OPTICAL ANALYSIS SYSTEM FOR DYNAMIC REAL-TIME DETECTION AND MEASUREMENT

• US 20090219539A1
• Filed: 03/10/2006
• Published: 09/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services Incorporated (Halliburton Company)
• Original Assignee: University of South Carolina
• Inventors: James, Jonathan H., Blackburn, John C., Priore, Ryan J., Freese, Robert P., Myrick, Michael L., Perkins, David L.
• Granted Patent: US 8,358,418 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 356/445
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/31 Investigating relative effect of material at wavelengths characteristic of specific elements or molecules, e.g. atomic absorption spectrometry G01N21/72 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/4738 Diffuse reflection precedence is given to G01N21/55 - G01N21/57 if specular component is taken into consideration, e.g. also for testing fluids, fibrous materials
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/9508 Capsules; Tablets

Abstract

A method of real-time processing and monitoring comprises the steps of blending a material of interest (e.g., an active pharmaceutical material), with a secondary material, (e.g., an excipient), illuminating the blended materials with light, reflecting light carrying information about the blended materials through at least one multivariate optical element (148) and detecting said light with a first detector (152), detecting a deflected portion of the information carrying light with a second detector (156), and determining in real-time at least one selected property of the blended materials based on the detector outputs.

Claims

1. A method of real-time processing and monitoring, comprising:

blending a material of interest with a secondary material;

illuminating the blended materials with a light;

reflecting light carrying information about the blended materials through at least one multivariate optical element to produce a first signal;

detecting the first signal at a first detector;

detecting a deflected portion of the light at a second detector; and

determining, in real time, at least one selected property of at least one of the blended materials as the material of interest and the secondary material are blended based upon respective detector outputs.

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein real time is faster than 1/1000 of a second.

3. The method as in claim 1, wherein real time is faster than 1/100 of a second.

4. The method as in claim 1, wherein real time is faster than 1/10 of a second.

5. The method as in claim 1, wherein real time is faster than 1 second.

6. The method as in claim 1, wherein real time is faster than 5 seconds.

7. The method as in claim 1, wherein real time is faster than 30 seconds.

8. A method of real-time pharmaceutical processing and monitoring, comprising:

blending a pharmaceutical powder by mixing an active agent with an excipient;

illuminating the pharmaceutical powder with a spectral-specific light though an optic window, the optic window configured to focus the spectral-specific light into the pharmaceutical powder;

reflecting light carrying information about the pharmaceutical powder through at least one multivariate optical element to produce a first signal;

detecting the first signal at a first detector;

detecting a deflected portion of the spectral-specific light at a second detector; and

determining, in real time, at least one selected property of the pharmaceutical powder as the pharmaceutical powder is blended based upon respective detector outputs.

9. The method as in claim 8, wherein the selected property of the pharmaceutical powder is an active property of the active agent.

10. The method as in claim 8, wherein the selected property of the pharmaceutical powder is a particulate size of the active agent.

11. The method as in claim 8, wherein the selected property of the pharmaceutical powder is a secondary property of the excipient.

12. The method as in claim 8, further comprising assessing an homogeneity asymptote of the pharmaceutical powder.

13. The method as in claim 8, wherein real time is faster than 1/1000 of a second.

14. The method as in claim 8, wherein real time is faster than 1/100 of a second.

15. The method as in claim 8, wherein real time is faster than 1/10 of a second.

16. The method as in claim 8, wherein real time is faster than 1 second.

17. The method as in claim 8, wherein real time is faster than 5 seconds.

18. The method as in claim 8, wherein real time is faster than 30 seconds.

19. A method of real-time pharmaceutical processing and monitoring, comprising:

illuminating a fluid in a container with a spectral-specific light though an optic window disposed proximate an aperture in a conduit in communication with the container;

reflecting light carrying information about the fluid through at least one multivariate optical element to produce a first signal;

detecting the first signal at a first detector;

deflecting a portion of the spectral-specific light with a retroreflecting mirror;

detecting the deflected portion at a second detector; and

determining, in real time, at least one selected property of the fluid as the fluid flows past the optic window based on the detector outputs.

20. The method as in claim 19, wherein the fluid is opaque in appearance.

21. The method as in claim 19, wherein the fluid is a liquid chemical and the window is configured to focus the spectral-specific light into the liquid chemical.

22. The method as in claim 21, wherein the liquid chemical is a blend of at least one active pharmaceutical agent and at least one excipient.

23. The method as in claim 19, wherein the fluid is a gas.

24. The method as in claim 23, wherein the gas is opaque in appearance.

25. The method as in claim 19, wherein real time is between about 1/1000 of a second to about 30 seconds.

26. A method of real-time processing and monitoring, comprising:

mixing a material of interest with a secondary material;

illuminating the materials with a light;

reflecting light carrying information about the materials through at least one multivariate optical element to produce a first signal;

detecting the first signal at a first detector;

detecting a deflected portion of the light at a second detector; and

determining, in real time, at least one selected property of at least one of the materials based upon respective detector outputs.

27. The method as in claim 26, wherein the selected property is determined based upon a compositional change.

28. The method as in claim 27, wherein the compositional change includes a chemical reaction.

29. The method as in claim 27, wherein the compositional change includes a crystallization process.