CALIBRATION OF A FUNCTIONAL BIOMARKER INSTRUMENT
Methods of calibration are provided. A method comprises introducing a material with cell-like properties and a known mass into a sensor on a measurement instrument to generate a calibration reading and adjusting an output module of the measurement instrument until the measurement instrument calibrates to the known mass for the material.
1 . A method of calibration comprising:
introducing a material with cell-like properties and a known mass into a sensor on a measurement instrument to generate a calibration reading; and
adjusting an output module of the measurement instrument until the measurement instrument calibrates to the known mass for the material.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cell-like properties of the material comprise a deformability or elasticity of the material.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the material comprises a hydrogel.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the material comprises a cell or an altered cell.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the altered cell comprises a cell altered through chemical, biochemical, or mechanical means.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the material comprises one selected from the group consisting of a lipid mass, a polymer particle, a vesicle, and an emulsified particle.
7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing the running and adjusting step for each of a plurality of different instruments to thereby make mass readings across the different instruments comparable.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a growth-reference standard is used for calibration instead of a mass-reference standard.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the growth-reference standard comprises a hydrogel that accumulates liquid media and swells at a known rate once introduced into the liquid media within a channel on the measurement instrument.
10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the growth-reference standard comprises a hydrogel that has an undetectable rate of mass change throughout a duration of measurement in the measurement instrument.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurement device comprises a suspended microchannel resonator (SMR).
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurement device comprises an SMR instrument comprising an array of SMRs with a fluidic channel passing therethrough.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the channel passes through the array of SMRs, in which each successive pair of SMRs is separated by a portion of the channel that provides a delay.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a combination of materials with cell-like properties is used to define parameters to calibrate parts of the measurement system.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein parts of the measurement system comprise sensors.
16 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising introducing a same material to each of a plurality of different sensors of a same measurement instrument, thereby producing comparable mass readings across different sensors of the same measurement instrument.
17 . A method of relative calibration comprising:
introducing a material with cell-like properties and an unchanging mass into a measurement instrument with multiple sensors to generate a calibration reading; and
adjusting an output module of the measurement instrument until measurements of individual sensors of the measurement instrument for the material calibrates to a same measurement.
18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein a same material is successively transported to all sensors of the measurement instrument using microfluidic channels.
19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein a combination of materials with cell-like properties is used to define parameters to calibrate parts of the measurement instrument.
20 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the material with cell-like properties is a hydrogel or combination of hydrogels.
21 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the measurement instrument comprises a suspended microchannel resonator (SMR).
22 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the cell-like properties of the material comprise a deformability or elasticity of the material.
23 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the material comprises a cell or an altered cell.
24 . The method of claim 23 , wherein the altered cell comprises a cell altered through chemical, biochemical, or mechanical means.
25 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the material comprises one selected from the group consisting of a lipid mass, a polymer particle, a vesicle, and an emulsified particle.
26 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising performing the running and adjusting step for each of a plurality of different instruments to thereby make mass readings across the different instruments comparable.
27 . The method of claim 17 , wherein a growth-reference standard is used for calibration instead of a mass-reference standard.
28 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the growth-reference standard comprises a hydrogel that accumulates liquid media and swells at a known rate once introduced into the liquid media within a channel on the measurement instrument.
29 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the growth-reference standard comprises a hydrogel that has an undetectable rate of mass change throughout a duration of measurement in the measurement instrument.
30 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the measurement device comprises an SMR instrument comprising an array of SMRs with a fluidic channel passing therethrough.
31 . The method of claim 30 , wherein the channel passes through the array of SMRs, in which each successive pair of SMRs is separated by a portion of the channel that provides a delay.
32 . The method of claim 31 , wherein parts of the measurement system comprise sensors.
33 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising introducing a same material to each of a plurality of different sensors of a same measurement instrument, thereby producing comparable mass readings across different sensors of the same measurement instrument.