Patent ID: 7634378
Filing Date: 2009-12-15
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. A method for determining that a liquid sample volume aspirated in an aspiration process is at least as large as a desired volume by: determining the profile only during a shortened final portion of an aspiration pressure curve representative of said aspiration process without requiring pressure measurements during the remainder of the aspiration process; calculating a first integral representation of the shortened final portion of the aspiration pressure curve; calculating a second integral representation of the shortened final portion of the aspiration pressure curve of a sample known to be of sufficient volume; determining if the standard deviation of the residuals of the difference between the profile of the shortened final portion and the first integral representation of the shortened final portion is at least as great as the standard deviation of the residuals of the difference between the profile of the shortened final portion and the second integral representation, and, confirming thereby that the aspirated liquid sample volume is at least as large as the desired volume.