Patent ID: 9194785
Filing Date: 2015-11-24
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. A sensor system for detecting and specifying individual microorganisms in a fluid, comprising: a measurement cell integrated into a delivery conduit for the fluid that delivers a continuous flow of the fluid, the fluid flowing through the measurement cell, a light source which is arranged on the measurement cell and produces a light beam running through the measurement cell, the light beam in its focus region having a cross-sectional area which is smaller than sixty times a cross-sectional area of the microorganism to be detected, an intensity sensor which is arranged on the measurement cell and lying opposite the light source to detect the light beam exiting from the measurement cell and is designed for the separate detection of an intensity of the light beam in at least two different wavelength regions, and an evaluation device which is connected to the intensity sensor and which is configured to recognize the type of a microorganism passing through the light beam by way of the detected intensities in the two wavelength regions, wherein the evaluation device is configured to: for determining the absorptivity of a detected wavelength region, subtract the currently detected intensity from a previously detected or stored base intensity of the light beam without particles, calculate a ratio of the two absorptivities for the two different wavelengths, and detect a microorganism if the calculated ratio is above a first limit value and only one of the two absorptivities is above a respective second limit value.