Bacteria sensor and method

Chemistry: molecular biology and microbiology – Apparatus – Including measuring or testing

Reexamination Certificate

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Reexamination Certificate

active

07741108

ABSTRACT:
Bacteria accumulations on the interior walls of a fluid conduit are detected by placing a bacterial target substrate in the conduit. The substrate is structured to allow bacteria to colonize it at at least the rate of accumulation expected on the conduit walls or at an accelerated rate in order to preempt normal bacteria accumulation on the walls. A bacteria getter may be used to accelerate bacterial colonization of the substrate. An excitation signal interrogating the substrate causes autofluorescence in the presence of bacteria, specifically from NADH and/or NADPH present. The autofluorescent emission is transmitted to a detector and processor. In one system when the presence of bacteria at a preset level is detected there is initiated a diversion of the fluid into an auxiliary subsystem during which the primary subsystem is remediated. In one configuration, a wall portion is transparent and the biofilm target substrate is integral with the transparent wall portion and the sensor head is attached to the outside of the transparent wall portion. It can be made as a removable and/or disposable cell in which the transparent wall portion is a glass plug that fits into a hole in the conduit. The biofilm target substrate can be a getter affinity surface formed on the inside surface of the glass plug. Various means are used for obtaining accelerated biofilm growth.

REFERENCES:
patent: 5049492 (1991-09-01), Sauer et al.
patent: 5470949 (1995-11-01), Polt
patent: 5947959 (1999-09-01), Sinofsky
patent: 6044981 (2000-04-01), Chu et al.
patent: 6197575 (2001-03-01), Griffith et al.
patent: 6426505 (2002-07-01), Rao et al.
patent: 6800478 (2004-10-01), Castellini
patent: 7190457 (2007-03-01), Tobacco et al.
patent: 2005/0151971 (2005-07-01), Tabacco et al.
patent: 2008/0058908 (2008-03-01), Bornstein
T.F. Cooney et al., Comparative Study of Some Fiber-Optic Remote Raman Probe Designs. Part I and II, Applied Spectroscopy, 1996, p. 836-860, vol. 50(7).
L. Jacobs et al., Spectrophotometric monitoring of biofouling, Wat. Sci. Tech., 1996, p. 533-540, vol. 34, Elsevier Science Ltd, Great Britain.
J. Kelstrup et al., Microbial aggregate contamination of water lines . . . and its control, Acta Pathol. Microbiol. Scand. Sect. B Microbil., 1977, p. 177-183, vol. 85.
M.V. Martin, The significance of the bacterial contamination . . . water systems, British Dental Journal, 1987, p. 152-154, vol. 163.
J.A. Mayo et al., Bacterial Biofilm: A Source of Contamination in Dental Air-Water Syringes, Clinical Preventive Dentistry, 1990, p. 13-20, vol. 12.
G.A. McFeters et al., Rapid direct methods for enumeration of specific . . . water and biofilms, Journal of Applied Microbiology, 1999, p. 193-200, vol. 85 (supplement).
K. Pedersen, Method for studying microbial biofilms in flowing-water systems, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 1982, p. 6-13, vol. 43.
D.L. Pierson, Automated Use of DNA Probes for Rapid Detection of Bacteria in Water, http://peer1.idi.usra.edu/peer—review/taskbook/life—science/ls00/ltb—proj—list.cfm, Jun. 1, 2001.
B.D. Tall et al., Bacterial succession within a biofilm in water supply lines of dental air-water syringes, Canadian J. of Microbiology, 1995, p. 647-654, vol. 41, Canada.
U. Utzinger et al., Fiber optic probes for biomedical optical spectroscopy, Journal of Biomedical Optics, 2003, p. 121-147, vol. 8(1).
J.F. Williams et al., Microbial contamination of dental unit water lines: prevelance, intensity and microbiological characteristics, J. Am. Dent. Assoc.,1993, p. 59-65, vol. 124.
Bass, Michael, Handbook of Optics, vol. II, Second Edition, McGraw-Hill, Inc. New York.

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for the USA inventors and patents. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Bacteria sensor and method does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Bacteria sensor and method, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Bacteria sensor and method will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-4245342

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.