US Government As Represented by the Secretary of the Army

United States of America, As Represented by the Secretary of Agriculture

Patrick J Marek

Moon S Kim

Kuanglin Chao

Alan M Lefcourt

Yud-Ren Chen

Andre G Senecal

Joshua P Magnone

A hand-held implement for removing microbiological matter from a surface to which the matter is adhered, and storing the matter for subsequent examination, includes a sonic wave generator for producing sonic waves for breaking up a film of the microbiological matter on the surface, a swab for contact with the surface and collecting the microbiological matter, a suction producing device for drawing the microbiological matter from the swab and into the implement, and a trap in the implement for receiving and retaining the drawn biological matter for subsequent examination thereof.

Handheld implement for removing microbiological matter from a surface

The hand-held inspection tool enhances the ability of an on-site inspector to detect and communicate the presence of contamination on an object or in an area. An on-site inspector directs an excitation light in the sensing head of the tool into an area of interest. If the targeted contamination is present, the excitation light causes the contamination to emit fluorescence. The emitted fluorescent light passes through a narrow spectral band-pass video camera filter and is detected by a video camera mounted in the tool sensing head. The video camera transmits the image to a display visible to the on-site inspector. The invention also includes a means of recording, documenting, and wirelessly communicating the inspection process so that remotely located personnel can view the inspection, and respond to the inspection findings in real time.

Hand-held inspection tool and method

Growing community of inventors

Shrewsbury, MA, United States of America

Patrick J Marek