Patent ID: 7817277

Claim:
A system for making optics-based measurements on liquid samples, the system comprising: a fiber-optic probe comprising: a first body portion; a second body portion oriented at a ninety-degree angle relative to the first body portion and comprising an optical signal-transmitting window, an optical signal-reflecting boundary spaced from the optical signal-transmitting window, and a plurality of apertures between the optical signal-transmitting window and the optical signal-reflecting boundary, wherein the optical signal-transmitting window and the optical signal-reflecting boundary define a liquid sampling region therebetween in fluid communication with the plurality of apertures; a first optical fiber extending through the first body portion and the second body portion and terminating at a first fiber end in optical communication with the optical signal-transmitting window; a second optical fiber extending through the first body portion and the second body portion and terminating at a second fiber end in optical communication with the optical signal-transmitting window, wherein the optical signal-transmitting window seals the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber from the liquid sampling region; and a dissolution test apparatus comprising a vessel and a probe support component supporting the fiber-optic probe in a fixed orientation relative to the vessel, wherein at the fixed orientation, the first body portion is disposed along a vertical direction, the second body component is disposed along a horizontal direction, at least one of the apertures is disposed about a vertical axis offset from the first body portion by a horizontal distance, the at least one aperture establishes a flow path for bubbles and particulates out from the liquid sampling region generally along the vertical axis without obstruction by the fiber-optic probe, and the fiber-optic probe establishes an optical path through the first optical fiber, through the optical signal-transmitting window along the horizontal direction, through the liquid sampling region while intersecting the flow path, to the optical signal-reflecting boundary, reflecting from the optical signal-reflecting boundary back through the liquid sampling region, back through the optical signal-transmitting window along the horizontal direction, and through the second optical fiber.