Fixed optic sensor system and distributed sensor network

US6191847A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED · US

Inventors

• Jose Melendez · Plano, US
• Richard A. Carr · Rowlett, US
• Patrick Paul Smith · Rowlett, US
• Dwight U. Bartholomew · Dallas, US
• John H. Berlien, Jr. · Plano, US
• Frederick F. Geyer · Rochester, US
• Paul S. Breedlove · Lubbock, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 8, 1999
• Grant date: Feb 20, 2001
• Expiry date: Feb 8, 2019

Classification

• Technology area (CPC A): Human Necessities
• CPC primary: A61B5/0022
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A fixed optic sensor system (200) comprising a sensor system (210), and electronic sub-system (205) and a communications means (215). The system can be used for detecting the presence of various sample (236) properties and in that regard has widespread application by leveraging off various miniaturized sensor configurations including surface plasmon resonance (50), fluorescence (80), light transmission (125) and others (150). In one embodiment, the communications means (215) is a wireless transmitter/receiver. In another embodiment, a hand held instrument (358) can be used on-site and communicates with the sensor (350) to receive sample (352) related data and transmit it to a remote processing system (370) for further analysis. In yet another embodiment, a hand held instrument (403) has a plurality of cardiac marker binding ligands (400) deposited on the sensor/sample interface providing a medical diagnosis and point-of-care device (403).