Patent ID: 8531516
Filing Date: 2013-09-10
Classification: G01N,G06K,H04N

Abstract:
1. An imaging polar nephelometer for measuring particle information in a fluid, comprising: a sample tube having a first end accepting a fluid sample and a second end exhausting the fluid sample; a laser, mounted to one end of the sample tube and directing a light beam down a length of the sample tube, illuminating particles in the fluid sample; a CCD camera, mounted to the sample tube, imaging particles illuminated within the sample tube and outputting a digital image of illuminated particles in the sample tube; one of a wide angle lens, coupled between the CCD camera and the sample tube, a panoramic mirror, mounted in the sample tube, and a cylindrical mirror, mounted in the sample tube, expanding the scope of imaging of the CCD camera to encompass a substantial portion of the sample tube; and a digital image processor, coupled to the CCD camera, receiving the digital image of scattered light from illuminated particles in the sample tube, processing the digital image to sum values of each pixel that lies on a perpendicular line at the point along the light beam to produce a total representing total light scattered at that point along the beam, and outputting the sums of the values of the pixels at a plurality of points along the light beam in the digital image as an indication of particle information within the fluid sample, wherein the digital image processor measures molecular scatter intensity, I, as: where φ is the laser polarization and θ is the phase function angle.