Measuring and testing – Liquid analysis or analysis of the suspension of solids in a... – Gelling or coagulation
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-20
2004-02-10
Chapman, John E. (Department: 2856)
Measuring and testing
Liquid analysis or analysis of the suspension of solids in a...
Gelling or coagulation
C073S054260, C073S579000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06688162
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
PENDING APPLICATIONS FOR MAGNETOELASTIC SENSORS FILED BY ASSIGNEE
On Dec. 30, 1998, the assignee hereof filed a U.S. nonprovisional patent application for an applicant hereof, Dr. Craig Grimes, currently pending as Ser. No. 09/223,689 entitled “Remote Magneto-elastic Analyte, Viscosity and Temperature Sensing Apparatus and Associated Methods of Sensing”. On Feb. 11, 2000 the assignee hereof filed a U.S. nonprovisional patent application for applicants hereof, Dr. Craig Grimes and Dr. Dimitris Kouzoudis, currently pending as Ser. No. 09/502,663 entitled “Magnetoelastic Sensing Apparatus and Method for Remote Pressure Query of an Environment.”
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
In general, the present invention relates to telemetry techniques for direct measurement of, as well as measuring changes in, material characteristics such as mass, thickness, density, and elasticity. More particularly, the invention is directed to a new apparatus and method for remotely measuring or monitoring changes in characteristics relating to the elastic nature of a material at least partially coating a surface of a magnetostrictive element, including determining a modulus of the material's elasticity or viscous nature (e.g., Young's modulus), bulk modulus, or other such constant or coefficient expressing the degree to which a substance or material is elastic or viscous in nature), monitoring or measuring bioactive reaction responses of the material, such as coagulation reactions, blood clotting time, and so on. The sensor element is preferably remotely located (no hardwire interconnection) from an associated pick-up/receiver(s) and data processing unit(s). The thin-film/coating layer in contact with a surface of a base element may be any of a variety of inert thin-film layers or chemically-, physically-, or biologically-responsive layers (such as blood, which experiences a change in viscosity as it coagulates) for which data or material property information about the layer is desired. Among the many suitable thin-film layers for the sensor element of the invention are fluent bio-substances (such as those comprising a biologic agent or blood), thin-film deposits used in a manufacturing process, a polymeric coating, a coating of paint, and a coating of an adhesive, etc.
In one aspect of the invention, the focus is on an apparatus and technique for direct quantitative measurement of elasticity characteristic values of an unknown thin-film/coating layer (which relate to a change in mass of a bare magetoelastic element and one with any unknown coating/film in contact with a surface of the base magnetoelastic element). In another aspect of the invention, the focus is on an apparatus and technique for determining elasticity characteristics where the thin-film layer is a fluent bio-substance. In such cases, as one can appreciate, of interest in connection with a fluent substance-prior to setting, curing or drying-is its viscous nature or behavior. Fluent substances that have transformed into a solid state, are said to have ‘set’, ‘cured’, or ‘dried’ (e.g., coagulated blood). The bio-substance can comprise a bio-component such as a biologic agent or blood, a non-Newtonian liquid (often making direct quantitative measurement of its characteristics using standard models and testing procedures, inaccurate). Biologic agents of interest include an antibody, a biochemical catalyst (or biocatalyst) such as an enzyme, a disease-producing agent (or pathogen) a DNA component, and so on.
Although magnetoelastic materials are currently used in connection with position sensors, identification markers, and in the commercial retail arena as anti-theft or, electronic article surveillance (EAS) tags, according to the unique technique of the invention, by examining the shift in the resonant frequency of a magnetoelastic sensor element of the invention to which a given mass load (coating/film/layer) has been applied, the elastic modulus Y if the mass load can be determined where density p of the coating/film/layer is known. One important aspect of the invention relates more-particularly to techniques for measuring the viscoelastic properties of blood, including blood coagulability tests and other techniques that measure bioactive coagulation reactions. This aspect of the invention relates specifically to a new remote-query technique for measuring coagulation/clotting time of blood, or other such bioactive coagulation reaction, whereby a drop/coating of the responsive-material (e.g., blood) is placed in contact with a surface of the magnetoelastic sensor element/substrate to which a magnetic field (having an alternating magnetic field component and a DC magnetic biasing field component) is then applied.
VI. Technological History: Other Devices
Anti-theft markers/tags (electronic article surveillance, EAS, markers) generally operate by “listening”for acoustic energy emitted in response to an interrogating AC magnetic field, to sense the presence of an EAS marker. Sensormatic, Inc. distributes an EAS tag (dimensions 3.8 cm ×1.25 cm ×0.04 mm) designed to operate at a fixed frequency of 58 kHz (well beyond the audible range of human hearing). These EAS tags are embedded/incorporated into articles for retail sale. Upon exiting a store, a customer walks through a pair of field coils emitting a 58 kHz magnetic field. If a tag is still in an article being carried by the customer, the tag will likewise emit a 58 kHz electromagnetic signal that can be detected using a pickup coil, which in turn may set off an audible or visual alarm. More-recently, these tags are being placed in a box-resonator, sized slightly larger than the tag, such as the tags placed within a cavity
20
of a housing (see
FIG. 2
of Winkler et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,015-or simply '015).
Winkler et al. ('015) describes an electronic article surveillance (EAS) anti-theft system that operates by detecting mechanical resonances of magnetostrictive elements made of amorphous metallic glass METGLAS®2826 MB, to prevent or deter theft of merchandise from retail establishments. In response to an interrogation signal generated by energizing circuit
201
, the interrogating coil
206
generates an interrogating magnetic field, which in turn excites the integrated marker portion
12
of the article of merchandise
10
into mechanical resonance. During the period that the circuit
202
is activated, and if an active marker is present in the interrogating magnetic field, such marker will generate in the receiver coil
207
a signal at the frequency of mechanical resonance of the marker. This signal is sensed by a receiver which responds to the sensed signal by generating a signal to an indicator to generate an alarm.
Anderson, III et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,489-or simply '489 discloses a marker
16
(HG. 5) formed of a strip
18
of a magnetostrictive, ferromagnetic material adapted, when armed in its activated mode, to resonate mechanically at a frequency within the range of the incident magnetic field. A hard ferromagnetic element
44
disposed adjacent to the strip
18
is adapted, upon being magnetized, to magnetically bias the strip
18
and thereby arm it to resonate at that frequency. An oscillator provides an AC magnetic field within interrogation zone
12
to mechanically resonate a magnetostrictive strip
18
, which has first been armed by a magnetized hard ferromagnetic element
44
, upon exposure to this AC magnetic field. The sole object of Anderson, III et al. ('489) EAS marker is to detect the presence between coil units
22
and
24
(interrogation zone
12
) of an “armed/activated” marker
16
. In the event an activated marker
16
secured to a retail article is detected within zone
12
, an alarm will sound. A deactivator system
38
, electrically connected to a cash register, can be used to deactivate the marker.
Humphrey, U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,025 and, another reference, Humphrey et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,670 disclose harmonic type electronic article surveillance (EAS) markers which include a thin
Bachas Leonidas G.
Barrett Gary
Grimes Craig A.
Kouzoudis Dimitris
Schmidt Stefan
Chapman John E.
Macheledt Bales LLP
University of Kentucky Research Foundation
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