Method for the detection of biologic particle contamination

1. A method for the detection of particles in a fluid and for the identification of the source of the particles comprising:

drawing a fluid to be sampled through a sample cell;

illuminating particles in the fluid continuously as the particles pass through the sample cell;

using a detector system to detect individual particles continuously as the particles pass through the sample cell;

time-stamping a signal from the detector indicating the presence of particles in the sample cell;

using one or more image recording devices to record image data of the environment of the detector;

time-stamping the image data;

time correlating the time-stamped image data to the time-stamped detector signal to determine the source of contamination; and

classifying individual particles as biologic or non-biologic particles on the basis of both particle size and fluorescence intensity measured for each individual particle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the particles are microbial particles or biological particles.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising an electronic apparatus to simultaneously collect particle detection system signals and image recording device signals, and an electronic storage device capable of storing the signals with time-stamped information.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising computer readable program code to correlate time-stamped signals from the particle detection system and image recording device data, and a data display format for showing both signals in time sequence graphics.

5. The method of claim 1 , where the method comprises a data recording format that assigns both particle size and fluorescence intensity to an individual particle, and computer readable program code for differentiating from non-microbes, and for correlating time-stamped visual data to the particle detection data.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using computer readable program code for correlating/time-stamping particle detection signals and visual image signals.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising differentiating biological particles from inert particles in a fluid.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the fluid comprises air or water.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the image recording device is movable and able to be placed to view to a suitable direction from the particle detection system.

10. A method of detecting particles in a fluid which comprises drawing a fluid to be sampled through a sample cell, illuminating particles in the fluid continuously as the particles pass through the sample cell, simultaneously measuring particle size of the particle and detecting intrinsic fluorescence from the particle continuously as the particle passes through the sample cell, visually recording the environment in which detection occurs to determine sources of contamination, and classifying individual particles as biologic or non-biologic particles.

11. A method for detection of biologic and non-biologic particles in a fluid comprising:

drawing a fluid to be sampled through a sample cell;

illuminating particles in the fluid continuously as the particles pass through the sample cell;

measuring particle size and fluorescence from particles in the fluid continuously as the particles pass through the sample cell;

determining if particles are biologic or non-biologic from the particle size and fluorescence data;

classifying individual particles as biologic or non-biologic particles;

assigning a time-stamp to data regarding the presence of biologic and non-biologic particles passing through the sample cell;

recording image data of the environment in the vicinity of the detector;

time-stamping the image data;

time correlating the data regarding the presence of biologic and non-biologic particles passing through the sample cell and image data.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising sounding an alarm when biologic particles are detected.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein using one or more image recording devices to record a image of the environment of the detector comprises using one or more image recording devices to record an image of the environment in the vicinity of a sample inlet of the detector.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein using one or more image recording devices to record an image of the environment in the vicinity of a sample inlet of the detector includes using one or more image recording devices to view the sample intake region of the detector.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the vicinity of a sample inlet of the detector includes a clean room.