Patent ID: 8004662

Claim:
A spectrometric system for obtaining spectral information about a heterogeneous sample that includes particles, comprising: a visible radiation source for illuminating the heterogeneous sample, an imaging detector sensitive to visible light and having a first sensitivity range between a first wavelength and a second wavelength longer than the first wavelength, wherein the imaging detector is operative to acquire an image of the heterogeneous sample in a sample area, a Raman spectrometric point detector movable with respect to the heterogeneous sample and having a second sensitivity range between a third wavelength and a fourth wavelength longer than the third wavelength, wherein the spectrometric point detector is operative to acquire a spectrum of particles in the heterogeneous sample in the sample area, a synthesis module responsive to the imaging detector and to the point detector and being operative to operate on output from the imaging detector and output from the point detector to obtain a quality metric for the heterogeneous sample, and statistical analysis logic operative to derive statistical information about the heterogeneity of the sample.