METHOD FOR OPTICAL DETECTION OF BIO-CONTAMINANTS

摘要

A method for optical detection of residual soil on articles (such as medical instruments and equipment), after completion of a washing or a rinsing operation by a washer. A soil detection system provides an indication of soil on the articles by detecting luminescent radiation emanating from the soil in the presence of ambient light.

主权项

1. A method for detecting presence of soil on an article, said method comprising:
introducing a luminescent agent to a detergent during a wash cycle of a washing apparatus, wherein the luminescent agent is a fluorescent agent that emits fluorescent light at a fluorescence wavelength, said luminescent agent bound to soil present on the article; rinsing the article to remove unbound luminescent agent; exposing the article to laser light blinking at a modulation frequency; filtering the light emanating from said article at predetermined frequencies to pass light at the fluorescence wavelength, said light emanating from said article including ambient light reflected by the article and light emitted by exciting the luminescent agent bound to the soil with the laser light; detecting the filtered light emanating from said article by a light detector and generating light data; and determining the presence of soil on the article based upon the filtered light received by the light detector, wherein said step of determining the presence of soil includes discriminating between soil fluorescence and ambient light reflections based upon the modulation frequency of features detected at the fluorescence wavelength.