Integrated device for instantaneous detection and identification

Details Integrated device for instantaneous detection and identification Integrated device for instantaneous detection and identification

1994-12-22

1996-06-18

Evans, F. L.

Optics: measuring and testing

By dispersed light spectroscopy

Utilizing a spectrometer

356328, G01J 318, G01J 328

Patent

active

055283632

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an integrated and compact device making it possible to carry out qualitative and quantitative identification of one or of a plurality of physicochemical entities contained in a fluid, and to do this instantaneously.
It is increasingly being sought to be able to carry out instantaneous analysis of fluid, liquid or gas samples, that is to say without prior physical or chemical treatment, and without addition of any reagent. The advantage of providing such a possibility can be seen, in particular, in the fields of pollution, toxicology, or, in short, in the field of environmental science, and in general in any field in which the identification of any entity induces the triggering of a certain number of processes. Now, there is currently no device available which can carry out this analysis instantaneously and is capable of being operational for a range of entities which is wide enough to be truly useful.
At the very best there is available a technique employing a device which exploits one or two different wavelengths in the absorption spectrum for measuring the concentration of certain chemical species (see, for example, EP-A-0,399,057). They lead to unsatisfactory results insofar as the number of entities detectable is small, and the concentrations measured are relatively approximate. In parallel, the equipment employed for achieving these measurements is heavy and complex, preventing any on-site measurement.
More conventionally, the devices available consist of measurement chains or acquisition stations, in which each of the parts has its own function, namely detector, monochromator, processing unit. In addition, they all require prior treatment of the liquid or fluid to be analyzed, such as, in particular, separation, in which each of the phases is analyzed independently of the others, allowing, after processing and analysis, reconstruction in terms of quality and concentration of the basic fluid or of the raw fluid.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to provide a device which is capable of processing, on-line and instantaneously, data output by multiwavelength detectors, and in particular to provide, in addition to qualitative indications, also the concentration of certain predetermined chemical species, and to do this directly from a raw medium, that is to say one having no prior physical or chemical treatment, and thereby to estimate the quality of a sample by comparing the data thus collected with those contained in a database, so as to constitute a compact and integrated expert system which can be used on site.
This integrated device for instantaneously carrying out qualitative and quantitative identification of one or of a plurality of physicochemical entities contained in or on a sample and capable of producing one or more emission, absorption or reflection spectra under excitation by an electromagnetic wave, is characterized in that it comprises, within a shielded casing: spectra of the analyzed sample is conveyed and which is intended, in a known manner, to decompose this spectrum or these spectra into a sequence of optical signals having discrete variation in wavelength, the signals output by the polychromator and intended to convert said optical signals into analog signals, convert said analog signals into digital signals, standard spectra representative of known and predetermined entities, and intended simultaneously to analyze the digital spectra thus obtained and to compare, after decorrelation, these spectra with the spectra stored in said memory, and to deduce from this comparison the nature and the concentration of the predetermined physicochemical entity or entities in the sample.
In other words, the invention consists in using as data source the emission, absorption or reflection spectra of the medium or of a sample of the medium analyzed, and in decorrelating these spectra with a view to determining the species present which are responsible for the colour. This spectral analysis is carried out instantaneously

REFERENCES:
patent: 3846024 (1974-11-01), Turner
patent: 4560275 (1985-12-01), Goetz
patent: 5139334 (1992-08-01), Clarke
Measures Regulation Automatisme, vol. 51, No. 15, (Nov. 1986), Paris France pp. 47-63.
Analytical Chemistry, vol. 62, No. 11, (1989), pp. 1249-1252.
Review of Scientific Instruments, vol. 57, No. 12, (Dec. 1986) pp. 2995-3003.
Zeiss Information, vol. 30, No. 100, (Apr. 1990), pp. 16-19.
Electronic Design, vol. 38, No. 23, (Dec. 1990), pp. 32-34.
Advances in Instrumentation and Control, vol. 46, No. 1, (1991), pp. 333-340.

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