1. A method of operating a plurality of clean rooms in a compound within common area of an enclosing building structure, each said clean room consisting of a portable enclosure including a generally rectangular open frame covered on its top wall and sidewalls by a flexible, substantially air impermeable sheet material, air supply blower means outside of and connected to the clean room for providing filtered air into the room, and an entrance means through a sidewall providing access to the clean room, the method comprising,
arranging the clean rooms in a compound consisting of two parallel spaced rows of clean rooms with an access corridor therebetween and with the entrances to the clean rooms of each row opening into the access corridor,
providing a plurality of blowers operably connected to each clean room for supplying clean filtered air into the respective clean rooms and permitting air to escape from the clean room beneath the sidewalls thereof,
continuously operating the blowers to produce a clean air bubble consisting of a volume of air containing at least about 75% recirculated filtered air which has escaped from the clean rooms, and
arranging the clean rooms and the blowers in a pattern wherein the clean air bubble created by each blower overlaps the clean air bubble produced by at least two other blowers whereby the entire compound of clean rooms is contained within the overlapping bubbles produced by the blowers.
2. The method defined in claim 1, comprising providing at least three blowers connected to each clean room.
3. The method defined in claim 2, wherein one blower connected to each clean room is located in the corridor between the two rows of clean rooms.
4. The method defined in claim 1, wherein one blower connected to each clean room is located in the corridor between the two rows of clean rooms.
5. The method defined in claim 1, further comprising discharging a portion of the air from the clean room in an upward direction from an opening in the top wall.
6. The method defined in claim 3, further comprising discharging a portion of the air from the clean room in an upward direction from an opening in the top wall.
7. The method defined in claim 1, wherein each said clean room includes an air lock at its entrance means, and wherein one blower connected to each clean room is located adjacent said air lock.
8. The method defined in claim 1, wherein each said clean room includes an air lock at its entrance means, and wherein one blower connected to each clean room is located adjacent said air lock, and wherein a portion of the air in each clean room is discharged in an upwardly direction through an opening in its top wall.
9. The method defined in claim 8, wherein said opening in the top wall is located in the vicinity of said air lock.
10. The method defined in claim 2, wherein each said clean room includes an air lock at its entrance means, and wherein one blower connected to each clean room is located adjacent said air lock.
11. The method defined in claim 8, wherein each said clean room includes an air lock at its entrance means, and wherein one blower connected to each clean room is located adjacent said air lock.
12. The method defined in claim 9, wherein each said clean room includes an air lock at its entrance means, and wherein one blower connected to each clean room is located adjacent said air lock.
13. The method defined in claim 10, wherein two of said blowers are connected one adjacent diametrically opposed corners of each clean room on a wall generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the rows of clean rooms.
14. The method defined in claim 5, wherein two of said blowers are connected one adjacent diametrically opposed corners of each clean room on a wall generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the rows of clean rooms.
15. The method defined in claim 1, wherein said blowers are located to produce a greater overlap of the clean air bubbles in the area of the corridor between the rows of clean rooms to thereby reduce potential cross contamination between the clean rooms.
16. The method defined in claim 1, wherein said blowers are located to produce a greater overlap of the clean air bubbles in the area of the corridor between the rows of clean rooms to thereby reduce potential cross contamination between the clean rooms, and wherein a portion of the air in each clean room is discharged in an upwardly direction through an opening in its top wall.
17. The method defined in claim 1, wherein said blowers are located to produce a greater overlap of the clean air bubbles in the area of the corridor between the rows of clean rooms to thereby reduce potential cross contamination between the clean rooms, and wherein a portion of air discharged through said opening in the top wall is between 10 and 30 percent of the air discharged into the clean room by said blowers.
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. A method, comprising:
sequentially applying an AC electric field at a plurality of frequencies to a medium in a chamber, the medium comprising one or more particles suspended in a fluid;
tracking the location of the one or more particles in the chamber while applying the AC electric field;
calculating a velocity of each of the one or more tracked particles at each electric field frequency from the locations, wherein calculating the velocity of a particle comprises normalizing the velocity based on the location of the particle; and
determining a characteristic of the one or more particles from the calculated velocities.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristic of the one or more particles determined from the calculated velocities is related to the dielectric polarization of the one or more particles.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising measuring a size of each of the one or more particles.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein measuring the size of each of the one or more particles comprises acquiring an image of the one or more particles in the chamber and determining the sizes from the image.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the sizes from the image comprises determining a figure of merit for a particle in the image.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the sizes from the image comprises optimizing the figure of merit.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein tracking the location of the one or more particles comprises acquiring a series of images of the one or more particles at each frequency.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein tracking the location of each of the one or more particles further comprises identifying the one or more particles in the series of images at a frequency.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the characteristic of the one or more particles comprises determining the dielectrophoretic cross-over frequency for the particles.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the dielectrophoretic cross-over frequency for the one or more particles comprises using a parametric fitting function that relates particle velocity to frequency.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the parametric fitting function comprises at least three fitting parameters.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the characteristic of the one or more particles comprises determining a frequency or range of frequencies where the one or more particles experience a maximum positive dielectrophoretic force.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein calculating a velocity of each of the one or more particles comprises calculating multiple velocity values of the velocity at the frequency or in the range of frequencies where the one or more particles experience a maximum positive dielectrophoretic force.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the characteristic of the one or more particles comprises determining a frequency or range of frequencies where the one or more particles experience a maximum negative dielectrophoretic force.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein calculating a velocity of each of the one or more particles comprises calculating multiple velocity values of the velocity at the frequency or in the range of frequencies where the one or more particles experience a maximum negative dielectrophoretic force.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the applied electric field is generated by a waveform comprising a sinusoidal waveform.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein the applied electric field is generated by a digitally synthesized waveform.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more particles comprise particles that are labeled with a fluorescent moiety.
19. The method of claim 1, further comprising treating the medium with a chemical or physical agent and determining an effect of the treatment on the characteristic of the one or more particles as a function time.
20. The method of claim 1, further comprising treating a surface adjacent the medium with an agent to modify the interaction of one or more of the particles with the surface.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein the agent causes the surface to selectively adhere or repel one or more of the particles.
22. The method of claim 20, further comprising determining an effect of the treatment on the characteristic of the one or more particles as a function of time.
23. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying any of the one or more particles that form a pearl chain.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein the characteristic is determined from particles that do not form a pearl chain.
25. A method, comprising:
sequentially applying an AC electric field at a plurality of frequencies to a medium in a chamber, the medium comprising one or more particles suspended in a fluid;
tracking the location of the one or more particles in the chamber while applying the AC electric field;
calculating a velocity of each of the one or more tracked particles at each electric field frequency from the locations, wherein calculating the velocity of a particle comprises normalizing the velocity based on the size of the particle; and
determining a characteristic of the one or more particles from the calculated velocities.
26. A method, comprising:
sequentially applying an AC electric field at a plurality of frequencies to a medium in a chamber, the medium comprising one or more particles suspended in a fluid;
tracking the location of the one or more particles in the chamber while applying the AC electric field;
calculating a velocity of each of the one or more tracked particles at each electric field frequency from the locations, wherein calculating the velocity of a particle comprises normalizing the velocity based on the electric field strength at the particle’s location; and
determining a characteristic of the one or more particles from the calculated velocities.
27. The method of claim 26, wherein the electric field strength is determined using a computer model.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein the computer model accounts for a finite thickness of the electrode elements.
29. A method, comprising:
sequentially applying an AC electric field at a plurality of frequencies to a medium in a chamber, the medium comprising one or more particles suspended in a fluid;
tracking the location of the one or more particles in the chamber while applying the AC electric field;
calculating a velocity of each of the one or more tracked particles at each electric field frequency from the locations, wherein calculating the velocity of a particle comprises normalizing the velocity based on the electric field gradient at the particle’s location; and
determining a characteristic of the one or more particles from the calculated velocities.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein the electric field gradient is determined using a computer model.
31. A method, comprising:
sequentially applying an AC electric field at a plurality of frequencies to a medium in a chamber, the medium comprising a plurality of particles suspended in a fluid;
measuring a velocity of each of the plurality of particles at each electric field frequency, wherein measuring the velocity of a particle comprises normalizing the velocity of the particle based on a characteristic of the particle or a characteristic of the electric field at the particle’s location; and
determining a dielectrophoretic cross-over frequency for the particles from the measured velocities.
32. The method of claim 33, wherein the velocity of the particle is normalized based on the electric field gradient at the particle’s location.
33. A method, comprising:
sequentially applying an AC electric field at a plurality of frequencies to a medium in a chamber, the medium comprising a plurality of particles suspended in a fluid;
acquiring a series of images of the plurality of particles at each frequency;
measuring a velocity of each of the plurality of particles at each electric field frequency, wherein measuring the velocity of a particle comprises normalizing the velocity of the particle based on a characteristic of the particle or a characteristic of the electric field at the particle’s location; and
measuring a size of each of the plurality of particles.
34. The method of claim 33, further comprising determining a cross-over frequency for the particles from the measured velocities.
35. The method of claim 34, wherein determining a cross-over frequency for the plurality of particles comprises determining an individual cross-over frequency for each of the plurality of particles and statistically analyzing the individual cross-over frequencies.
36. The method of claim 33, wherein measuring the velocity of each of the plurality of particles comprises monitoring positions of the plurality of particles in each of the series of images.
37. The method of claim 36, wherein measuring the velocity of each particle comprises determining the change in position of each particle in between images.
38. The method of claim 33, wherein the velocity of the particle is normalized based on the location of the particle.
39. The method of claim 33, wherein the velocity of the particle is normalized based on the size of the particle.
40. The method of claim 33, wherein the velocity of the particle is normalized based on the electric field strength at the particle’s location.
41. A method, comprising:
sequentially applying an AC electric field at a plurality of frequencies to a medium in a chamber, the medium comprising a plurality of particles suspended in a fluid;
electronically acquiring a series of images of the plurality of particles at each frequency; and
determining a cross-over frequency for the particles from the images, wherein the cross-over frequency is determined based on normalized velocities calculated for each of the plurality of particles.
42. A method, comprising:
sequentially applying an AC electric field at a plurality of frequencies to a medium in a chamber, the medium comprising a plurality of particles suspended in a fluid;
acquiring a series of images of the plurality of particles at each frequency; and
determining a velocity for each particle from each series of images, wherein determining the velocity of a particle comprises normalizing the velocity of the particle based on a characteristic of the particle or a characteristic of the electric field at the particle’s location.
43. A system for performing dielectrophoretic analysis on a population of particles, the system comprising:
a chamber having a wall;
a plurality of electrodes disposed on the wall of the chamber;
a function generator configured to supply an AC voltage to the plurality of electrodes;
a detector configured to acquire images of a sample disposed in the chamber; and
an electronic controller in electrical communication with the detector,
wherein during operation of the system the function generator sequentially supplies an AC voltage to the plurality of electrodes at a plurality of frequencies while the detector acquires a series of images of a sample in the chamber, the sample comprising one or more particles suspended in a fluid, and the electronic controller tracks the location of the one or more particles in the chamber, calculates a velocity of each of the one or more particles at each electric field frequency from the tracked locations, and determines a first characteristic of the one or more particles from the calculated velocities,
and wherein calculating a velocity of a particle comprises normalizing the velocity of the particle based on a second characteristic of the particle or a characteristic of the electric field at the particle’s location.
44. The system of claim 43, further comprising an optical microscope positioned relative to the chamber to image the sample to an image plane.
45. The system of claim 44, wherein the detector is positioned at the image plane.
46. The system of claim 43, wherein the electrodes comprise polynomial electrodes.
47. The system of claim 43, wherein the electrodes comprise interdigitated electrodes.
48. The system of claim 43, wherein the plurality of electrodes comprise an array of electrode regions.
49. The system of claim 48, wherein the array of electrode regions comprises an 8\xd712 array of electrode regions.
50. The system of claim 43, wherein the velocity of the particle is normalized based on the location of the particle.
51. The system of claim 43, wherein the velocity of the particle is normalized based on the size of the particle.
52. The system of claim 43, wherein the velocity of the particle is normalized based on the electric field strength at the particle’s location.
53. The system of claim 43, wherein the velocity of the particle is normalized based on the electric field gradient at the particle’s location.