Patent ID: 8471558

Claim:
A method for analyzing a polymorphic chemical substance containing quadrupolar nuclei to determine at least one measurable characteristic of the polymorphic chemical substance, wherein said measurable characteristic is at least one of a) an amount of a certain chemical in the polymorphic chemical substance, b) a purity of the polymorphic chemical substance, c) an identification of a particular polymorphic form of the polymorphic chemical substance, d) a temperature of the polymorphic chemical substance, or e) a frequency of the polymorphic chemical substance, said method comprising: irradiating the polymorphic chemical substance with RF energy to stimulate nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) of certain quadrupolar nuclei within the polymorphic chemical substance; receiving and processing a signal emitted from said polymorphic chemical substance to isolate an NQR signal therefrom; analyzing said NQR signal to obtain said at least one measurable characteristic of the polymorphic chemical substance; providing an output indicative of said at least one measurable characteristic; and using said obtained NQR signal to differentiate between different polymorphic forms of the polymorphic chemical substance.