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Publication Number
US-10458990-B1
Publication Date
2019-10-29
Expiration Date
Abstract
A flow of air including a fungal spore is directed to a collection cartridge. The spore is trapped within the cartridge and positioned within a field of view of a camera sensor. A UV light is activated to illuminate the spore and a camera shutter is opened for a time period. The camera sensor collects light emitted from the spore during a first portion of the time period. After the first portion has elapsed, first and second bursts of white light originating from first and second positions, respectively, are directed towards the spore during a second portion of the time period. After the second portion of the time period has elapsed, the camera shutter is closed to generate an image. The image is analyzed to obtain a shape of the spore.
Core Innovation
The invention describes a method for detecting and characterizing fungal spores by trapping a fungal spore on a tape medium of a collection cartridge. A flow of air comprising a fungal spore is directed to the collection cartridge, and the trapped fungal spore is positioned within a field of view of a camera sensor while it remains trapped on the tape medium. The method uses an ultraviolet (UV) light source to illuminate the trapped fungal spore while a camera shutter associated with the camera sensor is opened, and the camera sensor collects light emitted from the trapped fungal spore during a first portion of the time period.
After the first portion has elapsed, the method directs a first burst of white light originating from a first position and a second burst of white light originating from a second position different from the first position toward the trapped fungal spore during a second portion of the time period. The camera shutter is then closed to generate an image, and the image is analyzed to obtain a shape of the trapped fungal spore. The described approach links UV fluorescence illumination and image capture with multi-position white-light bursts to support fungal spore state discrimination based on fluorescence intensity/color attributes and shape/morphology analysis.
In further described refinement, the method infers concentrations of biomolecules of interest within a fungal spore by mapping a pixel value at image coordinates (x,y) to a biomolecule concentration, and uses fluorescent-property reference information for known spore states together with camera sensor color sensitivity characteristics to process the inferred concentrations and determine the fungal spore state.
Claims Coverage
The independent claim coverage centers on a camera imaging method that combines trapping spores on tape, UV fluorescence illumination and camera sensor capture, and sequential bursts of white light from different positions to generate an image for analysis. The claim set includes four inventive features and dependent refinements that extend post-processing from obtaining a spore shape to determining a spore state using biomolecule concentration inference and fluorescent-property reference information.
Airborne spore trapping on tape medium with UV fluorescence capture
Direct a flow of air comprising a fungal spore to a collection cartridge; trap the fungal spore on a tape medium of the collection cartridge; position the fungal spore within a field of view of a camera sensor while the fungal spore remains trapped on the tape medium of the collection cartridge; activate an ultraviolet (UV) light source to illuminate the trapped fungal spore with UV light; open a camera shutter associated with the camera sensor for a time period; while the trapped fungal spore is illuminated with the UV light, allow the camera sensor to collect light emitted from the trapped fungal during a first portion of the time period.
Sequential white-light bursts from different positions during second portion
After the first portion of the time period has elapsed, direct a first burst of white light, originating from a first position, towards the trapped fungal spore during a second portion of the time period; direct a second burst of white light, originating from a second position, different from the first position, towards the trapped fungal spore during the second portion of the time period.
Image capture and shape analysis of trapped fungal spore
After the second portion of the time period has elapsed, close the camera shutter to generate an image; analyze the image to obtain a shape of the trapped fungal spore.
Camera-based biomolecule concentration inference for determining spore state
Infer concentrations of biomolecules of interest within a fungal spore by mapping a pixel value at image coordinates (x,y) to a biomolecule concentration; use fluorescent-property reference information for known spore states and camera sensor color sensitivity characteristics to process the inferred concentrations; determine the fungal spore state.
Overall, the claim coverage emphasizes multi-portion capture in which UV illumination supports light-emission imaging followed by sequential white-light bursts from different positions during the camera shutter time period, and analyzes the resulting image to obtain a spore shape for fungal spore state discrimination. Dependent refinements further constrain capture and illumination and expand analysis toward determining spore state and inferring biomolecule concentrations using fluorescent-property reference information and camera sensor color sensitivity.
Stated Advantages
Enhances obtaining a shape of the trapped fungal spore from the generated image.
Enables determining the fungal spore state by inferring concentrations of biomolecules of interest using fluorescent-property reference information and camera sensor color sensitivity characteristics.
Documented Applications
No documented applications found
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