Patent ID: 9643182
Date: 2017-05-09
CPC Classifications: B01L,G01N,Y10T

Claim:
1. A method of analyzing a microfluidic sample, the method comprising the steps of: providing a microfluidic sample analyzer comprising a housing with an opening therein, wherein a cassette is contained in the opening in the housing and, wherein the cassette or a component of the cassette includes at least one channel with a fluid sample therein; identifying information about the cassette with an identification reader positioned on or within the housing; processing information input by a user into a user interface positioned within the housing of the sample analyzer; pressurizing the at least one channel in the cassette with a pressure-control system positioned within the housing to move the sample through the at least one channel; accumulating an opaque material on a portion of a surface of a channel within a first measurement zone of the cassette; activating an optical system that passes light from a first light source positioning within the housing through the first measurement zone of the cassette; detecting the amount of light transmission through the opaque material within the first measurement zone of the cassette with a first detector of the optical system positioned within the housing opposite the first light source; and analyzing the sample in the cassette with a control system positioned within the housing which communicates with the identification reader, the user interface, the pressure-control system, and the optical system.