Patent ID: 11925448
Assignee: SPECTROHM, INC.
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  G | IPC A

Claim 18:
19. A system for determining characteristics of a specific region within an inhomogeneous dielectric specimen by guiding propagation of electric fields through the inhomogeneous dielectric specimen, the system comprising:
at least one source of electromagnetic energy for generating electromagnetic waveforms, the electromagnetic waveforms comprising electric fields spanning between a plurality of conductors external to the inhomogeneous dielectric specimen, the plurality of conductors comprising parallel transmission line pairs for guiding the electric field propagation at an electromagnetic velocity through the inhomogeneous dielectric specimen, the electric fields propagating along a prescribed path that defines a series of spatial regions through which the electric fields propagate, the electric fields propagating spatially in a direction orthogonal to a surface of the plurality of conductors, the prescribed path comprising electric field modulating elements that determine a rate of electric field propagation along the prescribed path;
a plurality of measurement points for determining a measurement of the electric fields propagating along the prescribed path, the measurement of the electric fields used to determine regional dielectric characteristics of the inhomogeneous dielectric specimen and dielectric characteristics of the specific region within the inhomogeneous dielectric specimen;
at least one processor; and
a memory storing processor-executable instructions, wherein the at least one processor is configured to implement the following operations upon executing the processor-executable instructions:
determining an effective dielectric constant of the specific region within the inhomogeneous dielectric specimen;
determining whether the effective dielectric constant of the specific region within the inhomogeneous dielectric specimen is consistent with the rate of the electromagnetic field propagation along the prescribed path;
modulating the electromagnetic field propagation along the prescribed path when the effective dielectric constant of the specific region within the inhomogeneous dielectric specimen is not consistent with the rate of the electromagnetic field propagation along the prescribed path;
generating waveforms using the electromagnetic field propagation through the specific region within the inhomogeneous dielectric specimen; and

determining features of the specific region within the inhomogeneous dielectric specimen using the waveforms.