Method of operation utilizing electric energy for processing of blood to neutralize pathogen cells therein
View Patent ↗An operational unit for locating and neutralizing pathogen cells in blood. A cassette has a plurality of thin holding chambers that are filled with blood drawn from a patient. A light source illuminates each of the holding chambers and passes light to an underlying sensor array such that the cells in the blood produce shadow images of the cells in the sensor array. A processor performs pattern recognition to identify and locate the pathogen cells by use of an image library. After the pathogen cells are located, the pump is operated to move the identified cells to a processing zone. When each identified cell reaches the processing zone, electric energy is applied to destroy the identified pathogen cells. A pump refills the cassette holding chambers, returns the neutralized-pathogen blood to the patient, and the process is repeated for a treatment time period.
1 . A method for the processing of blood which has cells therein, including pathogen cells, comprising the steps of:
transferring said blood into a plurality of parallel channels in a chamber, said chamber having opposed transparent walls,
after said channels have been at least partially filled with said blood, directing collimated light through said chamber walls and the blood in said channels to an image sensor,
producing a sensor image by said image sensor sensing the light which has passed through said chamber, which sensor image includes shadow images of cells in said blood that is in said channels,
comparing a plurality of said shadow images in said sensor image with one or more reference images, which correspond to said pathogen cells, to identify ones of said shadow images which have a substantial match to one or more of said reference images for said pathogen cells to produce identified pathogen cell shadow images,
determining locations in said channels of said pathogen cells which correspond to said identified pathogen cell shadow images,
selecting a predetermined travel time for each of said determined locations of said pathogen cells,
after said sensor image has been produced, moving said blood further along in said channels, and
when the travel time expires for each of said determined locations, applying electrical energy to a volume of said blood in the channel having the location therein corresponding to the expired travel time.
2 . The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said step of applying electrical energy includes a step of applying an electrical field to said volume of said blood.
3 . The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said step of applying electrical energy includes a step of applying an electrical current through said volume of said blood.
4 . The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said step of applying electrical energy to said located pathogen cells comprises applying said electrical energy transversely to the elongate axis of the corresponding channel.
5 . The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said blood is held non-moving during the step of directing collimated light through said chamber walls.
6 . The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said step of applying electrical energy comprises a step of applying an electric current to each of said located pathogen cells in said channels.
7 . The method as recited in claim 6 wherein the step of applying an electric current includes a step of applying said electric current transversely to a direction of flow of said blood through a said channels.
8 . The method as recited in claim 1 wherein each of said located pathogen cells receives an occurrence of said electrical energy.
9 . The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said blood enters said chamber through an input port and flows through said plurality of parallel channels to a chamber output port.
10 . A method for the processing of blood which has cells therein, including pathogen cells, comprising the steps of:
filling a plurality of parallel channels in each of a plurality of chambers with said blood and then holding said blood in a static state, each said chamber having opposed transparent walls,
after said channels have been filled with said blood, directing collimated light through said chamber walls and the blood in said channels to a corresponding image sensor for each chamber,
producing a sensor image by each of said image sensors detecting said light which has passed through the corresponding said chamber, each of said sensor images including one or more shadow images of cells in said blood that is in the corresponding chamber,
comparing a plurality of said shadow images in each of said sensor images with one or more reference images which correspond to said pathogen cells, to identify ones of said shadow images which have a substantial match to one or more of said reference images for said pathogen cells to thereby produce identified pathogen cell shadow images,
determining the locations of said pathogen cells in said channels which pathogen cells correspond to said identified pathogen cell shadow images,
selecting a predetermined travel time for each of said determined locations of said pathogen cells,
after said locations of said located pathogen cells has been determined, resume moving said blood further along in each of said channels, and
after each one of said located pathogen cells has resumed moving through the one pathogen cell corresponding channel for a duration of the travel time for the determined location of the one pathogen cell, applying electrical energy to said one of said located pathogen cells, wherein electrical energy is applied to each of said located pathogen cells.
11 . The method as recited in claim 10 wherein said step of applying electrical energy to each of said located pathogen cells comprising applying said electrical energy to a volume of blood which contains a one of said located pathogen cells.
12 . The method as recited in claim 10 wherein said step of applying electrical energy includes a step of applying an electrical current to a volume of said blood that contains at least one of said located pathogen cells, wherein an electrical current is applied to each of said located pathogen cells.
13 . The method as recited in claim 10 wherein said step of applying electrical energy to said located pathogen cells includes applying an electric field to each of said located pathogen cells.
14 . The method as recited in claim 10 wherein said step of applying electrical energy to a plurality of said located pathogen cells comprises a step of applying an electric current to each of said located pathogen cells wherein said electric current flow is perpendicular to the flow direction of said located pathogen cells.
15 . The method as recited in claim 10 wherein the step of applying electrical energy comprises applying an electric field that is transverse to the channel which has the located pathogen cell therein.
16 . A method for the processing of blood which has cells therein, including pathogen cells, comprising the steps of:
transferring blood from a blood source into a plurality of parallel channels in each of a plurality of chambers, each chamber having opposed, parallel transparent walls,
stopping said transferring so that said blood is not moving in said channels,
directing collimated light concurrently through said walls of said chambers,
receiving said collimated light, after it has passed through said walls of said chambers, at a plurality of light sensors, each light sensor corresponding to one of said chambers,
each said light sensor producing a sensor image after said light has been directed through said chambers, each said sensor image including shadow images of said cells in said blood present in the corresponding chamber,
comparing said shadow images in each said sensor image to reference pathogen cell images to identify shadow images which substantially compare to one or more of said reference pathogen images, wherein each of said identified shadow images corresponds to an identified one of said pathogen cells,
producing a list of locations in each of said channels for said identified pathogen cells,
selecting a predetermined travel time for each of said locations in each of said channels,
subsequent to producing said sensor images, moving said blood further along in said channels,
upon expiration of each said travel time, applying electrical energy to a volume of said blood in the channel corresponding to the expired travel time, said volume of blood having a one of said identified pathogen cells therein, and
after said electrical energy has been applied, driving said blood through said channels to a chamber output port of each said chamber.
17 . The method as recited in claim 16 wherein for each said channel said electrical energy is applied by a pair of electrodes, said electrodes positioned on opposite sides of each said channel.
18 . The method as recited in claim 16 wherein said step of applying electrical energy comprises driving an electric current through said volume of said blood.
19 . The method as recited in claim 16 wherein said step of applying electrical energy to a plurality of ones of said located pathogen cells comprises a step of applying an electrical current to each said volume of said blood.
20 . The method as recited in claim 16 wherein said step of applying electrical energy to a volume of said blood comprises a step of applying an electric field to each of a plurality of volumes of said blood.