US2163467A - Method and apparatus for determining the color of a liquid - Google Patents

Description

June 20, 1939. M. PHILIPSEN METHOD AND APPARATUS. FOR DETERMINING THE COLOR OF A LIQUID Filed March 3, 1937 FIG. 4.

MICHAEL PHILIPSEN INVENTOR ATTORN QZ Patented June 20, 1939 l I I UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMIN- ING THE COLOR OF A LIQUID Michael Philipsen, "edbaek, near Copenhagen,

Denmark Application March 3, 1937, Serial No. 128,713

In Denmark January 28, 1935 13 Claims. (01. 88-14) This invention relates to a method and aptherefore, necessary to usea standard color which paratus for testing the concentration of a liquid both in intensity and color exactly corresponds to by comparing the color of that liquid to color the blood. It has been tried unsuccessfully in the standards of known value, and more particularly past to compare an unreduced and unhemolysed 5 to the measuring of the hemoglobin content of, specimen in a very thin layer to a standard ruby 5 blood. The primary object of the invention is to glass wedge, the thickness of the wedge at the. provide such a method and apparatus whereby point of color coincidence indicating the hemothese measurements can be made to a high deglobin concentration. A ruby wedge of glass is gree of preciseness without the necessity of dilutnot dichromatic, that is, the wedge varies only .10 ing in any noticeable degree the liquid tobetested, in intensity but does not show the nuances of In all of the colorimetric methods which have color from the thinnest to the thickest portion. been adopted heretofore, it is necessary to dilute It has been found, however, that blood can be the liquid to be tested materially in order to obcompared W Such a y glass When using a tain a color which indicates the concentration candle, the li of which is p lacking in within the necessary limits. In fact it is quite violet, blue and gree y thus rendering vthe 15 usual in the testing of the hemoglobin content blood undichromatic. However, with this method of blood t dil t th bl d more th 100 t the contrast of the blood of various concentra- These processes wherein it is necessary dilute tiOIlS has been diminished SO much that a careth bl d h many disadvantagessince it is ful determination of the bloods hemoglobin con- 2 impossible even in the laboratory to dilute the t within t required narrow limits a be blood so precisely as to meet the high standards materially pp demanded by the physicians t, s usually neces- The invention herein described discloses a new sary to conduct the tests on several,solutions and manner of testing undiluted blood p s in a to take an average reading in order to eliminate light Which produces n e e nc eases the 26 the influence of inaccurate dilution. Former atcontrast by the dichlomfl-tic efiect- Thus it has tempts to test such liquids without dilution have been found that one can use a capillary a er f il d, containing the blood in connection with a scale In accordance with the present invention, to Supplied vwith cflmbinations of intensity and reduce the specimen to pure hemoglobin so as (10101 necessary for Comparing b d of Variou 30 t i i t t influ n of flu tu ti in concentrations. In the preferred form described 30 oxygen content of the blood, a reducing chemical herein, the capillary Chamber is pe in such as sodium hydrosulfite h b found order that one, or at the most, a very few standard cessful, and this substance is so effective that it @0101 glasses Win be necessary and which glasses can be used in such small amounts that its volume can easily be made to correspond to a blood will not influence the concentration to any notice- Sample of a definite concentration and layer 35 able degree. In order to render the blood transthickness- The Capillary am u forms a parent so that it may be compared with the color natural blood-wedge and this combination can standards, a hemolysing chemical, for example, readily be used in a light containing dichromatic saponin, has been used which, like the sodium rays by filtering this light by means of complell fl has no pp e a e d uti f c mentary coloring and the contrast can be in- 40 on the sample, It has been found particularly creased to amateria1extent efiectlve compound both of Fhese chemlcals One form of the invention particularly adapted m for mstance 30% sa'pomn and of to serve as a hemoglobinometer is shown in the sodium hydrosulfite so that the hemolysation and a complete reduction of the, bloods oxyhemogg igz igi fgxfi g gfi d globin to red hemoglobin can be produced eff g d h b ecapl My we ficiently and in the shortest possible time. In *"P c this connection, in addition to using these ma- Flgure 2 a plan. Vlew of the Capmary cham' terials for reducing oxyhemoglobin to red hemoi I globin, it is possible to further alter the structure e 3 a of an mstrument 50 of the blood such as in fully oxidizing it to oxybodymg the mventwn;

hemoglobin d ,1 t m ke h ti of it v Figure 4 is a sectional elevation taken on the The reduced and hemolysed blood has an inline 4-4 of Figure 3'; tensity and a color depending upon the thickness Fi ur 5 is an elevation p y in Section S ow- 65 of the liquid layer and the concentration. It is, ing a suction glass for" removing a sample of blood from the wound and for holding the sample during its reduction and hemolysation, and

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view showing an adaptation of the capillary chamber to a photoelectric system whereby the concentration may be indicated automatically on a suitable meter.

Figure 7 is a sectional elevation of a modification showing the use of an artificial light contained within the instrument.

The capillary chamber comprises a transparent glass base plate l0 upon which is permanently mounted a transparent ledge or supporting member I 2. Removably mounted upon the base plate and disposed adjacent the ledge I2 is a transparent glass member I4 in which the lower side is cut out as shown in Figure 1 so as to form a wedge-shaped chamber l6 when the member I4 is placed upon the fiat plate 10.

Preferably the lower surfaces of the end portions I8 and of the member 44 and the upper surface of the base plate l0 are ground smooth as by rubbing these surfaces together with a suitable abrasive or polishing material therebetween so as to provide even contact between the end portions I8, 20 and the base plate l0, and the ledge I2 is provided with a projection 22 adapted to cooperate with a similarly shaped indentation in the member l4 so as to prevent longitudinal movement of the member l4 with respect to the ledge l2. The member I4 is also provided with the openings 24 and 26 at opposite ends of the chamber l6 which openings prevent the blood from wetting the portions l8 and 20. As shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing, the transparent member I4 is shorter than the base plate l0 and longer than the ledge member l2 so that the supporting ends l8 and 28 of the member I 4 may rest on portions of the base plate which are distant from the ends of the ledge member and which portions may readily be kept free from dirt which may collect around the ends of the ledge member.

The combination of the base plate l0, ledge l2 and member I 4 is adapted to be placed upon a sloping support 28 of a housing 29, as is shown more clearly in Figure 4. The support 28 is opaque except for a cut-out portion or window 30 through which the observations are made. The base plate I0 is slidable in a longitudinal direction on the support 28 with the m'embers I2 and [4 directly over the window 30 and a pair of index lines 32 and 34 etched on the base plate will thus cooperate respectively with scales 36 and 38 suitably inscribed or attached to the fixed support 28.

Within the housing and below the support 28 is another support 40 upon which is mounted a glass color filter plate 42 and another color filter plate 44 is supported vertically between the bottom of the housing 29 and the upper edge of the support 28. A mirror 46 is mounted on the bottom of the housing 29 below the filter, plate 42 and in a position such that light rays such as 48 from some outside source will enter through an opening 50 in the rear portion of the instrument, and will pass through the filter 44 to be reflected from the mirror 46 and pass upwardly to the observer through the filter 42, window 30, base plate l6 and the combination of ledge l2 and chambered member l4. In this manner the light rays pass through a set of color filters and may thus be brought into a substantially complementary color to that of the blood specimen.

A standard color glass 52 is shown as mounted on the upper surface of the filter plate 42 in a position such that part of the rays 48 will pass through this standard glass and the ledge l2 to the observer while another part of the rays will reach the observer through the blood in a section of the chamber l6 without having passed through this standard glass. Thus, the observer will see in one part of the window 30 beneath the ledge l2 the standard color of the member 52, and in the other part of the window he will see I in looking through the member l4 the rays which pass directly through the blood in the chamber l6 without having passed through the standard glass 52.- Thus, the last mentioned part of the window will show a. color which is brighter or darker than that of the standard glass, depending upon the longitudinal position of the chamber l6 on the supporting plate 28, that is, the color will be brighter or darker depending on the height or thickness of that portion of the chamber l6 above the window 30, or, in other words, upon the blood layers thickness and upon the concentration of the hemoglobin. The observer need only to slide the base plate I0 and thus the chamber l6 into a position where both parts of the window show the same color. He then may read directly the hemoglobin concentration by the position of the index 32 upon the scale 36, or of the index 34 upon the scale 38.

In order to keep at a minimum the amount of blood necessary for a suitable specimen, the instrument is preferably furnished with two standard colors having different values, and it is for this reason that the two scales 36 and 38 are furnished, as well as the two corresponding indexes 32 and 34 showing the hemoglobin concentration. A shutter member 54 permits of a selection of one or the other of the the two standard colors 52 or 56, this shutter member being in the form of a disc pivoted at 58 to the support 28. Attached to one edge of the disc is a tongue-like extension 60, and it will thus be seen that by rotating the shutter disc through a few degrees the tongue 60 will cover and thus render invisible either one or the other of the standard color plates 62 and 56. The edge of the shutter disc is provided with a double ended arrow 62, one end of which will always be hidden beneath the support 28 while the other end will point toward either the scale 36 or the scale 38, depending on which of the color glasses 52 or 56 is visible.

Instead of using color standards of solid glass, these may comprise transparent glass receptacles filled with a liquid such as hemolysed and reduced hemoglobin.

when assembling the apparatus thus far described, a sample of blood of known hemoglobin content is placed in the wedge-spaced chamber I6 between the member l4 and the plate in, and the member I4 is then moved or adjusted longitudinally on the plate l0 until color coincidence is obtained between the color of the blood seen through member I4 and the standard color seen through the lower portion of window 30. The plate In is previously adjusted on the support 23 so that the index line 32 or the line 34 coincides with the proper reading on the scale 36 or the scale 38, respectively, depending on which of the two standard colors 62 or 56 is being used. When the proper adjustment of the member l4 with respect to the plate III has been found, the member I2 is permanently secured to the plate III as by means of a suitable cement. The projection 22 will then hold the member l4 in the proper position.

Since, in accordance with this invention, the

blood sample is not diluted, the usual measuring pipette is dispensable and this is replaced by the small capillary glass receptacle 64, illustrated in Figure 5. The glass 84 has a narrow portion 66 and at the end of this portion is provided with a small hole 68. The upper end of the glass carries a rubber rim Ill and by placing the finger on this rim some of the air within the glass may be forced outwardly through the opening 68, or additional air may be sucked in. In use the glass 64 is held horizontally with the point of the glass containing the opening 68 placed at the wound. The narrow portion 66 then automatically fills with blood, the blood passing through the opening 68 by capillary attraction.- As soon as the portion 66 is filled the flow will stop and the necessary quantity .is thus automatically obtained. The primary purpose of the glass 64 is, however, to permit mixing of the compound of sodium hydrosulfite and saponin with the blood without the necessity of bringing the specimen in any closer contact with the air, through which evaporation would change the concentration and reoxidation would counteract the reduction.

One end of a pin 12, normally maintained in I suitable supports 14 at the rear of the instrument, is dipped into a small receptacle 16 also supported by the instrument, and a few grains of the compound will adhere to the pin and may thus be stirred into the blood in the glass 64 where the action of hemolysation can be readily observed. The prepared specimen can then be pressed out of the glass along the chambered member l4 and the chamber 96 will fill automatically due to capillary force. When not in use the glass 64 is preferably supported in the instrument case, as is shown in Figure 3.

Instead of using as a source, daylight or some artificial light outside of the instrument, it may be desirable to install an electric incandescent lamp II, in the instrument housing 29 as illustrated in Figure 7, thus eliminating errors which might occur due to poor outlining of the optical axis or due to variations in the different lights spectra.

The adaptation of the capillary wedge-formed space l6 to calorimetry presents another hitherto unavailable advantage. Although there already exist wedge-formed containers forcomparing diluted solutions to standard colors, these containers are difficult to manufacture and it is particularly difficult to accurately measure the layer thickness as a function of the position with respect to a standard. On the other hand, the chambered member I4 disclosed herein can readily be checked on a gauge, and furthermore because of the rather small size of the chamber I IS the standard glasses 52 and 56' can be kept in small'dimensions. Thus, the standards can be made more precisely and at less expense since a larger number of standard glasses maybe cut from a piece of glass which has beenproved satis- "imity to a fixed standard color glass, passing light ra'ys'through said standard and through said confactory. I i

In Figure 6 is shown diagrammatically a form of apparatus by means of which a photoelectric cell can be used in the determination of the concentration of a liquid. A base plate 80 similar to the plate 10 of Figures 1 and 2 servesas a support for transparent member 82 containing a wedge-formed chamber 84 for the liquid to be examined. The plate 80 is adapted to rest upon a suitable support, not shown, the support containing a scale 86 adapted to cooperate with an index 88 on the base plate in a manner similar to that of scales 36 and 38 and indexes 32 and 34.

A photo-electric cell 90 is arranged below the device so as to be in the path of light rays passing from a suitable electric or other lamp 92 and through a lens 94 and the chamber 84. The photoelectric cell 90 is connected to a suitable meter 96, the scale of which contains two marks designated a and I), each of which corresponds to a particular measuring range as is indicated at a and b on the scale 86. It is merely necessary to shift the base plate 80 longitudinally under the lightray to a position where the pointer of the meter rests exactly at one of the two marks. One may then read by the position of the chamber the hemoglobin content of that scale a or b corresponding tothe mark on the meter indicated by the pointer.

It is to be understood that in assembling the apparatus shown in Figure 6 the correct positlon of the member 82 on the plate 80 will be found in the same manner as has been previously described with reference to the embodiment illustrated in Figure 3.

Obviously many modifications and variations I of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and therefore only such limitations should be imposed as are indicated by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A methodof measuring the hemoglobin content of an undiluted blood sample comprising the steps of hemolysing the undiluted blood sample by adding thereto a small amount of saponin, placing said hemolysed blood sample in a transparent container having an elongated chamber of uniformly varying capillary thickness, placing said container in close proximity to a fixed standard color glass, passing light rays through said standard and through said container, moving said, container relatively to said color glass and in a longitudinal direction with respect to said chamber until a color match is obtained between the color of the standard and the color of the sample in said chamber by transmitted light, and determining the hemoglobin content of the blood sample at the matching point by measuring the thickness of the chamber at said matching point.

2-. In the method of measuring the hemoglobin content of blood in accordance with claim 1 the additional step of treating the undiluted blood sample to eliminate fluctuations in the oxygen content and the influence of said fluctuations on the color of the blood by mixing with said blood a small amount of sodium hydrosulfite.

3. A method of measuring the hemoglobin content of an undiluted blood sample comprising the steps of simultaneously hemolysing and reducing the sample by adding thereto asmall amount of a mixture of saponin and sodium hydrosulfite. placing said hemolysed and reduced blood sample in a transparent container having an elongated chamber of uniformly varying capillary thickness, placing-said container in close proxtainer', moving said"container relatively to said 'color glass and in-a longitudinal direction with parent base plate having a smooth and even upper surface, a transparent member adapted to be set on the upper surface of said base plate and having a cut-out portion in its lower side, said cut-out portion forming with the upper surface of said base plate a wedge-shaped chamber of capillary height and a transparent ledge member permanently secured to the upper surface of thebase plate and serving as a support for one side of said transparent member.

5. A device for use in the measurement of the color 01' an undiluted liquid comprising a transparent base plate having a smooth and even upper surface, a transparent member adapted to be set on the upper surface of said base plate and having a cut-out wedge-shaped portion in its lower side, said cut-out portion forming with the upper surface of said base plate a wedge-shaped chamber of capillary height and a transparent ledge member permanently secured to the upper surface of said base plate and serving as a supporting stop for. said first mentioned transparent member, said first mentioned transparent member and said transparent ledge member being provided with means comprising a projection on one member and an indentation on the other member for preventing relative longitudinal movement between said transparent members.

6. A device for use in the measurement of the color of an undiluted liquid comprising a transparent base plate having a smooth and even upper surface, a transparent member adapted to be set on the uppersurface of said base plate and having a cut-out portion in its lower side, said cut-out portion forming with the upper surface of said base plate a wedge-shaped chamber of capillary height, a housing having an upper supporting wall, said wall being provided with a sight opening, said base plate being adapted to be moved longitudinally on said wall with said transparent member and said chamber over said sight opening, means for directing light'rays through said sight opening and chambered transparent member, means comprising a scale on said wall and a cooperating index on said base plate for indicating the longitudinal position of said base plate on said wall, a support in said housing, a glass color filter plate and a standard color glass mounted on said support in super-imposed relation beneath said sight opening so that said glass can be seen through said sight opening at the same time that the filtered light rays are seen through said chambered transparent member.

7. A device for the measurement of the concentration of an undiluted liquid comprising a housing having a scale plate provided with a sight opening, a transparent member provided with a wedge-shaped chamber adapted to hold the liquid to be tested, said member being adapted to be moved along said scale plate with said chamber over a portion of said sight opening, a support in said housing, a pair of standard color glasses of different color mounted on said support below said sight opening, means for directing light rays upwardly through said sight opening, part of said rays passing through said standard color glasses and part through the chamber con- 'taining the liquid being tested, a movable shutt-er for covering either one ofsaid standard color glasses, a pair of scales on said scale plate each 01' which scales shows a measurement range corresponding to one of said standard color glasses, a pair 01' indexes on said transparent member each of which cooperates with one of said scales, and means on said shutter for indicating which of said scales should be read to show the concentration of said liquid.

8. A device as described in claim 7 in which the indicating means on the shutter comprises a double-ended arrow one end of which is out of view when the other end is pointing to the scale to be read.

9. A device as described in claim 7 provided with color filter glasses and means in said housing for holding said glasses in the path of the light rays.

10. A device as described in claim 7 in which the means for directing the light rays upwardly through the sight opening comprise an opening in the upper portion of the housing and a mirror arranged so as to reflect upwardly through said standard color glasses and said sight opening light rays entering said housing from an outside source through said opening in its upper portion.

11. A method of measuring the hemoglobin content of an undiluted blood specimen comprising hemolysing the specimen so as to render it substantially transparent, reducing the specimen to eliminate fluctuation in the oxygen content thereof, placing the specimen in a transparent container having an elongated wedge-shaped chamber of uniformly varying capillary thickness, placing said container in close proximity to a fixed standard color glass, passing light rays through said standard glass and through said container, moving said container relatively to said color glass in a longitudinal direction with respect to said chamber until a color match is obtained between the color of the standard and the color of the sample in said chamber by transmitted light, and determining the hemoglobin content of the blood sample at the matching point by measuring the thickness of the chamber at said matching point.

12. A method of measuring the hemoglobin con tent of an undiluted blood sample comprising the steps of hemolysing the undiluted blood sample, placing said sample in a transparent container having an elongated chamber of uniformly varying capillary thickness, placing said container in close proximity to a fixed standard color glass, passing light rays through said standard glass and through said container, moving said container relatively to said color glass and in a longitudinal direction with respect to said chamber until a color match is obtained between the color of the standard and the color of the sample in said chamber by transmitted light, and determining the hemoglobin content of the blood sample at the matching point by measuring the thickness of the chamber at said matching point.

13. A device as described in claim 4 in which the transparent member isshorter than the base plate and longer than said ledge member so that said transparent member may rest on portions of said base plate which are distant from the ends 01' the ledge member so as to be substantially free from dirt which may collect around the ends of said ledge member.

MICHAEL PHILIPSEN.

Images