CUVETTE ASSEMBLY HAVING CHAMBERS FOR CONTAINING SAMPLES TO BE EVALUATED THROUGH OPTICAL MEASUREMENT

Abstract

The present invention is a cuvette assembly for use in optically measuring at least one characteristic of particles within a plurality of liquid samples. The cuvette assembly comprises a main body having internal walls and external walls, and a plurality of cuvettes within the main body at least partially being defined by the internal walls. Each of the plurality of cuvettes has a liquid-input chamber for receiving a respective one of the plurality of liquid samples, a filter, and an optical chamber for receiving a respective filtered liquid sample caused by passing the respective one of the plurality of liquid samples through the filter. Each of the optical chambers includes an entry window for allowing transmission of an input light beam through the filtered liquid sample and an exit window for transmitting a forward scatter signal caused by the particles within the filtered liquid sample.

Claims

1-19. (canceled)

20. A method of determining effect of chemo-effectors on a sample taken from a patient, the method comprising: providing a cuvette assembly comprising a plurality of separated optical chambers aligned along a straight line, wherein each optical chamber has an entry window for allowing transmission of an input light beam to within the optical chamber and an exit window for transmitting a signal from within the optical chamber, and wherein an area of the exit window is larger than an area of the entry window and a cross-sectional area of each optical chamber increases between the entry window and the exit window; inserting a portion of the sample to the optical chambers; inserting the chemo-effectors to the optical chambers; transmitting the input light beam to within the optical chambers; and measuring the signal caused by the sample within the optical chamber and transmitted from each of the exit windows over a period of time.

21. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein the chemo-effectors are drugs such as antibiotics.

22. The method as claimed in claim 21, wherein different drugs are inserted to within the optical chambers.

23. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein different concentrations of the chemo-effectors are inserted to within the optical chambers.

24. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein the chemo-effectors are not inserted to one of the optical chambers, which is a control optical chamber.

25. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein the chemo-effectors are nutrient growth medium.

26. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein the method allows measuring changes in microbial growth rates in the samples as affected from the chemo-effectors.

27. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein the chemo-effectors are preloaded in the optical chambers.

28. The method as claimed in claim 27, wherein the chemo-effectors are a coating on a surface of the optical chambers.

29. The method as claimed in claim 27, wherein the chemo-effectors is an enclosure enclosed by one of internal membranes, films, foils, or other frangible or moveable feature for future use.

30. The method as claimed in claim 29, wherein the method is further comprising puncturing the enclosure.

31. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein the chemo-effectors can be selected from dry (e.g., lyophilized) materials, liquid or solution, a gaseous atmosphere (such as Argon, O.sub.2, or CO.sub.2), or a combination thereof.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0053] FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a sectional view through the liquid-input chamber and optical chamber of one cuvette of a cuvette assembly in accordance with the present invention.

[0054] FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the cuvette assembly of FIG. 1.

[0055] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of another embodiment of a cuvette assembly having multiple chambers in accordance with the present invention.

[0056] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a cuvette assembly of FIG. 3 with the first optical chamber and associated liquid-input chamber illustrated in a sectional view.

[0057] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view through the exit window assembly taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 7.

[0058] FIG. 6 is a schematic view of one optical chamber of the cuvette assembly of FIG. 3 in response to an input beam being transmitted through the entry window.

[0059] FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the cuvette assembly of FIG. 4 showing the various alignment and registration features at the bottom of the cuvette assembly.

[0060] FIG. 8 illustrates the cuvette assembly of FIG. 4 registered on a platform that is typically located within an optical measurement instrument.

[0061] FIG. 9 illustrates a cuvette assembly having a contamination-prevention film located over the upper structure of the cuvette assembly.

[0062] FIG. 10 illustrates yet another embodiment of the cuvette assembly according to the present invention that includes a frangible film directly below the openings of the cuvette assembly.

[0063] FIG. 11 illustrates yet a further embodiment of the cuvette assembly according to the present invention that includes a manual pump to help force a liquid within the upper liquid-input chamber through a filter so that it enters the lower optical chamber.

[0064] FIG. 12 schematically illustrates one application for the cuvette assemblies according to the present invention in which a single cuvette assembly contains a control sample and four different drug samples, or a control sample and four different dosages of a single drug sample.

[0065] While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments will be shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.