KR20130039744A - Mutimodal analysing system of pearl and method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A fusion-type pearl analysis system and a pearl analysis method using the same are provided to appraise morphological properties of pearl by optical interference images and to utilize a fluorescence spectrum analysis, thereby obtaining original peak wavelength changes of the target pearl. CONSTITUTION: A fusion-type pearl analysis system(10) comprises an interference image generating unit(100) and a fluorescent spectrum generating unit(200). The interference image generating unit distributes lights radiated from a first light source to reference lights and measurement lights and generates interference images of a target pearl using an optical path difference of the reflected light and the reference light. The fluorescent spectrum generating unit radiates lights radiated from a second light source(210) to the target pearl, senses the fluorescent signals emitted by the target pearl, and generates fluorescent spectra using the sensed fluorescent signal. [Reference numerals] (110,210) First light source; (120) Light distribution unit; (130) Reference light reflection unit; (140) Measurement light reflection unit; (150) Indirect signal detection unit; (160) Image obtaining unit; (220) Fluorescent signal detection unit; (230) Fluorescent spectrum extracting unit;

Description

Futuristic Pearl Analysis System and Pearl Analysis Method Using the Same {Mutimodal Analysing System of Pearl and Method using The same}

The present invention discloses a fused pearl analysis system and a pearl analysis method using the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for identifying and discriminating pearls by simultaneously using optical coherence tomography analysis and fluorescence spectral analysis.

Generally, unlike other gems, pearls are organic gems produced from living organisms. In the past, only natural pearls produced in nature were circulated. Recently, pearls have been rapidly grown and the processing technology has been developed rapidly. The trend is increasing.

The value of pearls is determined by the emotion that identifies the quality of the inside and outside of the pearl and the distinction that distinguishes the type of pearl. However, the development of pearl culture technology and processing technology is increasing the difficulty of accurately determining the value of pearls, and the use of existing pearl discrimination apparatus is reaching its limit. The soft X-ray technique used as the pearl analyzer can measure the inside of the pearl non-destructively, but the resolution is inferior. The electron scanning microscope has the high resolution but has the fatal disadvantage of destroying the pearl. Determination of pearl imitation cladding that distinguishes the type of pearl is also a conventional commercial X-ray fluorescence analysis (X-ray fluorescence analysis) method is only a distinction between freshwater pearls and seawater pearls, there is a difficulty in distinguishing species between seawater pearls. In addition, when the X-rays are irradiated with pearls, the overall color of the pearls becomes dark, resulting in a drop in the product value of pearls. Therefore, pearl differentiation method through fluorescence analysis based on N₂ laser has been reported, but this also has limitations in analyzing some pearls.

Determining the pearl's imitation while measuring and analyzing the internal structure of the pearl with high resolution and non-destructively has a great meaning as it can easily determine the product value of the pearl without compromising the pearl's value.

In view of solving the above-described problems, the present invention provides a fusion type pearl analysis system capable of performing non-destructive analysis of pearl internal structure and accurately determining pearl clam by performing fluorescence spectrum analysis simultaneously with optical interference image analysis. The proposal is a technical task.

However, the technical problem of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned matters, and other objects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

In order to achieve the above technical problem, in the fusion-type pearl analysis system according to the present invention, light emitted from a first light source is divided into reference light and measurement light, and the light reflected by the measurement pearl (sample pearl) is measured. And an interference image generating unit generating an optical interference image of the pearl to be measured using an optical path difference between the reference light and the reference light. And a fluorescence spectrum generator for detecting the fluorescence signal emitted by the pearl to be measured by irradiating the pearl to be measured with light emitted from a second light source and generating a fluorescence spectrum using the detected fluorescence signal.

The interference image generating unit may include a light distribution unit that distributes the light emitted from the first light source into the reference light and the measurement light, a reference light reflection unit that receives the reference light and reflects the light to the light distribution unit, and the measurement light It is preferable to include a measurement light reflecting unit that receives the measurement target pearl and reflects the light reflected by the measurement target pearl to the light distribution side.

The interference image generating unit may further include an interference signal detection unit configured to detect an interference signal measured according to an optical path difference between the reference light reflected from the reference light reflecting unit reaching through the light distribution unit and the measurement light reflected by the measurement target pearl. It may be included.

In addition, it is preferable that the interference signal detector is a dual balanced optical receiver composed of a photo detector.

Also preferably, the interference image generator may convert the interference signal in the wavelength domain detected by the interference signal detector into an interference spectrum signal in a wave range and obtain the optical interference image through a Fourier transform on the interference spectrum signal. It may further include an image acquisition unit.

The fluorescence spectrum generator may include a fluorescence signal detector for detecting a fluorescence signal emitted from the pearl of measurement and a fluorescence spectrum extractor for extracting a fluorescence spectrum from a fluorescence signal detected by the fluorescence signal receiver through a spectrometer. good.

In addition, the measurement light reflecting unit is preferably irradiated to the measurement target pearl by combining the light irradiated from the second light source and the measurement light.

In addition, the first light source preferably uses a wavelength tunable laser that outputs the wavelength of the laser beam by varying the time.

Preferably, the fluorescent signal detector may be formed at a position perpendicular to the input direction of the measurement light irradiated from the light irradiation unit.

On the other hand, in order to achieve the above technical problem, the pearl discrimination method according to the present invention, (a) distributing the light emitted from the first light source to the reference light and the measurement light, (b) receives the reference light and reflects Receiving the measurement light and irradiating the measurement object pearl, (c) irradiating the light emitted from the second light source to the measurement object pearl, and (d) the reference light reflected in the step (b); Generating an optical interference image using the optical path difference of the light reflected by the pearl to be measured, and (e) detecting a fluorescent signal emitted by the pearl to be measured in step (c). Extracting the step.

Here, it is preferable that the measurement light of step (b) and the light irradiated from the second light source of step (c) are combined and irradiated simultaneously to the measurement target pearl.

In the step (e), the detection of the fluorescence signal emitted from the pearl of measurement is more preferably performed at a position perpendicular to the input direction of the light irradiated from the second light source.

According to the present invention grasped from the contents described herein, since the fluorescence spectrum is acquired simultaneously in addition to the optical interference image of the pearl to be measured, the pearl of the pearl to be measured is inherent regardless of the apparent color of the pearl or the γ-ray treatment. It is possible to check the center wavelength of, so it is possible to accurately determine the species or imitation of the pearl to be measured.

In addition, according to the present invention, the morphological characteristics of pearls can be judged by optical interference images, and the fluorescence spectrum analysis can be used to obtain the unique center wavelength of the pearl to be measured. It is possible to determine the dog.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing a fused pearl discrimination system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
2 is a view illustrating in more detail the fused pearl discrimination system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
3A and 3B are diagrams for explaining optical interference tomography images of four kinds of pearl species;
4 is a diagram illustrating the fluorescence spectral distribution of four pearls;
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating changes in intensity of wavelength peaks over time and fluorescence spectra for two kinds of pearls;
6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a fluorescence spectrum of pearls measured by the schematic diagram and a fluorescence spectrum generating unit according to the present invention;
7 is a flowchart illustrating a pearl discrimination method according to an embodiment of the present invention;
8 is a diagram illustrating optical interference images of four types of pearls;
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a fluorescence spectrum of the pearl species shown in FIG. 8.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description herein, when a component is described as being connected to another component, this means that the component may be directly connected to another component or an intervening third component may be interposed therebetween. In the drawings, the same reference numerals are used to designate the same or similar components throughout the drawings. At this time, the configuration and operation of the present invention shown in the drawings and described by it will be described as at least one embodiment, by which the technical spirit of the present invention and its core configuration and operation is not limited.

1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a fused pearl discriminating system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the fusion pearl discrimination system 10 according to an exemplary embodiment includes an interference image generator 100 and a fluorescence spectrum generator 200. It should be noted that the interference image generator here may be referred to as an optical coherence tomography subsystem in the following specification. Similarly, it should be noted that the fluorescence spectral generator may be referred to as a laser-induced fluorescence subsystem in the following specification.

The interference image generating unit 100 distributes the light irradiated from the first light source into the reference light and the measurement light, and uses the light path difference between the light reflected by the sample pearl and the reference light. An optical interference image of the pearl to be measured is generated.

In detail, the interference image generating unit 100 includes the first light source 110, the light distribution unit 120, the reference light reflecting unit 130, the measurement light reflecting unit 140, the interference signal detecting unit 150, and the image obtaining unit 160. ).

Here, the connection of the first light source 110 and the light distribution unit 120, the connection of the light distribution unit 120 and the reference light reflecting unit 130, the connection of the light distribution unit 120 and the measurement light reflecting unit 140, and light fraction Connection of the distribution unit 120 and the interference signal detection unit 150 may be made through an optical fiber.

The light irradiated from the first light source 110 is transmitted to the light distribution unit 120, and the light distribution unit 120 distributes the received light into reference light and measurement light. Here, the reference light is incident to the reference light reflector 130, and the measurement light is incident to the measurement light reflector 140.

The reference light reflecting unit 130 reflects the incident reference light and transmits it back to the light distribution unit 120, and the measuring light incident on the measuring light reflecting unit 140 is irradiated to the pearl to be measured. The measurement light irradiated on the pearl is reflected by the pearl to be measured because the measurement light is reflected from each surface of the pearl's surface and the inner monolayer. As such, the measurement light reflected by the pearl is input to the light distribution unit 120 again to cause interference with the reference light reflected by the reference light reflector 120. That is, optical interference occurs due to the difference in the optical paths between the reference light and the measurement light passing through the reference light reflector 120 and the measurement light reflector 140.

The interference signal detector 150 is provided to detect an interference signal according to the optical interference, and the image acquirer 160 converts the interference signal detected by the interference signal detector 150 into a digital signal, and then reconstructs the frequency domain. Is converted into an interference spectrum signal. Next, the image acquisition unit 160 obtains the interference spectrum signal as an optical interference image through a Fourier transform. The interference signal detector 150 and the image acquisition unit 160 will be described in detail later.

The fluorescence spectrum generator 200 detects a fluorescence signal emitted by the pearl to be measured by irradiating the pearl to be measured with the light emitted from the second light source, and generates a fluorescence spectrum using the detected fluorescence signal.

In detail, the fluorescence spectrum generator 200 includes a second light source 210, a fluorescence signal detector 220, and a fluorescence spectrum extractor 230.

The light irradiated from the second light source 210 is incident on the measurement light reflecting unit 140 of the interference image generating unit 100, is combined with the measurement light, and irradiated to the measurement target pearl. The light irradiated from the second light source 210 is excited by the pearl to be measured to emit a fluorescent signal. At this time, the fluorescent signal is detected by the fluorescent signal detector 220 disposed adjacent to the pearl, The fluorescence spectrum extractor 230 extracts a fluorescence spectrum using the detected fluorescence signal. Details of the fluorescence signal detector 220 and the fluorescence spectrum extractor 230 will be described later.

2 is a view illustrating in more detail the fused pearl differentiation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the fusion pearl discriminating system 10 includes a first light source 110, an optical circulator 115, an optical coupler 120, first to third collimators L1 to L3, and a first To third reflectors M1 to M3, objective lens OL, color filter DF, motor driving stage MRS, optical fiber lens LF, spectrometer 230, second light source 210, reflection A mirror RM, a photo detector 150, a data acquisition board 160, an MRS controller 170, and a computer 180.

First, operation of an optical coherence tomography subsystem corresponding to the interference image generator (see 100 of FIG. 1) will be described.

The first light source 110 is provided as a swept laser source (SS) for outputting the laser beam by varying the wavelength of the laser beam over time. The light irradiated from the first light source 110 passes through the light circulator 115 and is input to the optical coupler 120. In the optical coupler 120, light is distributed to the reference light and the measurement light and distributed to the reference light reflector 130 and the measurement light reflector 140. Here, the reference light and the measurement light are preferably distributed in a ratio of 50:50. The reference light incident on the reference light reflector 130 is converted into parallel light by the second collimator L2, and is reflected by the reflection mirror RM formed at a distance spaced from the second collimator L2 to couple the optical coupler. Incident at 120.

On the other hand, the measurement light incident on the measurement light reflecting unit 140 is converted into parallel light by the first collimator L1 and is incident on the pearl P placed on the motor driving stage MRS by the objective lens OL. . At this time, the parallel light can be incident on a predetermined area of pearls placed on the motor drive stage MRS stopped by the motor mirrors M2 and M3, and the motor drive stages are stopped while the motor drive mirrors M2 and M3 are stopped. The operation of the MRS) also permits incidence of the peripheral region of the pearl.

The measurement light incident on the pearl P by the measurement light reflecting unit 140 is reflected at the boundary surface of the pearl surface and the pearl inner monolayer and is reflected by the optical coupler 120, and is reflected by the reference light reflecting unit 130 to reflect the optical coupler ( Coupled with the reference light reflected by 120. When the reference light and the measurement light are combined in this way, an interference signal is generated due to the difference in the optical paths of the reference light and the measurement light, which are detected by the photo detector 150. The interference signal detected by the photo detector 150 is transmitted to the data acquisition board 160 to be converted into an interference spectrum signal of a wave range, and an optical interference image is obtained through Fourier transform on the converted interference spectrum signal. Here, since the process of converting the interference signal into the interference spectrum signal of the wave range and the Fourier transform can be easily performed by referring to a known technique, the detailed description thereof is omitted here.

Next, the driving of the LIF subsystem (Laser-Induced Fluorescence subsystem) corresponding to the fluorescence spectrum generation unit (see 200 in FIG. 1) will be described.

The second light source 210 is provided with a laser diode (LD). The light irradiated from the second light 210 is converted into parallel light by the third collimator L3 and reflected by the first reflector M1 to measure the light reflected from the dichroic filter DF. It is combined with the measurement light irradiated with pearl (P) at. Therefore, the pearl P is irradiated with the light of the second light source 210 simultaneously with the measurement light. The fluorescent signal emitted by the light emitted from the second light source 210 when it strikes the pearl P is detected by a lensed fiber probe (LF). The optical fiber lens here may be a multimode optical fiber. The fluorescence signal detected by the optical fiber lens LF is passed through a long-pass filter (LPF) and then extracted as a fluorescence spectrum signal by the spectrometer 230.

Here, the optical fiber lens 220 at a 90-degree angle with the direction that the light irradiated to the pearl (P) from the second light source 210 and the measurement light irradiated to the pearl (P) from the measurement light reflecting unit 140 is incident It is preferable to form, because it is to prevent the light irradiated from the second light source 210 to reach the optical fiber lens 220 directly.

As such, the interference image and the fluorescence spectrum generated by the data acquisition board 160 and the spectrometer 230 are transmitted to the computer 180 and displayed to the user. Therefore, the user can simultaneously perform morphological and physical analysis on pearl P as well as chemical analysis through fluorescence spectra.

On the other hand, the motor drive stage (MRS) is controlled by the computer 180 described above, is provided to detect the interference image and the fluorescence spectrum while rotating the pearl (P) at a 360 degree angle, the motor drive stage (MRS) The rotation of the MRS controller 170 connected to and controlled by the computer 180 is not significantly different from a known technology, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Hereinafter, the principle of discriminating pearls using interference images and fluorescence spectrum analysis will be described.

3A and 3B are diagrams for explaining an optical interference image of pearls.

3A shows three-dimensional OCT images of (a) Akoya pearls, (b) Freshwater pearls, (c) South sea pearls, and (d) Tahitian pearls.

3A is a three-dimensional pearl internal structure image measured by the motorized mirrors M2 and M3 in the above-described interference image generator (OCT sub-system). These images can be used to observe the presence of pearl cores and defects in the pearl. (a) Akoya pearls can also be used to distinguish the types of pearl nuclei, and (b) freshwater pearls can be observed for cracks in the nacre.

3B is a two-dimensional pearl circumference image measured by the motor driving stage RMS in the above-described interference image generating unit (OCT sub-system), and (a) pearl circumference image, (b), (c), (d ) and (e) represent the interference spectra at intervals of 90 degrees, respectively. These images enable the quantitative measurement of nacre thickness as well as the presence of nuclei and defects in the pearl.

4 is a diagram illustrating the fluorescence spectral distribution of four pearls.

As shown in Fig. 4, each pearl species has its own fluorescence center wavelength, and each peak wavelength of (a) akoya pearl, (b) south ocean pearl, and (d) freshwater pearl is 527 nm, respectively. 548 nm and 602 nm. In particular, it is observed that (c) Tahitan pearls have two central wavelengths of 620 nm and 652 nm.

Therefore, according to the fusion type pearl analyzer according to the present invention, the fluorescence spectrum of the pearl to be measured can be obtained, and pearl species can be accurately determined by comparing it with the intrinsic center wavelength of each pearl species.

In some cases, for example, akoya pearls and south sea pearls may have very close peak wavelengths, making it difficult to accurately distinguish them, which is due to the rate of decay of the fluorescence signal emitted by the akoya pearls and south sea pearls. These can be easily distinguished by comparative analysis of decaying rates.

For this, refer to the graph shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating changes in intensity of fluorescence spectra and wavelength peaks with respect to two kinds of pearls.

As shown in FIG. 5, when comparing the fluorescence spectra of (a) the Akoya pearls and (b) the fluorescence spectra of the South Sea pearls, the peak wavelengths were slightly different to 530 nm and 555 nm, respectively. In this case, referring to the graph (c) showing the decay rate of the fluorescent signal, these can be easily distinguished. That is, as shown in Figure 5 (c), the decaying rate of the Namyang pearl is faster than the decaying rate of the Akoya pearl can be distinguished species of the pearl to be measured.

6 is a schematic view illustrating a fluorescence spectrum of pearls measured by the schematic diagram and a fluorescence spectrum generating unit according to the present invention.

That is, Fig. 6 (a) shows the configuration of the LIF subsystem described above, and Fig. 6 (b)-(d) shows the fluorescence spectra obtained from the LIF subsystem.

As shown in Fig. 6 (a), a single wavelength laser diode is used as the fluorescence excitation light source, and a fluorescence signal is detected using a multimode optical fiber (see LF in Fig. 2) for efficient fluorescence signal detection. The fluorescence signal from the pearl is then transmitted to the spectrometer through a multimode fiber. In this case, only a wavelength of 450 nm or more is selectively detected using a long pass filter (LPF), and the detected fluorescence signal is represented as a fluorescence spectrum through a series of signal processing processes.

6 (b)-(d) show fluorescence spectra obtained from a fused pearl differentiation system according to the present invention. FIG. 6 (b) shows the fluorescence spectra of Akoya pearls, Namyang pearls, freshwater pearls, and Tahiti pearls. 6 (c) shows the fluorescence spectra of Akoya pearls, Namyang pearls, and freshwater pearls having various surface colors, regardless of the apparent color. FIG. 6 (d) shows the Namyang pearls having artificial gloss and Namyang pearl spectra of natural gloss by irradiating γ-rays, and show that the intrinsic spectrum of pearls can be determined regardless of γ-ray treatment.

As described above, using the fusion pearl analysis system according to the present invention, the internal structure of the pearl by fusing the OCT sub-system for acquiring optical interference images and the LIF sub-system for analyzing the pearl fluorescence spectrum from each pearl, It is possible to simultaneously analyze and discriminate against the clam.

In addition, from the description of FIG. 6 described above, it can be seen that the intrinsic spectrum of pearls is not affected by the apparent color and γ-ray treatment of pearls, so that pearl species can be accurately determined even if there is any treatment on the pearl surface. have.

Hereinafter, a description will be given of a pearl discrimination method according to an embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9. However, since the pearl discrimination method uses the above-described fusion pearl discrimination system, repeated descriptions thereof will be omitted.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a pearl discrimination method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 7, the pearl discrimination method includes distributing light emitted from a first light source into reference light and measurement light (S10), and receiving and reflecting reference light and irradiating the measurement light to pearls (S20). Irradiating the pearl with light emitted from the second light source (S30), generating an interference image using the optical path difference between the reflected reference light and the measurement light reflected by the pearl (S40) and emitted by the pearl Detecting a fluorescence signal to generate a fluorescence spectrum (S50).

The measurement light irradiated in step S20 and the light irradiated in step S30 are combined with each other and irradiated with pearls at the same time. In step S50, detecting the fluorescent signal emitted by the pearl is perpendicular to the input direction of the light irradiated from the second light source. Detect using a fiber optic lens at the location. Other descriptions may be easily understood by referring to the above-described fusion pearl discriminating system, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

However, an example of simultaneously performing the interference spectrum analysis and the fluorescence spectrum analysis will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating optical interference tomography images of four kinds of pearls, and FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating tomography images and fluorescence spectra of pearls having non-uniformly treated nacres.

Figure 8 (a) is a photograph of the four types of pearls, Figures 8 (b)-(e) are Akoya pearls (b), Namyang pearls (c), Tahitan pearls (d), freshwater pearls (e) OCT image for).

9 (a)-(e) show actual photographs (a), tomography images (b), image processed tomography images (c), fluorescence signal intensity distributions (d), and fluorescence according to the thickness of the nacre, respectively. Relative intensity e of the signal.

The pearl discrimination method according to the present invention uses the OCT subsystem and the LIF subsystem at the same time, and the LIF subsystem generates fluorescence spectra repeatedly while acquiring optical interference tomography images of pearls in the OCT subsystem. Therefore, by extracting the morphological and physical characteristics of the pearl to be measured from the acquired optical interference tomography image, it is possible to estimate the qualitative feeling inside the pearl and the pearl species to which the pearl of measurement belongs, and the fluorescence of each pearl species from the obtained fluorescence spectrum By comparing the spectral characteristics, it is possible to determine exactly which pearl species are the pearls to be measured and what imitations they are.

As described above, the present invention has been described by way of limited embodiments and drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, which can be variously modified and modified by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Modifications are possible. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined solely by the claims appended hereto, and that all equivalents or equivalent variations thereof fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.

10: fusion type pearl analysis system 100: interference image generating unit
200: fluorescence spectrum generating unit 110: a first light source
120: light distribution unit 130: reference light reflecting unit
140: measurement light reflecting unit 150: interference signal detection unit
160: image acquisition unit 210: second light source
220: fluorescent signal detection unit 230: fluorescent spectrum extraction unit

Claims (2)

The light emitted from the first light source is divided into reference light and measurement light, and the optical interference image of the pearl to be measured is measured by using the light path difference between the light reflected by the sample pearl and the reference light. Generating an interference image generating unit; And
A fused pearl comprising a fluorescence spectrum generating unit for irradiating light emitted from a second light source to the measurement target pearl to detect a fluorescence signal emitted by the measurement target pearl and to generate a fluorescence spectrum using the detected fluorescence signal. Analysis system. (a) distributing light emitted from the first light source into reference light and measurement light;
(b) receiving and reflecting the reference light and irradiating the measurement target pearl to the measurement light;
(c) irradiating the pearl to be measured with light irradiated from a second light source;
(d) generating an optical interference image using the optical path difference between the reference light reflected in step (b) and the light reflected by the measurement target pearl; And
(e) detecting a fluorescence signal emitted by the pearl of interest in step (c) and extracting a fluorescence spectrum.

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