via the identified mobile elementary diffraction patterns. FIG. 3: 100 Illuminating the droplet of bodily fluid 110 Acquiring, with the matrix-array photodetector, successive images of the illuminated droplet 200 Calculating a resulting image for each acquired image 210 Detecting, in each image, diffraction patterns each corresponding to one particle 220 Following, from one image to the next, each detected diffraction pattern 130 Counting particles moving within the droplet of bodily fluid 140 Characterizing the diffraction patterns detected for particles moving in the droplet 150 Classifying the diffraction patterns