Patent ID: 8618487

Claim:
A system for imaging a distribution of an absorbent material within an absorbent article, the system comprising: a radiation source configured to generate infrared radiation incident on an absorbent article comprising an absorbent material, the absorbent material having a spatial distribution within the absorbent article, wherein the infrared radiation within a particular wavelength range is more likely to be absorbed by the absorbent material than by other materials within the absorbent article, wherein the particular wavelength range is from 3 Î¼m to 3.2 Î¼m; and a detector positioned such that the absorbent article is situated between the radiation source and the detector, the detector configured to: detect a quantity of the infrared radiation within the particular wavelength range generated by the radiation source that was transmitted through a plurality of regions of the absorbent article; and generate data indicative of the spatial distribution of the absorbent material based on the detected quantity of the infrared radiation corresponding to the plurality of regions of the absorbent article.