Sterilization of testing equipment
A system including a processor and memory coupled to the processor. The system also includes a lateral flow assay (“LFA”) strip reader coupled to the processor for transmitting an LFA strip image to the processor. The processor initiates a sterilization process when the LFA strip image includes a visual feature indicating a sterilization trigger.
1 . A testing system, comprising:
a processor;
memory coupled to the processor;
a lateral flow assay (“LFA”) strip reader coupled to the processor for reading an LFA strip in a cassette;
an LFA strip image created by the LFA strip reader, where the LFA strip image further comprises an image of at least part of the cassette;
the processor further configured to initiate a sterilization process of an interior of the testing system when the LFA strip image includes a visual feature located on the cassette, an existence of the visual feature located on the cassette indicating that the sterilization process should be triggered, and the visual feature not comprising an identification of the LFA strip, and the visual feature comprising a code indicating a sterilization trigger, wherein the code indicating the sterilization trigger comprises one of a QR code, a data matrix, or a bar code.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the LFA strip reader is an imaging device.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the sterilization process is halted when the imaging device detects movement.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein a message is transmitted by a communications interface in communication with the processor to a central database when the sterilization process is halted.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the LFA strip reader comprises a plurality of LED lights activated based on a test configuration profile and a camera for reading the LFA strip and generating the LFA strip image.
6 . The system of claim 5 wherein the plurality of LED lights includes visible lights and ultraviolet UVC lights, and wherein the sterilization trigger causes the processor to turn on the UVC lights.
7 . The system of claim 6 , further comprising an ultraviolet filter placed in front of an image sensor in the LFA strip reader to protect the image sensor from UVC lights during the sterilization.
8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein a length of time that the UVC lights are turned on is based on information in the visual feature.
9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the visual feature comprises text on the cassette and a color on the cassette.
10 . A method, comprising:
reading a lateral flow assay (“LFA”) strip in a cassette, using an imaging device, to generate an LFA strip image, where the LFA strip image further comprises an image of at least part of the cassette and wherein the LFA strip image comprises a visual feature;
providing the LFA strip image to a processor;
activating, using the processor, a sterilization process when the LFA strip image contains a visual feature comprising a code to trigger the sterilization process and the visual feature not comprising an identification of the LFA strip, the sterilization process to sterilize an interior of a testing machine.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the activating the sterilization process using the processor comprises activating a UVC light.
12 . The method of claim 11 , the UVC light is activated for a predetermined period of time.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the predetermined period of time is based on data within the visual feature.
14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the sterilization process is halted when movement is detected in the LFA strip image.
15 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising transmitting an alert to a central database when the sterilization process is halted.
16 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising logging a successful completion of the sterilization process in a central database.
17 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising interrupting the sterilization process upon the processor receiving a request to interrupt the sterilization process.
18 . A system, comprising:
a carrier to receive a lateral flow assay (“LFA”) for processing;
an LFA strip reader for obtaining an LFA strip image in the carrier;
a processor to analyze the LFA strip image, and identify a visual feature comprising one of: a shape of a cassette containing an LFA strip, text on the cassette, a barcode on the cassette, a color on the cassette, a bar code on a surface of a receptacle into which the cassette is inserted that is covered up by the cassette, the visual feature indicating a sterilization trigger, and wherein the visual feature does not indicate an identification of the LFA strip; and
the processor to initiate a sterilization process of the carrier in response to identifying the visual feature.
19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the LFA strip reader comprises a plurality of light emitting diode (LED) lights and a camera.
20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the sterilization process uses an ultraviolet C (UVC) light to sterilize the carrier.
21 . The system of claim 19 , further comprising:
an ultraviolet filter in front of the camera, to protect the camera from ultraviolet light.
22 . The system of claim 18 , further comprising:
a communication interface to transmit a result of the sterilization process to a server.
23 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the visual feature further specifies a predetermined period of time to sterilize the interior of the testing system.
24 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the visual feature further specifies a predetermined period of time to sterilize the interior of the testing machine.
25 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the visual feature further specifies a predetermined period of time to sterilize the carrier.
26 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the cassette comprises a clear assay.