Patent ID: 6985616

Claim:
A device for inspecting and classifying a plurality of microscopic crystals, comprising: A) at least one camera, B) an indexing device for sequentially placing said microscopic crystals in camera-view of said at least one camera, and C) at least one computer programmed to control said indexing device and said at least one camera, wherein said at least one computer is programmed to receive from said at least one camera images of said plurality of microscopic crystals, wherein said at least one computer is programmed to classify said plurality of microscopic crystals by: 1. comparing said images to a database stored on said at least one computer, and 2. assigning a classification based on said comparison by: a. automatically making a first determination if said image is clear, and b. automatically making a second determination if said image is not clear, wherein said second determination is automatically chosen from a plurality of options, wherein said plurality of options comprises: 1. at least one option corresponding to what is present if said microscopic crystal does not exist, and 2. at least one option corresponding to what is present if said microscopic crystal does exist.