1. A method of testing a photometric particle analyzer, where the photometric particle analyzer includes a light source having light with a plurality of wavelengths, each with a controllable intensity, a filter to collect particles, a first light path from the light source through a filter that may be exposed to particle laden-air to a first sensor that produces a first signal, a second light path from the light source through a reference filter portion to a second sensor that produces a second signal, and a third light path from the light source to a third sensor without passing through a filter, where said third sensor produces a third signal, said method comprising:
obtaining a baseline measurement of the first, second, and third signals, where said obtaining obtains with clean optics and filter within said first light path, second light path, and third light path, and where said obtaining includes:
operating the light source at individual wavelengths of the plurality of wavelengths, and
recording the baseline measurement;
using the photometric particle analyzer to sample particle-laden air;
obtaining a test measurement of the first, second, and third signals for the photometric particle analyzer after using the photometric particle analyzer to sample particle-laden air by:
replacing the collecting filter portion with a filter that has not been used to collect particles,
operating the light source at individual wavelengths of the plurality of wavelengths, and
recording the test measurement; and
generating an output from a comparison of said baseline measurement and said test measurement,
where said output is a diagnostic of the operation of the photometric particle analyzer.
2-24. (canceled)
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1-24. (canceled)
25. An apparatus that monitors at least one physiological property of an organism, wherein the apparatus is configured to be worn by the organism, wherein the apparatus comprises:
at least one energy emitter configured to direct energy at a target region of the organism and at a region adjacent the target region, wherein the target region comprises substantially more blood vessels or blood flow than the adjacent region;
at least one detector configured to detect an energy response signal from the target region and an energy response signal from the adjacent region; and
at least one processor in communication with the at least one detector, wherein the at least one processor is configured to process the detected signals to produce an extracted energy response signal.
26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one energy emitter is configured to direct electromagnetic radiation, mechanical energy, acoustical energy, electrical energy, andor thermal energy at the target region and at the adjacent region.
27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one processor is configured to subtract the energy response signal from the adjacent region from the energy response signal from the target region to produce the extracted energy response signal.
28. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one processor is configured to differentially amplify the energy response signal from the target region and the energy response signal from the adjacent region prior to producing the extracted energy response signal.
29. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one processor is configured to compare the extracted energy response signal with a physiological model to assess a physiological condition of the organism.
30. The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising a transmitter in communication with the at least one processor that is configured to transmit the extracted energy response signal to a remote computing device, communication device, andor entertainment device.
31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the transmitter comprises a wireless transmitter.
32. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one energy emitter comprises at least one optical emitter.
33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the at least one optical emitter is selected from the group consisting of laser diodes (LDs), light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).
34. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the at least one optical emitter comprises at least one array of optical emitters.
35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the at least one array of optical emitters comprises at least one monolithic array of optical emitters.
36. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the at least one array of optical emitters comprises at least one partially monolithic array of optical emitters.
37. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one detector is selected from the group consisting of acoustic detectors, auscultatory detectors, motion detectors, optical detectors, thermal detectors, and piezoelectric detectors.
38. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the physiological condition of the organism includes properties of skin, blood, andor blood vessels of the organism.
39. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the physiological condition of the organism comprises one or more of the following: blood pressure, volume of blood flow through a blood vessel, and size of at least one blood vessel.
40. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one detector comprises at least one detector configured to detect an energy response signal associated with skin, blood, andor at least one blood vessel of the organism.
41. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one detector comprises at least one detector configured to detect an energy response signal from the target region and at least one detector configured to detect an energy response signal from the adjacent region.
42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the at least one detector configured to detect an energy response signal from the target region comprises at least one array of detectors, and wherein the at least one detector configured to detect an energy response signal from the adjacent region comprises at least one array of detectors.
43. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one energy emitter is configured to direct electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths.
44. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one detector is configured to detect electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths.
45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the at least one detector is configured to measure blood flow in the organism by detecting electromagnetic radiation at a first wavelength, and wherein the at least one detector is configured to measure motion of the organism by detecting electromagnetic radiation at a second wavelength that is shorter than the first wavelength.
46. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the at least one energy emitter comprises at least one flexible polymer-based energy emitter.
47. An apparatus that monitors at least one physiological property of an organism, comprising:
a housing configured to be worn by the organism;
at least one energy emitter attached to the housing that is configured to direct energy at a target region of the organism and at a region adjacent the target region, wherein the target region comprises substantially more blood vessels or blood flow than the adjacent region;
at least one detector attached to the housing that is configured to detect an energy response signal from the target region and an energy response signal from the adjacent region; and
at least one processor attached to the housing, wherein the at least one processor is in communication with the at least one detector and is configured to process the detected signals to produce an extracted energy response signal.
48. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the housing comprises an earpiece configured to be attached to an ear of the organism.
49. An apparatus that monitors at least one physiological property of an organism, comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one array of optical emitters configured to direct electromagnetic radiation at a target region of the organism, wherein at least one optical emitter in the array is configured to be electrically biased by at least one processor so as to detect an energy response signal from the target region and an energy response signal from a region adjacent to the target region;
wherein the at least one processor is configured to process the detected signals to produce an extracted energy response signal.
50. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the at least one processor is configured to compare the extracted energy response signal with a physiological model to assess a physiological condition of the organism.
51. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein the at least one processor is configured to compare the extracted energy response signal with a physiological model to assess a physiological condition of the organism.
52. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the at least one energy emitter is configured to direct electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths.
53. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the at least one detector is configured to detect electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths.
54. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein the at least one detector is configured to measure blood flow in the organism by detecting electromagnetic radiation at a first wavelength, and wherein the at least one detector is configured to measure motion of the organism by detecting electromagnetic radiation at a second wavelength that is shorter than the first wavelength.
55. An apparatus that monitors at least one physiological property of an organism, wherein the apparatus is configured to be worn by the organism, wherein the apparatus comprises:
at least one energy emitter configured to direct energy at a target region of the organism;
at least one detector configured to detect an energy response signal from the target region and an energy response signal from a region adjacent the target region, wherein the adjacent region has a substantially less amount of blood vessels or blood flow than the target region; and
at least one processor in communication with the at least one detector, wherein the at least one processor is configured to process the detected signals to produce an extracted energy response signal.
56. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the at least one processor is configured to compare the extracted energy response signal with a physiological model to assess a physiological condition of the organism.
57. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the at least one energy emitter is configured to direct electromagnetic radiation, mechanical energy, acoustical energy, electrical energy, andor thermal energy at the target region.
58. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the at least one processor is configured to subtract the energy response signal from the adjacent region from the energy response signal from the target region to produce the extracted energy response signal.
59. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the at least one processor is configured to differentially amplify the energy response signal from the target region and the energy response signal from the adjacent region prior to producing the extracted energy response signal.
60. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein the at least one processor is configured to amplify the extracted energy response signal prior to comparing the extracted energy response signal with a physiological model to assess a physiological condition of the organism.
61. The apparatus of claim 55, further comprising a transmitter in communication with the at least one processor that is configured to transmit the extracted energy response signal to a remote computing device, communication device, andor entertainment device.
62. The apparatus of claim 61, wherein the transmitter comprises a wireless transmitter.
63. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the at least one energy emitter comprises at least one optical emitter.
64. The apparatus of claim 63, wherein the at least one optical emitter is selected from the group consisting of laser diodes (LDs), light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).
65. The apparatus of claim 63, wherein the at least one optical emitter comprises at least one array of optical emitters.
66. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the at least one detector is selected from the group consisting of acoustic detectors, auscultatory detectors, motion detectors, optical detectors, thermal detectors, and piezoelectric detectors.
67. The apparatus of claim 56, wherein the physiological condition of the organism includes properties of skin, blood, andor blood vessels of the organism.
68. The apparatus of claim 56, wherein the physiological condition of the organism comprises one or more of the following: blood pressure, volume of blood flow through a blood vessel, and size of at least one blood vessel.
69. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the at least one detector comprises at least one detector configured to detect an energy response signal associated with skin, blood, andor at least one blood vessel of the organism.
70. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the at least one detector comprises at least one detector configured to detect an energy response signal from the target region and at least one detector configured to detect an energy response signal from the adjacent region.
71. The apparatus of claim 70, wherein the at least one detector configured to detect an energy response signal from the target region comprises at least one array of detectors, and wherein the at least one detector configured to detect an energy response signal from the adjacent region comprises at least one array of detectors.
72. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the at least one energy emitter is configured to direct electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths.
73. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the at least one detector is configured to detect electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths.
74. The apparatus of claim 73, wherein the at least one detector is configured to measure blood flow in the organism by detecting electromagnetic radiation at a first wavelength, and wherein the, at least one detector is configured to measure motion of the organism by detecting electromagnetic radiation at a second wavelength that is shorter than the first wavelength.
75. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the at least one energy emitter comprises at least one flexible polymer-based energy emitter.
76. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the at least one energy emitter comprises a plurality of flexible polymer-based energy emitters arranged in an array.
77. An apparatus that monitors at least one physiological property of an organism, comprising:
a housing configured to be worn by the organism;
at least one energy emitter attached to the housing that is configured to direct energy at a target region of the organism;
at least one detector attached to the housing that is configured to detect an energy response signal from the target region and an energy response signal from a region adjacent the target region, wherein the adjacent region has a substantially less amount of blood vessels or blood flow than the target region; and
at least one processor attached to the housing, wherein the processor is in communication with the at least one detector and is configured to process the detected signals to produce an extracted energy response signal.
78. The apparatus of claim 77, wherein the at least one detector is configured to detect electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths.
79. The apparatus of claim 78, wherein the at least one detector is configured to measure blood flow in the organism by detecting electromagnetic radiation at a first wavelength, and wherein the at least one detector is configured to measure motion of the organism by detecting electromagnetic radiation at a second wavelength that is shorter than the first wavelength.