Patent ID: 8064063

Claim:
A device for assisting an optical characterization device in optical characterization of a fluid, the optical characterization device comprising an illumination unit and a detection unit, the device for assisting comprising a substrate with at least one measurement reservoir adapted for filling with the fluid in a filling direction with a filling rate, the device for assisting being adapted for receiving an illumination beam from the illumination unit for illuminating the fluid in the at least one measurement reservoir along an optical axis substantially oriented along said filling direction, the detection unit of the optical characterization device being adapted for detecting an optical detection signal generated by interaction between the illumination beam and the fluid over an optical path length of the illumination beam in the fluid in the at least one measurement reservoir, the at least one measurement reservoir being adapted for varying the rate of change of the optical detection signal in the fluid as a function of the filling rate, wherein the at least one measurement reservoir is adapted so as to induce a variation in a second derivative of the optical detection signal as a function of the amount of fluid added to the measurement reservoir such that the at least one measurement reservoir is adapted for providing information of the optical path length of the illumination beam in the fluid at a plurality of moments in time during the filling with the fluid.