US 12,092,568 B2
Optical measuring unit and optical measuring method for obtaining measurement signals of fluid media
Herfried Huemer, Feldbach (AT); Arnold Bartel, Graz (AT); Stefan Gulo, Riederhof (AT); Patrick Kraus-Füreder, Graz (AT); Robert Scholz-Mareich, Graz (AT); and Wolfgang Sprengers, Vasoldsberg (AT)
Assigned to Meon Medical Solutions Gmbh & Co KG, Graz (AT)
Appl. No. 17/049,833
Filed by Meon Medical Solutions Gmbh & Co KG, Graz (AT)
PCT Filed Apr. 12, 2019, PCT No. PCT/AT2019/060123
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Oct. 22, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/204840, PCT Pub. Date Oct. 31, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. A 50340/2018 (AT), filed on Apr. 23, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0239604 A1, Aug. 5, 2021
Int. Cl. G01N 21/31 (2006.01); B01L 3/00 (2006.01); G01N 21/03 (2006.01)
CPC G01N 21/31 (2013.01) [B01L 3/5085 (2013.01); G01N 21/0303 (2013.01); B01L 2300/0654 (2013.01); B01L 2300/0829 (2013.01); B01L 2300/0832 (2013.01); B01L 2300/168 (2013.01); G01N 2021/0389 (2013.01); G01N 2201/062 (2013.01); G01N 2201/0633 (2013.01)] 28 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An optical measurement unit for obtaining measurement signals from liquid media which are present in cuvettes lined up next to one another, each cuvette having a lateral inlet window and at least one lateral outlet window, the optical measurement unit comprising:
a light-supplying unit configured and arranged for emitting spectrally different inlet radiations in temporal succession directly into the lateral inlet window of each cuvette, the light-supplying unit having a plurality of LED light sources which emit in a spectrally different manner in the UV/VIS/NIR wavelength range, wherein the light-supplying unit further includes at least one stationary light distributor device configured and arranged to distribute the light from the plurality of LED light sources among the cuvettes,
wherein the at least one stationary light distributor device has a cavity, the inner surfaces of which are at least partially mirrored and/or diffusely reflective, and
wherein the at least one stationary light distributor device includes, for each of the plurality of LED light sources, an inlet opening configured and arranged for feeding the light into the cavity, and
wherein the at least one stationary light distributor device has, for each cuvette of the cuvette array, an outlet opening for feeding the light into the cuvette, and
a detection unit configured and arranged for detecting a measurement radiation exiting from the at least one outlet window of each cuvette and for converting the measurement radiation into an electrical measurement signal,
wherein the cuvettes lined up next to one another form a stationary cuvette array, and the detection unit includes a plurality of photodiodes, wherein-to each outlet window of each cuvette of the cuvette array is assigned at least one of the plurality of photodiodes.