Patent ID: 8635028

Claim:
A system for detecting viable bacteria in a sample of a suspension, the system comprising: a processor; a user interface device in communication with at least one electrode of a plurality of electrodes, wherein the plurality of electrodes are positioned at opposite ends of a fluidic channel, the user interface device to: generate an initial analysis request for a particular sample in response to input received from a user; generate another analysis request for that same particular sample after a pre-determined time interval; and a bacteria detection application comprising modules executable by the processor to detect viable bacteria, the bacteria detection application comprising: a data collection module to: activate a signal generator to generate a series of analysis signals in a range from 1 KHz to 100 MHz to apply to a portion of the particular sample in response to the initial analysis request, each of the series of analysis signals being generated at a different frequency; activate a signal analyzer to generate an initial impedance data set for the particular sample by determining an impedance of the particular sample during application of each of the series of analysis signals; activate the signal generator to generate another series of analysis signals in the range from 1 KHz to 100 MHz to apply to another portion of the same particular sample, each of the other series of analysis signals being generated at the different frequency; and activate the signal analyzer to generate a new impedance data set for the same particular sample by determining the impedance of the same particular sample during application of each of the other series of analysis signals; a parameter calculation module to: determine at least one initial parametric value of a model circuit based on the initial impedance data set at a first time, the at least one initial parametric value comprising an initial impedance parameter value and an initial confidence interval value, wherein the initial parametric value relates to a capacitive charge in an interior bulk of the sample; and determine at least one new parametric value of the model circuit based on the new impedance data set at a second time, the at least one initial parametric value comprising an new impedance parameter value and a new confidence interval value wherein the new parametric value relates to another capacitive charge in the interior bulk of the sample; an analysis module to: determine if the initial confidence interval value and the new confidence interval value overlap; and generate a positive result to indicate that viable bacteria is present when the initial confidence interval value and the new confidence interval value do not overlap; and an output module to generate the positive result for display.