Research International, Inc.

Cbrn International, Ltd.

Metricor, Inc.

Other

Technology Dynamics, Inc.

Light Sciences Oncology Inc.

Elric W Saaski

Dale M Lawrence

Duane M Fox

David A McCrae

Dor Yacobi

James C Hartl

Charles C Jung

Chuck C Jung

Robert Fay Livingston

Boone B Owens

Gordon L Mitchell

Stefano Passerini

James C Chen

Michael Bizak

Roger A Wolthuis

A particle concentrator, having a top and a bottom and including a hollow outer hub, having a top and bottom and bottom wall, and a side wall defining a plurality of sampled airflow inlet slots. An inner hub is placed in the outer hub and has a hollow interior, and which for each one of the sampled airflow inlet slots, supports a blade defining a secondary airflow slot aligned to a sampled airflow inlet slot, is sealed at its top, and is in fluid communication with the hollow interior of the inner hub, and wherein each adjacent two blades define a space between blades. A fan assembly is for blowing air out of the top of the outer hub, from the spaces between blades, causing air inflow through the sampled airflow inlet slots, some air then flowing into the secondary airflow slots, where it flows into the inner hub.

Particle concentrator

Systems, devices and methods, etc., that overcome one or more problems associated with high-speed monitoring of large numbers/volumes of postal articles of postal articles for dangerous materials and contaminants. Such monitoring can be more economic, practical, efficient and/or effective. The monitoring systems, methods, etc., herein provide positive pressure clean air passing through an interrogation zone in interrogation zone housing, through which suspect postal articles are pass to provide sampled air, which in turn is analyzed optically to detect dangerous materials such as illicit biologicals or chemicals and to identify the source envelope (or other postal article) to within a few envelopes.

Devices, systems and methods relating to high speed postal monitoring

An environmental sampling and assay system, having a coupon storage assembly, storing coupons; an environment sampling assembly, the sampling assembly mixing an environmental sample with a liquid to create a sample-liquid, bearing the environmental sample; a coupon moving assembly; a coupon wetting assembly for automatically wetting a coupon with the sample-liquid; a coupon perceiving device; a data input, adapted to receive a signal; and a data processing and control assembly, controlling the environmental sampling system, the coupon moving assembly, the wetting assembly and the coupon perceiving device. Further, the coupon moving assembly can retrieve a coupon from the coupon storage assembly and move it in a linear manner to the coupon wetting assembly.

Environmental sampling and assay device

A particle detector, having a housing defining a chamber; an air stream injector, producing an airstream in said chamber from air taken from outside said chamber; a light source, producing a light beam that crosses the air stream and wherein said light beam is shaped so that a transverse extent of said light beam has a uniform intensity over said transverse extent of said air stream. Also, a photon detection assembly, including an optical train of lenses, is positioned to accept light from said light beam, emitted by the particles, and to focus this light onto a photon detector. A particle detection assembly detects the particles, responsive to the photon detection assembly. Finally, a particle size estimation assembly estimates size for each detected particle, based on number of photons detected by said photon detection assembly from said particle, as it crosses said light beam.

Particle detector

A method of reading a coupon channel that displays a test section pattern after being exposed to a target substance, the method uses a device having a computer readable memory, digital camera, logic assembly and user interface; providing a pixel target intensity profile; placing the coupon in the device and exposing the coupon channel to a test fluid mixture; automatically using the digital camera to take a digital image of the coupon channel test section after the exposure. The improvement in the method includes finding the contiguous set of pixels from the test section of the coupon channel that best matches the intensity profile of the target pattern representation and determining if this best match set of pixels exceeds a similarity threshold and in response to a best match set of pixels passing the similarity threshold, automatically providing a human perceptible indication that the target substance has been detected.

Coupon reader

A particle detector that includes a housing defining a chamber, and an air stream injector, producing an airstream with entrained particles, in the chamber. A light source produces a light beam that intersects with and is wider than the air stream. A light detection assembly detects light generated by scattering of the light beam, by particles in the air stream. A digitizer produces a sequence of scattering digital values, each representing light detected per a first unit of time duration. Additionally, a summing assembly produces a sequence of summed scattering digital values, each equaling a sum of a sequential set of n of the digital values, and wherein successive summed digital values are offset by a the first unit of time duration and overlap by n&#x2212;1 of the first units of time duration with a nearest neighbor. Finally, a detection assembly processes the summed scattering digital values to detect particles.

Bioaerosol particle detector

An environmental sampling and assay system, utilizing coupons, and having an assay coupon wetting and monitoring assembly adapted to perform an assay on a coupon. The system also includes a coupon storage assembly and a coupon moving assembly, adapted to move a coupon from the coupon storage assembly to the coupon wetting and monitoring assembly. Further, the coupon storage assembly includes a first coupon magazine storing a set of first-shaped coupons and a second coupon magazine storing a set of second-shaped coupons, different in shape from the first-shaped coupons, and wherein the coupon moving assembly includes a first moveable coupon carrier, positioned to receive coupons from the first magazine, that is shaped to hold first-shaped coupons and a second moveable coupon carrier, positioned to receive coupons from the second magazine and that is shaped to hold second-shaped coupons.

A concentrator, wherein the concentrator comprises an air processor that includes a sampled airflow inlet slot that receives a sampled airflow that contains particles containing target material. A secondary airflow inlet slot that is located downstream from the sampled airflow inlet slot. The sampled airflow inlet slot uses centrifugal force to concentrate particles containing target material into a central portion of the sampled airflow, and produces a non-collimated sampled airflow. The secondary airflow inlet slot is operable to divide a secondary airflow from at least a part of the central portion of the sampled airflow that is received by the secondary airflow inlet slot from the sampled airflow inlet slot, and is operable to divide side primary airflows from the non-collimated sampled airflow produced by the sampled airflow inlet slot. Finally, the secondary airflow flows through the secondary airflow inlet slot.

Concentrator

A method of detecting bioaerosols, including detecting particles and estimating a particle size for each detected particle and determining a fluorescence strength for each detected particle. Comparing particle size and fluorescence strength for each detected particle to arrive at a normalized fluorescence strength per particle and comparing normalized fluorescence strengths over a time period to a maximum threshold, to detect highly fluorescent manmade substances.

Bioaerosol detector having safeguards

When reading a coupon that displays a pattern when a target substance is detected, recognition of the target pattern can be hindered by nonuniform illumination of the coupon. In one aspect, methods and devices are disclosed for uniform illumination of a coupon using a negative axicon lens and a light diffusing assembly. In another separate aspect, methods are disclosed for mathematically compensating for nonuniform illumination of a coupon.

A concentrator that is operable to concentrate particles of target material from a high flow rate sampled airflow into a low flow rate secondary airflow. The concentrator may have an array of radially arranged blades. Each blade may have a sampled airflow inlet that uses centrifugal force to concentrate the particles into a central portion of the sampled airflow passing through it. Downstream, the blade may also have primary airflow outlets and knife-edged secondary airflow inlets that divide the sampled airflow into a pair of lateral, high flow rate primary airflows from which the particles have been depleted, and a central, low flow rate secondary airflow which carries the concentrated particles.

Growing community of inventors

Bothell, WA, United States of America

Elric W Saaski