Patent Description:
Many bioanalytical devices use growth media e.g. in form of plates and/or liquids to collect, count, grow or monitor cells or bacterial spores. These devices could benefit from an automatic detection of the presence of growth media in order to trigger specific actions.

One example are microbial air samplers that extract the targeted particles from the air onto or into a suitable growth medium. The currently preferred method is to use a stream of gas/air that is directed to a growth medium. The accelerated particles impact on the nutrient plate for subsequent analysis. It is a potential risk that the operator forgets to insert the required medium (e.g. nutrient plate) prior to a measurement or that the operator forgets to replace the already inserted medium prior to the subsequent measurement.

<CIT> discloses a mold sensor that is configured with an enclosed chamber in which a nutrient-treated substrate is positioned. The mold sensor includes a sensing system that is configured to measure a property of the substrate that corresponds to a pH value of the substrate. A controller operates the sensing system and is programmed to detect a presence of mold growing in the chamber by estimating the pH value from the measured property.

Currently, there is no available method to infer presence and status of said medium in a bioanalytical device such as a microbial air sampler.

For stationary tools such as automated microscopes, there exist optical, electrical and mechanical solutions to detect the presence of the shape and size of a growth medium plate, often in form of a round Petri dish.

In contrast, the presence and/or status of a growth medium in a bioanalytical device is not automatically assessed. Particularly, in applications such as microbial air sampling, a simple and integrated setup for such a purpose is not available to date. Hence, growth medium presence during sampling is mainly assured for by standardized working procedures. This means there is no possibility to infer whether a plate is in the currently operating system or not. Especially for long sampling durations, this is a severe limitation as opening the instrument for a manual examination is not possible without invalidating the ongoing measurement.

Therefore, based on the above, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a bioanalytical device and a corresponding method that are improved with regard to the above-described difficulty of detecting a presence of a moist medium such as a growth medium in the bioanalytical device.

The problem is solved by a bioanalytical device having the features of claim <NUM>, and a method having the features of claim <NUM>.

Preferred embodiments of these aspects of the present invention are stated in the corresponding sub claims and are also described below.

According to claim <NUM>, a bioanalytical device is disclosed, comprising:.

wherein the analyzing unit is configured to detect the presence of the moist medium in the internal space when the determined change in relative humidity over time forms a local maximum.

Thus, advantageously, the present invention provides a means to detect and monitor whether or not a moist medium, for instance a moist growth medium, is present in a bioanalytical device. The moist medium can be medium containing water. However, the moist medium can also be a liquid.

Particularly, the present invention is applicable to a wide range of applications such as microbial air sampling. The present invention is easy to implement, can be realized in miniature size and works without direct contact between said medium and the detecting humidity sensor simplifying its implementation.

According to a preferred embodiment of the bioanalytical device, the internal space of the housing forms a flow channel, wherein the housing is configured to accommodate the moist medium, preferably a carrier carrying the moist medium, in the internal space at said location so that the flow channel extends along the moist medium, particularly along the carrier carrying the moist medium.

Preferably, in an embodiment, the flow channel extends from an inlet of the housing to an outlet of the housing. The flow channel may also form a closed loop.

According to yet another embodiment of the bioanalytical device, the bioanalytical device is configured to provide a gas flow through the flow channel so that the gas flow passes the moist medium (e.g. carried by the carrier) when the moist medium is arranged in the internal space of the housing. Particularly, the gas can be ambient air, but may also be any other gas used e.g. in cell culture.

Particularly, in an embodiment, the bioanalytical device is configured to suck in the gas flow through the inlet and discharge the gas flow through said outlet.

According to a further embodiment, the humidity sensor is arranged in the flow channel downstream of said location, i.e. downstream of the moist medium (particularly downstream of the carrier carrying the moist medium in case the carrier is arranged in the internal space of the housing as intended at said location), so that the gas flow passes the moist medium first and thereafter the humidity sensor.

Furthermore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the bioanalytical device further comprises a control unit configured to control the gas flow. Particularly, controlling the gas flow can mean or comprise to turn on or to turn off a flow generating device of the bioanalytical device such as a fan, or to open or close a valve of the bioanalytical device to allow a pressured gas to flow.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the analyzing unit is configured to determine the change of humidity over time at a start-up of the gas flow (e.g. through the flow channel).

As described above, the analyzing unit is configured to detect the presence of the moist medium (particularly carried by said carrier) in the internal space when the determined change in relative humidity over time forms a peak, particularly at said start-up of the gas flow.

Preferably, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the moist medium is a moist growth medium for promoting microbial growth. Particularly, the carrier is a plate, e.g. a petri dish.

Further, according to a preferred embodiment, the bioanalytical device is configured to pass the gas flow along the moist medium when the moist medium (or the carrier carrying the moist medium) is arranged in the internal space such that particulate matter contained in said air flow settles on the moist medium. Particularly, the particulate matter can be microbes, wherein here the moist medium is a moist growth medium for promoting growth of said microbes for detection of said microbes (e.g. via inspection of the cultivated microbes).

Further, according to an embodiment, the bioanalytical device comprises a gas flow generating device for generating said gas flow. Particularly, said gas flow generating device can be a fan, i.e. a powered machine for creating a gas flow such as a flow of air, or a compressor, or a source of a pressurized medium, particularly gas. The fan can comprise a rotating arrangement of vanes or blades. In contrast thereto, a compressor can also create a gas flow but increases the pressure of the gas by reducing its volume.

Furthermore, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the humidity sensor is a relative humidity sensor configured to measure a relative humidity in said internal space with said output signal being indicative of said relative humidity, or wherein the humidity sensor is an absolute humidity sensor configured to measure an absolute humidity in said internal space with said output signal being indicative of said absolute humidity. According to an embodiment, the bioanalytical device further comprises a temperature sensor and is configured to derive a relative humidity from said measured absolute humidity and a temperature measured by the temperature sensor.

According to yet another preferred embodiment, the housing comprises an openable lid to allow access to said internal space, so that the carrier carrying the moist medium can be accommodated in said internal space in an open state of the lid and is enclosed by the housing in a closed state of the lid.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, said inlet is formed in the lid, wherein preferably the inlet is formed by a plurality of through-openings formed in the lid.

Furthermore, according to a preferred embodiment of the bioanalytical device, the bioanalytical device is configured to accommodate said carrier in the internal space such that a top surface of the moist medium faces said inlet.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, a method for detecting the presence of a carrier carrying a moist medium in an internal space of a bioanalytical device, the bioanalytical device being configured to accommodate the moist medium (e.g. carried by a carrier, see e.g. above) at a defined location in the internal space, wherein the method comprises the steps of:.

Preferably, a bioanalytical device according to the present invention is used for conducting the method according to the present invention. Particularly, the method can be further specified by the respective embodiment described herein in conjunction with the bioanalytical device according to the present invention.

In the following, embodiments of the present invention as well further features and advantages and other aspects of the present invention shall be described with reference to the Figures, wherein.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG> showing an embodiment of a bioanalytical device <NUM> according to the present invention, the present invention advantageously utilizes the fact that a moist medium <NUM> carried e.g. by a suitable carrier <NUM>, for instance any growth medium for organisms/cells/spores, contains a considerable amount of water, wherein some water will consistently evaporate from the medium <NUM> into a surrounding gas (note that the space around the nutrient plate/carrier <NUM> is oftentimes restricted).

Particularly, as indicated in <FIG> and <FIG>, the device <NUM> comprises a housing <NUM> defining an internal space <NUM> configured to accommodate said carrier <NUM> at a defined location, the carrier <NUM> carrying said moist medium <NUM>. When a humidity sensor <NUM> can now be placed in fluidic connection with the gas G surrounding the moist medium <NUM>, presence of the moist medium <NUM> can be detected through an increase in the humidity (e.g. relative humidity or absolute humidity) as measured by the sensor <NUM>. Therefore, the device <NUM> comprises a humidity sensor <NUM> configured to measure a humidity in said internal space <NUM> and to provide an output signal indicative of said humidity, wherein the sensor <NUM> is preferably placed downstream of the moist medium <NUM> in a flow channel <NUM> formed by the internal space <NUM> so that a gas flow G flowing through the flow channel <NUM> transports humidity of the moist medium <NUM> towards the humidity sensor <NUM>. Further, the device <NUM> preferably comprises an analyzing unit <NUM> (e.g. in form of an electronic circuit) operatively connected to the humidity sensor <NUM> so as to receive said output signal, wherein the analyzing unit <NUM> is configured to derive from said output signal a change of said humidity over time for detecting a presence of the carrier <NUM> carrying the moist medium <NUM> in the internal space <NUM> of the housing <NUM>.

Here, humidity is continuously or repeatedly measured and presence of a moist (e.g. growth) medium <NUM> leads to an increase of the humidity detected by the humidity sensor <NUM> upon start of the gas flow G / measurement, while absence of a moist medium <NUM> leads to an unchanged humidity. Thus, if no medium <NUM> such as a nutrient plate is present, the humidity does not (significantly) change upon start of the gas flow G.

Thus, from the detection of a changed humidity (signal above an upper threshold) the presence of a moist medium <NUM> can be inferred and from the non-detection of a changed humidity (signal below a lower threshold) the absence of a moist medium <NUM> can be inferred.

Particularly, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the bioanalytical device <NUM> can be a microbial air sampler <NUM>, wherein the gas flow G preferably first passes the moist growth medium <NUM> for impaction of particles upstream of the position of the humidity sensor <NUM>.

Particularly, <FIG> indicates a preferred measuring principle showing the gas flow G versus time in the topmost graph. If a moist medium <NUM> is arranged in the device <NUM> at time t<NUM>, the humidity measured by the sensor <NUM> (here a relative humidity RH measured by a sensor <NUM> in the form of a relative humidity sensor <NUM>) increases with the onset of the gas flow G. This can be detected as a peak P in a derivative of the relative humidity dRH with respect to time as shown in the bottom graph of <FIG>.

Furthermore, the information about the presence/absence of the moist medium <NUM> can be used to control the process. For example:.

Particularly, evaluating the change of relative humidity over time (dRH/dt or dRH) rather than the absolute humidity, enables the detection mechanism to be independent of ambient conditions. This allows detection of presence of a moist (e.g. growth) medium even in start stop cycles where the humidity in the system is already high from the last run where the carrier <NUM> carrying the moist medium <NUM> (e.g. nutrient plate) was in the device <NUM> (a similar principle is sometimes referred to as stop-flow technique to accumulate analyte in diagnostic biosensors).

Furthermore, <FIG> shows a schematic flow channel <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present invention. According thereto, the device <NUM> can comprise a thermal mass flow sensor <NUM> and the relative humidity sensor <NUM> downstream of the flow sensor <NUM> can further comprise sensors to measure the temperature and absolute pressure of the sampled gas (e.g. air). As all these sensors are available in miniaturized format, the device <NUM> and method according to the present invention can be implemented not only in large devices, but is also suited for portable applications.

As indicated in <FIG> the thermal mass flow sensor <NUM> can be used in a bypass configuration to measure the pressure drop along the flow channel. The pressure drop can artificially be enlarged using flow constrictions such as an orifice or venturi-configuration. For measuring the relative humidity (and particularly also the temperature T and absolute pressure p) the corresponding sensor <NUM> is preferably positioned in the flow channel <NUM> before, after, or in parallel to the mass flow sensor <NUM>.

Furthermore, according to an embodiment indicated in <FIG>, particularly in case the device <NUM> is used as a portable microbial air sampler (as an example of a particle monitoring system) <NUM>, the device <NUM> is preferably configured to generate the gas flow G (typically air) by drawing the gas G through an inlet <NUM> of a lid <NUM> of the housing <NUM> at a top of the device <NUM>, wherein said inlet <NUM> can be formed by a perforation of the lid <NUM>. The gas flow G then passes the carrier <NUM> and moist medium <NUM> carried by the carrier <NUM> (e.g. a nutrient plate such as an agar plate). The gas flow G can be generated by a gas flow generating device <NUM> such as a fan <NUM> that draws the gas flow G through said inlet <NUM> into the flow channel <NUM>, wherein the gas flow generating device <NUM> can be arranged downstream the carrier <NUM> / medium <NUM> in said flow channel <NUM>. Particularly, the humidity sensor <NUM> (or said sensing path shown in <FIG>) can be arranged downstream the gas flow generating device <NUM>, where the sensor <NUM> measures the change in relative or absolute humidity to detect the presence of the moist medium <NUM> by means of the analyzing unit <NUM> that evaluates an output signal of the humidity sensor <NUM>, e.g. as described above. The gas flow generating device <NUM> may be controlled by a controlling unit <NUM>, that turns the gas flow generating device on or off or may control its rotor speed. Eventually, the gas flow G is discharged through an outlet <NUM> formed in the housing <NUM>.

Preferably, the openable lid <NUM> allows easy access to said internal space <NUM>, so that the carrier <NUM> carrying the moist medium <NUM> can be accommodated in said internal space <NUM> in an open state of the lid <NUM> at a defined position. The device <NUM> may comprise a support <NUM> on which the carrier can be placed, which support <NUM> may also secure the carrier <NUM> parallel to the lid <NUM> to prevent displacement of the carrier <NUM> inside the internal space <NUM>. Once the lid <NUM> is closed, the housing <NUM> encloses the carrier <NUM> and moist medium <NUM> thereon. Particularly, the gas generating device <NUM> can be arranged below said support <NUM> facing a lower side 31a of the support <NUM>, which lower side 31a faces away from the carrier <NUM> placed thereon. The gas flow G drawn in through inlet / perforation <NUM> is thus drawn along the medium <NUM> and then deflected around the carrier <NUM> and support <NUM> in the flow channel <NUM>, sucked through the gas flow generating device <NUM> (e.g. fan) and passed along the humidity sensor <NUM> (and particularly along the flow sensor <NUM> if present, cf.

As described before, when no moist medium <NUM> (e.g. of a nutrient plate) is present in the internal space on support <NUM>, the relative humidity sensor <NUM> measures no significant change in humidity prior to the start of the measurement versus directly after start and during the process as well as after the measurement/flow has stopped - the relative humidity is essentially constant over time. This behavior of the output signal of sensor <NUM> can be assessed by the analyzing device <NUM> which then detects that no moist medium <NUM> is present in the internal space <NUM> on support <NUM>.

When a carrier <NUM> having a moist medium <NUM> thereon (e.g. nutrient plate) is inserted, the start-up of the gas flow G transports gas (e.g. air) that has come in close contact to the humidified nutrient plate <NUM> since the insertion of the plate <NUM> into the internal space <NUM> of the device <NUM>. This volume of the gas flow G has a significantly higher relative humidity than the medium sensed before the gas flow G was started. During the time of a constant flow rate, a constant relative humidity (higher than in case without nutrient plate <NUM>) will be seen. When stopping the device, the relative humidity level will stay high (cf.

When restarting the gas flow G, the accumulated volume that was in close proximity to the nutrient plate <NUM> during the time the gas flow G was stopped will pass the relative humidity sensor <NUM>. This will trigger the detection of a peak P in the relative humidity even though the relative humidity level was already high due to the previous measurement. This "stop-flow" induced peak can therefore be used to detect the presence of a carrier <NUM> with moist medium <NUM> (e.g. a nutrient plate such as an agar plate <NUM>) in the device <NUM>.

Due to the features according to the present invention, the present invention allows an easy integration of the measuring principle of the present invention into various devices and processes, reduces costs, achieves a high precision and thus increases process reliability.

Claim 1:
A bioanalytical device (<NUM>), comprising:
- a housing (<NUM>) comprising an internal space (<NUM>) configured to accommodate a moist medium (<NUM>) at a location in the internal space (<NUM>),
- a humidity sensor (<NUM>) configured to measure a humidity in said internal space (<NUM>) and to provide an output signal indicative of said humidity, and
- an analyzing unit (<NUM>) operatively connected to the humidity sensor (<NUM>) so as to receive said output signal, wherein the analyzing unit (<NUM>) is configured to derive from said output signal a change of said humidity over time for detecting a presence of the moist medium (<NUM>) in the internal space (<NUM>) of the housing (<NUM>),
characterized in that the analyzing unit (<NUM>) is configured to detect the presence of the moist medium (<NUM>) in the internal space (<NUM>) when the determined change in relative humidity over time forms a local maximum (P).