RU149584U1 - PORTABLE LUMINOMETER - Google Patents

Abstract

A portable luminometer, including a signal amplification unit, a power supply, a control unit, a pulse counter, an indicator of the position of the instrument cover, a metal body of the cuvette compartment, a USB port for transmitting data to a personal computer, characterized in that a solid-state photomultiplier is used as a light detector, power supply the device is provided from the USB port, the light-insulating cover of the cuvette compartment is mounted on a long four-axis hinge, the device is paired with a stand with holes for the cuvette.

Description

The utility model relates to analytical systems, in particular, to the field of light-recording equipment and can be used as a registrar of weak light fluxes from biological, physical, chemical and other sources.

Known device Sure II [http://www.hygiena.net/docs/systemsureii.pdf], which contains a housing, a 7-line LCD display (black and white), a membrane keypad, a power source (AA battery), a cell compartment, memory module, photomultiplier tube (PMT).

Despite the low-voltage power supply and compact dimensions, Sure II has a non-standard cell compartment and does not have a measurement mode for the kinetics of luminescent reactions.

Also known from the prior art is the Berthold Junior device [https://www.berthold.com/en/bio/portable_tube_luminometer_Junior_LB9509], comprising a memory module, a cuvette compartment, a housing, an LCD display, a photo sensor, and a membrane keyboard.

The disadvantages of the device is the lack of a kinetics measurement mode in it, it has a high cost.

The closest technical solution, selected as a prototype, is a Promega GlowMax 20/20 device [http://www.promega.com.cn/techserv/tbs/TM001-310/tm276.pdf], comprising a housing, a touchscreen, a cell compartment , injector system, PMT, memory module.

The disadvantages are that the device does not have the ability to work autonomously, has large overall dimensions, which makes its use in the field impossible. Due to its size, storing a large number of devices (according to the number of students in the class) can occupy significant spaces.

All known devices do not allow the device to be powered only from a 5 V DC source (standard USB port power supply), are large and more difficult to use. Portable analogs do not allow measuring the time dependence of light radiation fluxes.

The technical result consists in the fact that with portable sizes and low power consumption, high efficiency of recording light fluxes is maintained.

The indicated technical result is achieved in that in a portable luminometer including a signal amplification unit, a power supply unit, a control unit, a pulse counter, an indicator of the position of the instrument cover, a metal body of the cuvette compartment, a USB port for transmitting data to a personal computer, the new is that a solid-state photomultiplier was used as a light detector, the device is powered from a USB port, the light-insulating cover of the cuvette compartment is mounted on a long four-axis hinge, the device is paired with dstavkoy with holes for cuvettes.

The utility model is illustrated by drawings, where in Fig.1 shows a block diagram of the operation of the device; figure 2 - circuit diagram of the device.

The block diagram of a portable luminometer consists of a solid-state photomultiplier 1 (Fig. 1), a preamplifier 2, an amplifier 3, a comparator 4, a pulse counter 5, a control unit 6, a cover position indicator 7.

A schematic diagram of a portable luminometer contains the cover of the device 8 (Fig. 2), the cover of the cell compartment 9, the body of the cell 10, the body of the cell compartment 11, the detector board with amplifier 12, the stand 13 with holes for the cell 14, a four-axis hinge 15, a power board 16, USB port 17 for transmitting data to a personal computer and powering the device, data collection and processing board 18, stand 19.

A portable luminometer works as follows.

The body of the device 10 (figure 2) is connected to the cover of the device 8 with a four-axis hinge 15. For better stability and ease of use, the device is placed on a stand 13, in which there are holes for the location of the cuvette 14. The device is connected to a computer using a USB port 17, from which voltage is applied to the power board 16. The sample is placed in a cuvette located in one of the holes 14 on the stand 13. Then the cuvette is placed in the body of the cuvette compartment 11 and is closed on top by the lid of the cuvette compartment 9, mounted in the cover of the device 8. Light the stream from the measured sample enters the solid-state avalanche photomultiplier 1 (SiPM) (Fig. 1), where an avalanche breakdown occurs from each photon that fell at the moment when the cell is ready for avalanche breakdown. The resulting potential difference is increased by the preamplifier 2, the amplifier 3, and gets to the comparator 4, which converts the signal from analog to digital according to the value of the reference voltage set by the control unit 6. After that, the digital signal goes to the pulse counter 5, located in the detector board with amplifier 12. The data from the pulse counter 5 is used by the control unit 6, located on the data collection and processing board 18, to count the number of photons that have fallen in a given period of time. After that, the data is transmitted via USB-port 17 (figure 2) to a connected personal computer, where they are processed and visualized on special software.

The system of the control unit 6 provides for the start of measurement immediately after closing the lid of the device 8, and also timely stops the measurement after opening the lid, protecting data from distortion, which is ensured by the operation of the indicator of the position of the lid 7 (Fig. 1).

To achieve better light insulation and noise immunity, the metal body of the cuvette compartment 11 was used (FIG. 2). To reduce the size and power consumption of the device as a recording source used solid-state avalanche photomultiplier 1 (figure 1). To ensure the smallest angle when docking the lid of the cell compartment 9 (Fig. 2) with the body of the cell compartment 11, a four-axis hinge system is used. The pairing of the device body with the stand 19 is provided by a cutout in the stand 19 according to the shape of the profile of the device. The light insulation between the lid of the cuvette compartment 9 and the body of the cuvette compartment 11 is ensured by applying a rectangular section on one part of the light-insulating border, and on the other part of the corresponding antagonistic recess. The indicator of the position of the lid 7 (Fig. 1) is provided with a contact circuit that closes when the lid of the cell compartment 9 (Fig. 2) touches the body of the cell compartment 11. At the junction of the amplifier board 12 with the solid-state photomultiplier 1 (SiPM) and the cell of the cell compartments 11 applied soft opaque polymer material, which provides hopeless pairing of parts 12 and 11, to protect against stray light signal. The power supply of the solid-state avalanche photomultiplier 1 (Fig. 1) is performed using a power board 16, which provides a voltage increase from 5 V to the required operating range of 20-100 V. The avalanche breakdown amplification stage of the solid-state photomultiplier 1 (SiPM) is composed of preamplifier 2 and amplifier 3 The reference voltage to the comparator 4 is supplied from the control unit 6 using pulse-width modulation filtered by a high-capacity capacitor. The digital signal of the comparator 4 is transmitted to the pulse counter 5, the data of which is used by the control unit 6 to determine the number of breakdowns that occurred in a given period of time. The control unit 6 transmits data on the number of pulses to the computer via the USB port 17 (Fig.2) via the RS-485 interface, where further data processing and visualization takes place.

Thus, a different light detector is used in the portable luminometer, in particular, a solid-state avalanche photomultiplier (SiPM), which provides compactness, low-voltage power, and tolerance to bright light flux (the light detector does not lose sensitivity after exposure to bright light flux).

The electronic components of the amplifier and the control unit are designed using a modern element base, which ensures the compactness of the device.

The luminometer body is paired with a stand for cuvettes, which ensures stability of the device on horizontal surfaces, the ability to work with one hand, the uniformity of mechanical operations during measurement, and also reduces the area of the working space.

For measurements, standard biological cuvettes can be used.

The device itself does not have a display and memory modules, and the control takes place via the RS-485 interface, there are also no batteries, direct current sources and power supply systems from the household power supply, since the power comes from the USB port. This design has a lower cost and provides a duration that is limited by the battery capacity of the paired device (laptop or tablet).

Thus, in a utility model with portable dimensions and low power consumption, high efficiency of recording light fluxes is maintained.

Claims (1)

A portable luminometer, including a signal amplification unit, a power supply, a control unit, a pulse counter, an indicator of the position of the instrument cover, a metal body of the cuvette compartment, a USB port for transmitting data to a personal computer, characterized in that a solid-state photomultiplier is used as a light detector, power supply the device is provided from the USB port, the light-insulating cover of the cuvette compartment is mounted on a long four-axis hinge, the device is paired with a stand with holes for the cuvette.

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