Patent ID: 7554661

Claim:
A system for detecting and identifying a particle in a liquid, the system comprising: an optical axis; a target zone, the optical axis intersecting the target zone; at least one light source configured to generate a light beam and direct the light beam through the target zone; an optic lens system configured to collect light scattered by the particle in the liquid medium in the target zone and direct the scattered light to at least one detector, the detector configured to detect the light and generate a digital signal; and a computer system coupled with the detector, the computer system configured to execute a set of programmed instructions to identify and classify the particle, the instructions causing the computer system to: extract events from the digital signal; calculate the similarity between the extracted event and a known event; and classify the event based on the similarity, wherein similarity is determined by calculation of the ratios of outer pixels to inner pixels and comparing between the extracted event and a known event.