An apparatus for nondestructive detection of transparent or reflective objects in a vessel includes an imager configured to acquire data that represent light reflected from spatial locations in the vessel as a function of time, a memory operably coupled to the imager and configured to store the data, and a processor operably coupled to the memory and configured to detect the objects based on the data by (i) identifying a respective maximum amount of reflected light, over time, for each location in the spatial locations based on the data representing light reflected from the spatial locations as a function of time, and (ii) determining a presence or absence of the objects in the vessel based on the number of spatial locations whose respective maximum amount of reflected light, over time, exceeds a predetermined value.

Particles such as blood cells can be categorized and counted by a digital image processor. A digital microscope camera can be directed into a flowcell defining a symmetrically narrowing flowpath in which the sample stream flows in a ribbon flattened by flow and viscosity parameters between layers of sheath fluid. A contrast pattern for autofocusing is provided on the flowcell, for example at an edge of a rear illumination opening. The image processor assesses focus accuracy from pixel data contrast. A positioning motor moves the microscope and/or flowcell along the optical axis for autofocusing on the contrast pattern target. The processor then displaces microscope and flowcell by a known distance between the contrast pattern and the sample stream, thus focusing on the sample stream. Blood cell images are collected from that position until autofocus is reinitiated, periodically, by input signal, or when detecting temperature changes or focus inaccuracy in the image data.

Particles such as blood cells can be categorized and counted by a digital image processor. A digital microscope camera can be directed into a flowcell defining a symmetrically narrowing flowpath in which the sample stream flows in a ribbon flattened by flow and viscosity parameters between layers of sheath fluid. A contrast pattern for autofocusing is provided on the flowcell, for example at an edge of a rear illumination opening. The image processor assesses focus accuracy from pixel data contrast. A positioning motor moves the microscope and/or flowcell along the optical axis for autofocusing on the contrast pattern target. The processor then displaces microscope and flowcell by a known distance between the contrast pattern and the sample stream, thus focusing on the sample stream. Blood cell images are collected from that position until autofocus is reinitiated, periodically, by input signal, or when detecting temperature changes or focus inaccuracy in the image data.

A system includes a plurality of modular subassemblies and a plate; wherein each modular subassembly comprises an enclosure and a plurality of optical components aligned to the enclosure, and each enclosure comprises a plurality of mounting structures; and wherein each modular subassembly is mechanically coupled to the plate by attachment of a mounting structure of the modular subassembly directly to a corresponding mounting structure located on the plate, such that by mechanically coupling each modular subassembly to the plate using the mounting structure of the modular subassembly and the corresponding mounting structure on the plate, adjacent modular subassemblies are aligned to each other upon such attachment, and wherein two of the modular subassemblies mechanically coupled to the plate are also attached to each other by mechanically coupling an alignment structure on one of the two modular subassemblies to a respective alignment structure on the other of the two modular subassemblies.

This present invention relates generally to devices, systems, and methods for performing bioimaging at the microscopic scale and, more particularly, to devices and systems including a disposable testing device configured to perform bioimaging at the microscopic scale, and methods of performing the bioimaging using the disposable testing device. In some aspects, a testing device is provided for imaging blood cells in a blood sample. The testing device having a sample entry port for receiving the blood sample; a sample testing conduit fluidically connected to the sample entry port, the sample testing conduit including: (i) a planar member, (ii) a transparent planar member, and (iii) a plurality of spacer elements having an average spacer height and disposed between the planar member and the transparent planar member; and an imager chip forming at least a portion of the planar member.

A device for measuring the particle content of air comprises a laser source for generating laser light and for directing it to a target area, an air channel for directing the air subjected to the measurement as an air flow through the target area, and a light detector located adjacent to the target area for detecting bursts of light generated as the particles entrained with the air flow scatter the laser light in the target area. The device comprises a light trap between the laser source and the target area for reducing stray light propagating to the target area. The light trap comprises at least two intermediate walls which are substantially transverse in relation to the propagation direction of the laser light, each of the intermediate walls having an aperture for passage of a desirably limited amount of the laser light through the given intermediate wall. The intermediate walls are part of a same piece manufactured as one continuous block.

A computational cytometer operates using magnetically modulated lensless speckle imaging, which introduces oscillatory motion to magnetic bead-conjugated rare cells of interest through a periodic magnetic force and uses lensless time-resolved holographic speckle imaging to rapidly detect the target cells in three-dimensions (3D). Detection specificity is further enhanced through a deep learning-based classifier that is based on a densely connected pseudo-3D convolutional neural network (P3D CNN), which automatically detects rare cells of interest based on their spatio-temporal features under a controlled magnetic force. This compact, cost-effective and high-throughput computational cytometer can be used for rare cell detection and quantification in bodily fluids for a variety of biomedical applications.

A system includes a plurality of modular subassemblies and a plate; wherein each modular subassembly comprises an enclosure and a plurality of optical components aligned to the enclosure, and each enclosure comprises a plurality of mounting structures; and wherein each modular subassembly is mechanically coupled to the plate by attachment of a mounting structure of the modular subassembly directly to a corresponding mounting structure located on the plate, such that by mechanically coupling each modular subassembly to the plate using the mounting structure of the modular subassembly and the corresponding mounting structure on the plate, adjacent modular subassemblies are aligned to each other upon such attachment, and wherein two of the modular subassemblies mechanically coupled to the plate are also attached to each other by mechanically coupling an alignment structure on one of the two modular subassemblies to a respective alignment structure on the other of the two modular subassemblies.

A method of calibration of a device for analyzing at least one element present in a sample, said device including: a detection assembly configured to acquire an image formed by the interference between a light source and said sample; and digital processing means configured to detect a digital position of at least one element in said sample based on said acquired image; said calibration method including the implementation of a plurality of predetermined displacements of said sample with respect to said detection assembly and, for all of said displacements, the detection of a digital position of a same element to determine the digital position and the real position matching model according to the predetermined displacements and to the digital positions of said element after each displacement.

There is provided a method including generating a phase contrast image of an aggregate of a pluripotent stem cell from a hologram in which the aggregate is captured; deriving, based on the phase contrast image, an index value indicating a complexity or simplicity of a contour line, the index value being determined according to a relationship between an area of the aggregate and a length of the contour line of the aggregate; and sorting the pluripotent stem cell based on the index value.