Sensors for detecting physical conditions
First Claim
1. A sensor for detecting physical or chemical conditions, of the type comprising:
- a volume of light-translucent material having light-scattering centers generally evenly dispersed therein;
a light emitter in operative communication with said material for emitting light into the interior of said material and thereby forming an integrating optical cavity within the interior of said material, said cavity defined by a region within which light from said source is generally fully scattered within one characteristic scattering length from said emitter;
a first light detector in operative communication with said material for detecting the intensity of scattered light within said optical cavity;
signal processing means in operative communication with said light detector, for converting said light intensity level into a corresponding electronic signal;
characterized by;
either of said light-translucent material or said scattering centers dispersed therein being responsive to changes in physical, chemical or biological conditions within the medium surrounding said material whereby the effective concentration of said scattering centers within said material changes in response to changes in said condition.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A sensor for detecting changes in a variety of conditions is provided, including temperature, chemical conditions including pH and ion levels, biological antigens, radiation levels, electrical field and pressure applied to the sensor. The sensor body is formed from a material which incorporates an evenly dispersed matrix of light-scattering elements. A light source emits light into the body to form an effective optical cavity in which the light is scattered by the matrix. One or more receivers detects the intensity of scattered or integrated light inside and/or outside of the optical cavity. The matrix and/or the sensor body are composed of materials which reduce or increase the density of light-scattering elements, depending on the conditions applied to the matrix. An increase in the density of the light-scattering elements results in a corresponding increase in the integrated intensity of light received by the receiver, when the receiver is positioned within the optical cavity. At a more distant location, the integrated light intensity at the receiver decreases as the density of scattering elements increases. A processing unit translates the intensity level received by the receiver, into a measure of intensity of the condition detected by the sensor.
58 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A sensor for detecting physical or chemical conditions, of the type comprising:
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a volume of light-translucent material having light-scattering centers generally evenly dispersed therein;
a light emitter in operative communication with said material for emitting light into the interior of said material and thereby forming an integrating optical cavity within the interior of said material, said cavity defined by a region within which light from said source is generally fully scattered within one characteristic scattering length from said emitter;
a first light detector in operative communication with said material for detecting the intensity of scattered light within said optical cavity;
signal processing means in operative communication with said light detector, for converting said light intensity level into a corresponding electronic signal;
characterized by;
either of said light-translucent material or said scattering centers dispersed therein being responsive to changes in physical, chemical or biological conditions within the medium surrounding said material whereby the effective concentration of said scattering centers within said material changes in response to changes in said condition. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13)
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- 11. A sensor for detection of an electric field, wherein a light translucent material comprises a hydrated gel matrix, having evenly dispersed therein particles comprising functional groups which react to the presence of an electric field by causing said gel to shrink or swell.
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14. A method for detecting physical, chemical or electromagnetic conditions, of the type comprising a sensor to a selected condition and transmitting an electronic signal in response thereto, characterized by the steps of:
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providing a volume of light translucent material having dispersed therein light scattering centers;
said material or said scattering centers being responsive to changes in physical, chemical or biological conditions whereby the effective concentration of said scattering centers increases in response to said changes;
emitting a beam of light into the interior of said material, thereby forming within said material a virtual integrating optical cavity defined by a region within which light from said beam is fully scattered by said scattering centers;
detecting the intensity of said scattered light with a photodetector;
converting the detected level of scattered light within said optical cavity into information indicative of a selected physical, chemical or biological condition. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26)
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- 24. A method for detection of an electric field, wherein a light translucent material comprises a hydrated gel matrix, having evenly dispersed therein particles comprising functional groups which react to the presence of an electric field by causing said gel to shrink or swell.
Specification