Patent ID: 8835854
Filing Date: 2014-09-16
Classification: G01J,G01N

Abstract:
1. A method for non-destructively determining the condition of a solid polymer-containing material comprising: providing an elongated needle probe, comprising an outer metal jacket, having a distal tip having an outer diameter of less than 2.0 mm, and containing a plurality of optical fibers having light supplying and light collecting ends positioned a predetermined distance from a distal end of said distal tip, said elongated needle probe coupled to an infrared spectrometer; inserting said tip of said elongated needle probe through an opening provided in a solid surface to position said tip of said elongated needle probe perpendicularly in contact with a surface of said material; and, making a near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy measurement of said material by providing infrared light distal from the tip of said infrared spectrometer through at least one of said plurality of optical fibers and collecting at least a portion of said infrared light reflected from said material through at least another of said plurality of optical fibers to provide said reflected light to said infrared spectrometer.