The method enables a concentration of a species in a culture medium (12) to be estimated using an estimation system (10) comprising a light source (16), a transparent substrate (14) and a matrix photodetector (18), the substrate being located between the source and the photodetector, the medium comprising biological particles (32) and changing colour when said concentration varies. Said method comprises the following steps:—placing the medium on the substrate,—illuminating the medium via the light source,—acquisition of an image of the medium via the photodetector, each image being formed by a ray transmitted by the illuminated medium and comprising at least one diffraction pattern, each diffraction pattern corresponding to the waves diffracted by a biological particle when the medium is illuminated,—and calculating an estimate of said concentration as a function of a pixel intensity of the acquired image.

Systems and methods for uniquely identifying fluid-phase products by endowing them with fingerprints composed of dispersed colloidal particles, and by reading out those fingerprints on demand using Total Holographic Characterization. A library of chemically inert colloidal particles is developed that can be dispersed into soft materials, the stoichiometry of the mixture encoding user-specified information, including information about the host material. Encoded information then can be recovered by high-speed analysis of holographic microscopy images of the dispersed particles. Specifically, holograms of individual colloidal spheres are analyzed with predictions of the theory of light scattering to measure each sphere's radius and refractive index, thereby building up the distribution of particle properties one particle at a time. A complete analysis of a colloidal fingerprint requires several thousand single-particle holograms and can be completed in ten minutes.

Holograms of colloidal dispersions encode comprehensive information about individual particles' three-dimensional positions, sizes and optical properties. Extracting that information typically is computation-ally intensive, and thus slow. Machine-learning techniques based on support vector machines (SVMs) can analyze holographic video microscopy data in real time on low-power computers. The resulting stream of precise particle-resolved tracking and characterization data provides unparalleled insights into the composition and dynamics of colloidal dispersions and enables applications ranging from basic research to process control and quality assurance.

The invention, provides a method, apparatus and system for separating blood and other types of cellular components, and can be combined with holographic optical trapping manipulation or other forms of optical tweezing. One of the exemplary methods includes providing a first flow having a plurality of blood components; providing a second flow; contacting the first flow with the second flow to provide a first separation region; and differentially sedimenting a first blood cellular component of the plurality of blood components into the second flow while concurrently maintaining a second blood cellular component of the plurality of blood components in the first flow. The second flow having the first blood cellular component is then differentially removed from the first flow having the second blood cellular component. Holographic optical traps may also be utilized in conjunction with the various flows to move selected components from one flow to another, as part of or in addition to a separation stage.

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for cell recognition. At least one embodiment relates to a method for recognizing cell. The method includes receiving an image of the cell. The method also includes performing edge detection on the image of the cell. Further, the method includes detecting ridges within the image of the cell. In addition, the method includes quantifying an internal complexity of the cell by gauging a contrast of the ridges with an average of a Laplacian on the detected ridges.

The invention provides a method, apparatus and system for separating blood and other types of cellular components, and can be combined with holographic optical trapping manipulation or other forms of optical tweezing. One of the exemplary methods includes providing a first flow having a plurality of blood components; providing a second flow; contacting the first flow with the second flow to provide a first separation region; and differentially sedimenting a first blood cellular component of the plurality of blood components into the second flow while concurrently maintaining a second blood cellular component of the plurality of blood components in the first flow. The second flow having the first blood cellular component is then differentially removed from the first flow having the second blood cellular component. Holographic optical traps may also be utilized in conjunction with the various flows to move selected components from one flow to another, as part of or in addition to a separation stage.

A device includes a filter that enhances a beam profile of a received pulsed laser; a first optical element to direct the pulsed laser as a reference wave towards an optical sensor; an open cavity positioned between the first optical element and the optical sensor. The open cavity receives an aerosol particle, which enters the open cavity from any direction. The reference wave illuminates the aerosol particle. An illuminated particle generates and directs an object wave towards the optical sensor. A pixel array is connected to the optical sensor. The pixel array receives the reference wave and the object wave. The optical sensor creates a contrast hologram comprising an interference pattern of the illuminated particle. A processor creates an image of the illuminated particle based on the contrast hologram.

Means for analysis of a moving slurry of solid particles in a liquid medium that comprises: causing the slurry to flow with fully developed turbulence in a vertical pipe such that the flowing slurry fills the entire cross-section of the pipe; providing a transparent window in a wall of the pipe, said window being flush with an inside of the pipe; emitting light from a light source through the window, onto the flowing slurry inside the pipe in an examination zone; taking a plurality of individual measurements of individual solid particles in the flowing slurry by collecting light returned from the examination zone; collating the results of a statistically significant number of the individual measurements to provide a characteristic of the flowing slurry, as a whole.

Various embodiments are directed to a fluid composition sensor device and method of using the same. In various embodiments, the fluid flow composition sensor is configured to receive a volume of fluid, the fluid composition sensor comprising a housing, a removable fluid flow component, an impactor nozzle, a collection media assembly dock element configured to receive a replaceable collection media assembly comprising a collection media configured to receive one or more particles within the volume of fluid, an imaging device configured to capture an image of at least a portion of the one or more particles received by the fluid composition sensor, and a controller configured to determine, based at least in part on the image, at least one particle characteristic of the volume of fluid. The imaging device may be configured to capture the image of one or more particles received by the fluid composition sensor using lensless holography.

A device for detecting at least one object present in a sample, the device including a light source to emit at least one incident wave at a wavelength λ, a detection volume intended to receive the object, and to receive at least one incident wave, an image sensor positioned to receive at least one scattered light wave obtained by diffraction of the incident wave on the object and a reference wave from the source and not diffracted on the object and to generate a holographic image, and a computer data processing device to digitally reconstruct the object based at least on the holographic image and the wavelength λ. The device also comprises a support comprising patterns organized to form at least one diffraction grating, the grating being periodic and having a pitch P, such that λ/2≤P≤2λ.