Remote analysis system

• US 6,560,546 B1
• Filed: 08/07/2000
• Issued: 05/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/07/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Infrasoft LLC
• Original Assignee: Infrasoft LLC
• Inventors: Shenk, John S., Westerhaus, Mark O.
• Primary Examiner(s): WACHSMAN, HAL D
• Application Number:
  US09/633,891
• Time in Patent Office: 1,002 Days
• Field of Search: 702/30, 702/23, 702/50, 702/22, 702/19, 702/27, 702/28, 702/31, 702/32, 702/76-78, 702/100, 702/122, 702/183, 702/188, 702/FOR.113, 702/FOR.119, 702/FOR.131, 702/FOR.134, 702/FOR.170, 702/FOR.171, 702/FOR.173, 700/266, 356/300, 356/302, 356/303, 356/308, 356/314, 356/328, 356/70, 356/72, 356/73, 600/300, 250/252.1 A, 250/339.01, 250/339-7-3, 250/339.12, 250/339.13, 340/631, 422/68.1, 422/82.05, 422/82.09, 436/60, 73/530.5
• US Class Current: 702/30
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/28 Investigating the spectrum using colour filters G01J3/51
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/359 using near infrared light
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/133 Protocols for remote procedure calls [RPC]

Abstract

Spectrographic instruments at remote site locations measure near infrared absorbance spectra for unknown materials and transmit the absorbance spectra to a central web site where, the measurements are standardized to be the same as if they were measured by a master instrument. The standardized absorbance spectra are then compared with a library of spectra stored at the central web site to select a subset of absorbance spectra from the library which most closely correlate with the absorbance spectrum received from the remote sites. The library spectra are obtained from measurements on materials, the measurable characteristics of which are known. From the selected subset, equations are developed relating the measurable characteristics of the unknown material to the absorbance spectra and from these equations, the measurable characteristics of the unknown materials are determined. The results of this analysis are then transmitted back to the remote site locations electronically.

Claims

1. A system for analyzing materials comprising:

a plurality of remote spectrographic instruments at different remote locations, said remote spectrographic instruments being operable to measure reflected intensities of diffusely reflected light from analysis samples of material to be analyzed at narrow wavelength bandwidths distributed throughout a spectral range, and

data processing equipment comprising

a remote data processor at each remote location and

a central data processor at a central web site,

said remote data processors being programmed to transmit spectral data files corresponding to the reflected intensity measurements to said central web site, said data processing equipment being programmed to produce standardized data files in which reflected intensity measurements made by said remote spectrographic instruments are adjusted to be the same as if they were made by the same master spectrographic instrument, said central data processor storing a library of spectral data files corresponding to reflected intensity measurements made by said master spectrographic instrument on known materials, said central data processor being programmed to compare said standardized data files with the spectral data files of said library to determine by a mathematical process sets of coefficients for functions relating measurable characteristics of the materials of analysis samples to the data in corresponding standardized data files, to determine from said functions said measurable characteristics of the materials of analysis samples and to transmit said measurable characteristics to the corresponding remote locations.

2. The system for analyzing materials as recited in claim 1, wherein said standardized data files comprise absorbance measurements of materials of analysis samples and wherein said spectral data files of said library comprise absorbance measurements of said known materials.

3. The system for analyzing materials as recited in claim 1, wherein said data processing equipment produces said standardized data files by adjusting said reflected intensity measurements made by said remote spectrographic instruments in accordance with the wave shift between the index points of said remote spectrographic instruments and said master spectrographic instrument and for the difference in the photometrics between said master spectrographic instrument and said remote spectrographic instruments.

4. The system for analyzing material as recited in claim 1, wherein said central data processor stores standardization files each corresponding to a remote spectrographic instrument, and wherein said central data processor is programmed to produce said standardized data files by adjusting said reflected intensity measurements made by said remote spectrographic instruments in accordance with the corresponding standardization files.

5. A system for analyzing materials comprising a plurality of remote spectrographic instruments at different remote locations, said remote spectrographic instruments being operable to measure reflected intensities of diffusely reflected light from analysis samples of material to be analyzed at narrow wavelength bandwidths distributed throughout a spectral range, and

data processing equipment comprising

a remote data processor at each remote location and

a central data processor at a central web site,

said remote data processors being programmed to transmit spectral data files corresponding to the reflected intensity measurements to said central web site, said data processing equipment being programmed to produce standardized data files in which the reflected intensity measurements made by said remote data processors are adjusted to be the same as if they were made by the same master spectrographic instrument, said central data processor storing a library of spectral data files corresponding to reflected intensity measurements made by said master spectrographic instrument on known materials, said central data processor being programmed to compare said standardized data files with the spectral data files of said library to select subsets of the spectral data files of said library wherein the spectral data files of each subset are the most similar to a corresponding standardized data file, said central data processor being programmed to determine from each subset a set of coefficients for an equation relating a measurable characteristic of an analysis sample to the data in the corresponding standardized data file, to determine from said equation said measurable characteristic, and to transmit said measurable characteristic to the corresponding remote location.

6. The system for analyzing materials as recited in claim 5, wherein said central data processor is programmed to determine from each subset a set of coefficients for a plurality of equations relating a plurality of measurable characteristics of an analysis sample to the data in a corresponding standardized data file, said central data processor being further programmed to determine said plurality of measurable characteristics from said plurality of equations.

7. A system for analyzing materials comprising

a plurality of remote spectrographic instruments at different remote locations, said remote spectrographic instruments being operable to measure transmitted intensities of light transmitted through analysis samples of material to be analyzed at narrow wavelength bandwidths distributed throughout a spectral range, and

data processing equipment comprising

a remote data processor at each remote location and

a central data processor at a central web site,

said remote data processors being programmed to transmit spectral data files corresponding to the transmitted intensity measurements to said central web site, said data processing equipment being programmed to produce standardized data files in which the transmitted intensity measurements made by said remote data processors are adjusted to be the same as if they were made by the same master spectrographic instrument, said central data processor storing a library of spectral data files corresponding to transmitted intensity measurements made by said master spectrographic instrument on known materials, said central data processor being programmed to compare said standardized data files with the spectral data files of said library to determine by a mathematical process sets of coefficients for functions relating measurable characteristics of the materials of analysis samples to the data in corresponding standardized data files, to determine from said functions said measurable characteristics and to transmit said measurable characteristics to the corresponding remote location.

8. The system for analyzing materials as recited in claim 7, wherein said standardized data files comprise absorbance measurements of said analysis samples and wherein said spectral data files of said library comprise absorbance measurements of said known materials.

9. The system for analyzing materials as recited in claim 7, wherein said data processing equipment produces said standardized data files by adjusting the transmitted intensity measurements made by said remote spectrographic instruments in accordance with the wave shift between the index points of said remote spectrographic instruments and said master spectrographic instrument and for the difference in the photometrics between said master spectrographic instrument and said remote spectrographic instruments.

10. The system for analyzing material as recited in claim 7, wherein said central data processor stores standardization files each corresponding to a remote spectrographic instrument, and wherein said central data processor is programmed to produce said standardized data files by adjusting intensity measurements made by said spectrographic instruments in accordance with the corresponding standardization files.

11. A system for analyzing materials comprising

a plurality of remote spectrographic instruments at different remote locations, said remote spectrographic instruments being operable to measure transmitted intensities of light transmitted through analysis samples of material to be analyzed at narrow wavelength bandwidths distributed throughout a spectral range, and

data processing equipment comprising

a remote data processor at each remote location and

a central data processor at a central web site,

said remote data processors being programmed to transmit spectral data files corresponding to the transmitted intensity measurements to said central web site, said data processing equipment being programmed to produce standardized data files in which the transmitted intensity measurements made by said remote data processors are adjusted to be the same as if they were made by the same master spectrographic instrument, said central data processor storing a library of spectral data files corresponding to transmitted intensity measurements made by said master spectrographic instrument on known materials, said central data processor being programmed to compare said standardized data files with the spectral data files of said library to select subsets of the spectral data files of said library wherein the spectral data files of each subset are the most similar to a corresponding standardized data file, said central data processor being programmed to determine from each subset a set of coefficients for an equation relating a measurable characteristic of the material of an analysis sample to the data in the corresponding standardized data file, to determine from said equation said measurable characteristic, and to transmit said measurable characteristic to the corresponding remote location.

12. The system for analyzing materials as recited in claim 11, wherein said central data processor is programmed to determine from each subset a set of coefficients for a plurality of equations relating a plurality of measurable characteristics of an analysis material to the data in a corresponding standardized data file, said central data processor being further programmed to determine said plurality of measurable characteristics from said plurality of equations.

13. A method of analyzing materials comprising

irradiating a material with light, detecting at a remote location with a remote spectrographic instrument the intensity of light diffusely reflected from said material at narrow wavelength bandwidths distributed through a spectrum,

transmitting a spectral data file corresponding to the detection of reflected intensities to a central web site,

producing a standardized file of data in which the reflected intensities detected by the remote spectrographic instrument are adjusted to be the same as if they were measured by a master spectrographic instrument,

storing at said central web site a library of spectral data files, each corresponding to spectrographic reflectance intensity measurements made on a known material by said master spectrographic instrument,

comparing said standardized file of data with said library of spectral data files to determine by a mathematical process in a central data processor at said web site the coefficients of a function relating a measurable characteristic of said material to the data in said standardized file of data, determining said measurable characteristic from said function, and

transmitting said measurable characteristic to said remote location.

14. The method of analyzing materials as recited in claim 13, wherein said standardized file of data is produced at said central web site from the spectral data file transmitted to said central web site.

15. The method of analyzing a material as recited in claim 14, further comprising storing at said central web site a standardization file for said remote spectrographic instrument corresponding to differences in measurements made by said remote spectrographic instrument and said master spectrographic instrument on a common material, said standardized file of data being produced from the spectral data file transmitted to central web site by adjusting such standardized file of data in accordance with said standardization file.

16. A method of analyzing materials comprising

irradiating a material with light,

detecting at a remote location with a remote spectrographic instrument the intensity of light diffusely reflected from said material at narrow wavelength bandwidths distributed through a spectrum,

transmitting a measurement file of data corresponding to the detected reflected intensities to a central web site,

producing a standardized file of data in which the reflected intensities detected by said remote spectrographic instrument are adjusted to be the same as if they were detected by a master spectrographic instrument,

storing at said central web site a library of spectral data files, each corresponding to spectrographic reflectance intensity measurements made on a known material by said master spectrographic instrument,

comparing said standardized file of data with said library of spectral data files to select a subset of spectral data files which are most similar to said standardized file,

determining from said subset, in a central data processor at said web site, the coefficients of an equation relating a measurable characteristic of said material to the data in said standardized file,

determining in said central data processor said measurable characteristic from said equation, and

transmitting said measurable characteristic to said remote location.

17. A method as recited in claim 16 further comprising determining whether the difference between said standardized file of data and the nearest spectral data file in the selected subset of spectral data files is within a predetermined tolerance.

18. A method of analyzing materials comprising

irradiating a material with light,

detecting at a remote location with a remote spectrographic instrument the intensity of light transmitted through said material at narrow wavelength bandwidths distributed through a spectrum,

transmitting a spectral data file corresponding to the detection of transmitted intensities to a central web site,

producing a standardized file of data in which the intensities detected by said remote spectrographic instrument are adjusted to be the same as if they were measured by a master spectrographic instrument,

storing at said central web site a library of spectral data files, each corresponding to spectrographic transmitted intensity measurements made on a known material by said master spectrographic instrument,

comparing said standardized file of data with said library of spectral data files to determine by a mathematical process in a central data processor at said web site the coefficients of a function relating said measurable characteristic to the data in said standardized file,

determining in said central data processor a measurable characteristic of said material from said function, and

transmitting said measurable characteristic to said remote location.

19. The method of analyzing materials as recited in claim 18, wherein said standardized file of data is produced at said central web site from the spectral data file transmitted to said central web site.

20. The method of analyzing a material as recited in claim 19, further comprising storing at said central web site a standardization file for said remote spectrographic instrument corresponding to differences in measurements made by said remote spectrographic instrument and said master spectrographic instrument on a common material, said standardized file of data being produced from the spectral data file transmitted to said central web site by adjusting such spectral data file in accordance with said standardization file.

21. A method of analyzing materials comprising

irradiating a material with light,

detecting at a remote location with a remote spectrographic instrument the intensity of light transmitted through said material at narrow wavelength bandwidths distributed through a spectrum,

transmitting a measurement file of data corresponding to the detection of transmitted intensities to a central web site,

producing a standardized file of data in which the intensities detected by said remote spectrographic instrument are adjusted to be the same as if they were measured by a master spectrographic instrument,

storing at said central web site a library of spectral data files, each corresponding to spectrographic transmitted intensity measurements made on a known material by said master spectrographic instrument,

comparing said standardized file of data with said library of spectral data files to select a subset of spectral data files which are most similar to said standardized file of data,

determining from said subset, in a central data processor at said web site, the coefficients of an equation relating said measurable characteristic to the data in said standardized file, determining in said central data processor a measurable characteristic of said material from said equation, and

transmitting said measurable characteristic to said remote location.

22. A method as recited in claim 21 further comprising determining whether the difference between said standardized file of data and the nearest spectral data file in the selected subset of spectral data files is within a predetermined tolerance.