Patent ID: 7541004
Filing Date: 2009-06-02
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. A fluid contamination analyzer, comprising: a reference MEMS-based sensor disposed within a reference housing, said reference housing containing a substantially contaminant-free volume of the fluid being analyzed; and a plurality of sample MEMS-based sensors disposed adjacent the reference housing within a fluid; wherein the reference sensor and the sample sensors further comprise: a substrate; a plurality of electrodes formed over the substrate; and a contaminant selective layer disposed adjacent at least one of (i) the electrodes or (ii) the substrate, said layer being selective to attract a predetermined contaminant within the fluid; wherein when a fluid contacts the sensor an impedance of the fluid may be determined using the electrodes of the sensor, thereby providing an indication of fluid contamination; a plate electrode disposed over the reference sensor and at least one sample sensor of the plurality of sample sensors, wherein when a fluid is disposed between the plate electrode and the MEMS based sensors an impedance of the fluid is determined using the plate electrode and at least one electrode of the MEMS based sensors; associated with each sensor, a first switch operatively coupled to a first electrode of the plurality of electrodes; a second switch operatively coupled to a second electrode of the plurality of electrodes; a third switch operatively coupled to the plate electrode; and a fourth switch operatively coupled to the first electrode and the second electrode wherein the plurality of switches selectively configure the fluid contamination analyzer to measure an impedance between the plate electrode and at least one electrode of the at least one MEMS based sensor or between and adjacent to the electrodes of the MEMS based sensor.