In this case the title of the patent is not really descriptive of the
patent. The abstract is very descriptive and IMO it looks like a good patent
for a very inexpensive way to get more accurate test strip readings.

"A test strip reader is provided with an optical mouse integrated circuit
sensor that reads the test line, reference line and control line of a
lateral flow assay strip by light absorption and determines the position of
the test strip beneath the image on the integrated circuit board using
digital signal processing algorithms. The digital signal processing
algorithms process the imaged surface at a very high rate (e.g., 1500 frames
per second) to determine the direction and speed of movement of the lateral
strip with respect to the reader optics and image capture components. The
sensor outputs this position information in a quadrature pattern format. A
microcontroller uses the known position of the strip with respect to the
reader to calculate the optical absorption of each colored reagent line, and
the diagnostic significance (i.e., either qualitative or quantitative) of
the test strip."

Paul Hutch

> -----Original Message-----
> From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu On Behalf Of YES NOPE9
> Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 4:56 PM
>
> http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/7444005/description.html
> US Patent 7444005 - Apparatus and method for using optical mouse
> engine to determine speed, direction, position of scanned device and
> to obtain quantitative or qualitative data from same
>
> US Patent Issued on October 28, 2008
> Estimated Patent Expiration Date:  November 4, 2023
>
> Gus

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