Granted Patent B2

US 12,449,303 · App. 18/472,759 · Granted Oct 21, 2025

Inventors: Damian Goldring (Tel Aviv, IL); Dror Sharon (Benei Atarot, IL)

Assignee: SCIO SOLUTIONS LTD

G01J3/0256G01J3/0208G01J3/26G01J3/2803G01J3/36G01N21/255G01J2003/1226

Abstract

Claims (43)

1. A method of obtaining a spectrum of a sample without using dispersive optics, wherein said method comprises:

providing a sample;

causing light emanating from said sample to impinge on an optical filter, a center wavelength of which depends on an angle of incidence of the light impinging upon the optical filter;

passing the light to a first Fourier transform focusing element;

measuring an intensity of the light as a function of position in a predetermined plane P 1 ; and,

converting the intensity of the light as a function of the position in the plane P 1 to a spectrum.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising analyzing the spectrum using one or more models based on a database of spectral information.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

transmitting the spectrum to a remote processing unit;

using the remote processing unit to perform the analyzing; and,

transmitting the results of the analyzing to a user.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the transmitting is performed over a wireless network.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the performing the preliminary analysis of the spectrum further comprises at least one step chosen from the group consisting of

averaging a plurality of independent measurements,

compensating for optical aberrations, and

reducing detector noise using a noise reduction algorithm.

6. The method of claim 2 , further comprising performing a preliminary analysis of the spectrum obtained in converting the intensity of the light as a function of position in the focal plane of the first Fourier transform focusing element.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the performing the preliminary analysis of the spectrum is performed using a local processing unit.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the performing the preliminary analysis of the spectrum is performed remotely.

9. The method of claim 2 , wherein the analyzing comprises at least one step chosen from (a) comparing the spectrum with spectra in a spectral database; (b) comparing the spectrum with spectra in a spectral database by using Principal Components Analysis; (c) comparing the spectrum with spectra in a spectral database by using Partial Least Squares analysis; or (d) comparing the spectrum with spectra in a spectra database by using a neural network algorithm.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sample comprises food.

11. A compact spectrometer for obtaining a spectrum of a sample without using dispersive optics, the compact spectrometer comprising a digital processor and a fixed memory, the fixed memory configured to store instructions that when executed by the digital processor cause the compact spectrometer to:

cause light emanating from a sample to impinge on an optical filter, a center wavelength of which depends on an angle of incidence of the light impinging upon the optical filter;

pass the light to a first Fourier transform focusing element;

measure an intensity of the light as a function of position in a predetermined plane P 1 ; and,

convert the intensity of the light as the function of position in the plane P 1 to a spectrum.

12. The compact spectrometer of claim 11 , wherein the compact spectrometer is incorporated into an oven or a refrigerator.

13. The compact spectrometer of claim 12 , wherein the oven is a microwave oven.

14. The compact spectrometer of claim 11 , further comprising a global positioning system (GPS) device configured to determine a location of the compact spectrometer.

15. The compact spectrometer of claim 11 , wherein the compact spectrometer is configured to analyze the spectrum obtained by a model based on a database of spectral information.

16. The compact spectrometer of claim 15 , wherein the spectrometer further:

transmits the spectrum to a remote processing unit;

uses the remote processing unit to perform the analyzing; and,

transmit results of the analyzing to a user.

17. The compact spectrometer of claim 16 , wherein the results are configured to be transmitted over a wireless network.

18. The compact spectrometer of claim 15 , wherein the processor is configured to perform a preliminary analysis of the spectrum obtained in converting the intensity of the light as a function of position in the focal plane of the first Fourier transform focusing element.

19. The compact spectrometer of claim 15 , wherein performing a preliminary analysis of the spectrum is performed using a local processing unit.

20. The compact spectrometer of claim 15 , wherein performing a preliminary analysis of the spectrum is performed remotely.

21. The compact spectrometer of claim 15 , wherein performing a preliminary analysis of the spectrum further comprises at least one step chosen from the group consisting of

averaging a plurality of independent measurements,

compensating for optical aberrations, and

reducing detector noise using a noise reduction algorithm.

22. The compact spectrometer of claim 15 , wherein the compact spectrometer is configured to analyze with at least one step chosen from (a) comparing the spectrum with spectra in a spectral database; (b) comparing the spectrum with spectra in a spectral database by using Principal Components Analysis; (c) comparing the spectrum with spectra in a spectral database by using Partial Least Squares analysis; or (d) comparing the spectrum with spectra in a spectra database by using a neural network algorithm.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (9)

References Cited (369)