KR20180014533A - Optical Analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides an optical analysis device having improved analysis accuracy by removing a noise of a light source. The optical analysis device comprises: the light source providing light; a sample support part in which a sample is provided; a beam splitter providing the light provided from the light source on the sample support part; a light scattering element located between the light source and the beam splitter, and scattering the light provided from the light source to provide the light to the beam splitter; and a light detector in which the light reflected from the sample support part and passing through the beam splitter is incident.

Description

Optical Analyzer {Optical Analyzer}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical analyzer, and more particularly, to an optical analyzer for improving analytical accuracy by irradiating an analytical sample with light with a uniform amount of light using scattered light.

Optical analyzers can detect the properties of materials by using scattering, reflection, refraction, absorption, interference, diffraction, and polarization, which are characteristics of light when light reacts with material.

Optical analysis involves a process in which the light provided by the light source reacts with the analyte to provide light to the detector where the energy change occurs. In this case, the analyte is collected separately and provided to the optical analyzer.

In a general optical analyzer, light provided in a light source is provided as an analyte. Most of the light provided by the light source is directional. When such light is supplied, the amount of light is unevenly distributed in each region of the analyte. Unevenly provided light quantity can lower the reliability of the measurement result of the analyte. Therefore, a technique capable of providing a uniform amount of light to each region of the analyte is required.

On the other hand, existing blood glucose measuring devices are invasive technology based devices through blood collection or minimally invasive technology based devices through electric stimulation. Such a blood glucose measurement method can cause pain to the user during the blood sampling process. Therefore, a technique capable of measuring blood glucose in a noninvasive manner is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an optical analyzer in which noises of a light source are removed and analysis accuracy is improved.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an optical analyzer which can be used as a non-invasive body fluid analyzer.

Another technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an optical analyzer which can be used for telemedicine.

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is not limited to the above.

In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides an optical analyzer.

According to one embodiment, an optical analyzer comprises a light source providing light, a sample support on which a sample is provided, a beam splitter providing the light provided on the light source on the sample support, a beam splitter positioned between the light source and the beam splitter, A light scattering element for scattering the light provided from the light source and providing the light to the beam splitter, and a photodetector for reflecting light reflected from the sample support and passing through the beam splitter.

According to one embodiment, the optical analyzer further includes a signal processing unit for processing an image of the sample from the optical signal incident on the photodetector, wherein the signal processing unit bitmaps the image of the sample into a plurality of , And the concentration of the sample can be measured by analyzing the optical signal for each of the unit cells.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the light source may include at least one of a super luminescent diode (SLD), a halogen lamp, a xenon lamp, a light emitting diode (LED), and a laser.

According to one embodiment, the light scattering element may be formed of at least one of PET and PMMA.

According to one embodiment, the light scattering element can eliminate the directionality of the light provided from the light source.

According to one embodiment, the sample support, the beam splitter, and the photodetector may be coaxially disposed.

According to one embodiment, the optical analyzer may further comprise a zoom lens disposed between the beam splitter and the photodetector, for adjusting the image information of the sample.

According to one embodiment, the optical analyzer may further include a wavelength selection filter disposed between the light scattering element and the sample support, and outputting the light scattered by the light scattering element as light of a single wavelength .

The optical analyzer according to the embodiment of the present invention irradiates the light scattered by the light scattering element to the analytical sample with a uniform light amount to remove the noise of the light, thereby improving the analytical accuracy.

In addition, the optical analyzer according to the embodiment of the present invention can be used as a non-invasive body fluid analyzer, does not cause patient's pain, can be used for telemedicine in connection with a smart device, and convenience can be improved .

1 is a view for explaining the configurations of an optical analysis apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a view for explaining an image of a sample processed by the signal processing unit of the optical analysis apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a view for explaining the configurations of the optical analysis apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a view for explaining the configurations of an optical analysis apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a view for explaining an application example of an optical analyzer manufactured according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the technical spirit of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein but may be embodied in other forms. Rather, the embodiments disclosed herein are provided so that the disclosure can be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

In this specification, when an element is referred to as being on another element, it may be directly formed on another element, or a third element may be interposed therebetween. Further, in the drawings, the thicknesses of the films and regions are exaggerated for an effective explanation of the technical content.

Also, while the terms first, second, third, etc. in the various embodiments of the present disclosure are used to describe various components, these components should not be limited by these terms. These terms have only been used to distinguish one component from another. Thus, what is referred to as a first component in any one embodiment may be referred to as a second component in another embodiment. Each embodiment described and exemplified herein also includes its complementary embodiment. Also, in this specification, 'and / or' are used to include at least one of the front and rear components.

The singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It is also to be understood that the terms such as " comprises "or" having "are intended to specify the presence of stated features, integers, Should not be understood to exclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements, elements, or combinations thereof.

In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

The optical analyzer according to the present invention is capable of analyzing various analytes, but in the present embodiment, a blood glucose measurement sensor for measuring changes in concentration of glucose contained in tears will be described as an example. The optical analyzer according to the present invention is not limited to the blood glucose measurement sensor.

1 is a view for explaining the configurations of an optical analysis apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1, the optical analyzer includes a light source 110, a light scattering element 120, a beam splitter 130, a sample supporter 140, a lens unit 150, a photodetector 160, and a signal processor 170 ).

Light source 110 provides light. The light may be provided as directional light. According to the embodiment, the light source 110 may include a light source providing a wide wavelength range light such as a super luminescent diode (SLD), a halogen lamp, a xenon lamp, a light emitting diode (LED) It can be either.

The light scattering element 120 is positioned between the light source 110 and the beam splitter 130 and removes the directionality of the light provided by the light source 110. [ The direction-removed light can be provided in a uniform amount of light over the entire irradiation area of the light. According to the embodiment, the light scattering element 120 may be formed of at least one of PET and PMMA.

The beam splitter 130 is positioned between the light scattering element 120 and the sample support 140 and is positioned between the sample support 140 and the light detector 160. The beam splitter 130 provides the deflected light to the sample support 140 in the light scattering element and provides the light reflected from the sample support 140 to the photodetector 160. According to an embodiment, the beam splitter 130 may be in the form of a cube or a plate. Specifically, the cube-shaped beam splitter 130 uses two right angle prisms, and may be a thin film coating on the oblique surfaces of the two prisms. The plate-shaped beam splitter 130 may be thin-coated on only one side of both sides of the plate.

The sample support 140 is provided with a sample to be measured. The sample may be provided as a substance in which a substance to be analyzed undergoes a color change through a pretreatment process. According to one embodiment, the sample may be provided by pretreating a PET lens or a tear collected through a strip as an analyte. The hydrogen peroxide produced by reacting glucose contained in the tears with glucose oxidase can react with cerium nanoparticles to exhibit color change. The color change corresponds to the concentration of hydrogen peroxide, and the concentration of hydrogen peroxide corresponds to the concentration of glucose. Therefore, the optical analyzer can measure blood glucose in a non-invasive manner by measuring the degree of color change.

The lens unit 150 is disposed between the beam splitter 130 and the photodetector 160 and regulates information such as the image size or focus of the sample that the light provided to the photodetector 160 contains.

The photodetector 160 is disposed coaxially with the sample support 140 and the beam splitter 130. The light reflected by the sample supporter 140 and passed through the beam splitter 130 is incident on the photodetector 160. The sample support 140 and the beam splitter 130 and the optical detector 160 are provided on the same optical axis so that the light incident on the optical detector 160 is transmitted to the sample support 140 Shadows due to the sample can be removed. The photodetector 160 may be any one selected from a photodiode, a photomultiplier tube (PMT), a charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor, and a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor .

The signal processing unit 170 processes the image of the sample from the optical signal provided by the photodetector 160. The signal processor 170 may classify the image of the sample into a plurality of unit cells by bitmapping and measure the concentration of the sample by analyzing the optical signal for each unit cell. According to one embodiment, the signal processor 170 may measure the density of the sample by comparing the color of the unit cells with the color coordinate system. According to one example, the color coordinate system may be any one selected from RGB, CIE, CMYK, HSV, and HSL.

2 is a view for explaining an image of a sample processed by the signal processing unit of the optical analysis apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the image 175 of the sample is bit-mapped and can be processed in the signal processor 170. According to the embodiment, the image 175 of the sample is divided into 1 to 256 unit cells and can be bit-mapped.

3 is a view for explaining the configurations of the optical analysis apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the optical analyzer may further include a zoom lens 155.

The zoom lens 155 is disposed between the beam splitter 130 and the lens unit 150. The zoom lens 155 can improve the resolution of the image of the sample that the photodetector 160 can acquire when using the CCD sensor or the CMOS sensor as the photodetector 160. Thus, the spatial resolution of the optical analyzer can be improved.

4 is a view for explaining the configurations of an optical analysis apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the optical analyzer may further include a wavelength selection filter 125.

The wavelength selection filter 125 may adjust the light amount of the light and the irradiation region of the light when the light source 110 uses the light emitting diode or the multiple light emitting diode. The wavelength selection filter 125 can be used to selectively transmit a spectrum of a specific range according to a user operation such as a visible light region or a UV region. Accordingly, since the light amount of the light absorbed depends on the concentration of the sample, smooth concentration analysis can be provided through selection of the absorption spectrum according to the kind of the sample.

5 is a view for explaining an application example of an optical analyzer manufactured according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the optical analyzer according to the present invention may be manufactured as a small-sized analysis module 100 and connected to the smart device 220 and used for remote medical examination.

The user 240 may insert a PET lens 250 into the eye and provide a sample to the analysis module 100.

The PET lens 250 is inserted with an enzyme that reacts with specific disease factors contained in the tears. When the user 240 inserts the PET lens 250 into the eyeball, the tears of the user 250 are provided inside the PET lens 250, so that specific disease factors contained in the tears can react with the enzyme and develop color. 1, the specific disease agent is glucose, and the enzyme is glucose oxidase, and the assay module 100 can be used as a blood glucose measurement sensor.

The eyepiece 230 secures the eye of the user 240 to the analysis module 100 so that it can easily provide the sample 250 to the analysis module 100.

The analysis module 100 may include a light source 110, a light scattering element 120, and a beam splitter 130. The light provided by the light source 110 is provided to the sample 250 through the light scattering element 120 and the beam splitter 130. The light reflected from the sample 250 is again provided to the smart device 220 through the beam splitter 130.

The smart device 220 includes a mobile camera 210. The mobile camera 210 may be used as the photodetector 160 and the smart device 220 may be used as the signal processor 170.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the scope of the present invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. It will also be appreciated that many modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.

100: Analysis module
110: Light source
120: Light scattering element
125: wavelength selection filter
130: beam splitter
140: sample support
145: Color change according to concentration
150:
155: Zoom lens
160: Photodetector
170: Signal processor
175: Image of sample
210: Mobile camera
220: Smart devices
230: eyelet
240: User
250: lens

Claims (8)

A light source for providing light;
A sample support on which a sample is provided;
A beam splitter for providing the light provided by the light source on the sample support;
A light scattering element located between the light source and the beam splitter, for scattering the light provided from the light source and providing the light to the beam splitter; And
And a photodetector for reflecting light reflected from the sample support and passing through the beam splitter. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a signal processing unit for processing an image of the sample from an optical signal incident on the photodetector,
Wherein the signal processor divides the image of the sample into a plurality of unit cells by bitmapping and analyzes the optical signal for each unit cell to measure the concentration of the sample. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the light source includes at least one of a super luminescent diode (SLD), a halogen lamp, a xenon lamp, a light emitting diode (LED), and a laser. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the light scattering element comprises at least one of PET and PMMA. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the light scattering element removes the directionality of the light provided from the light source. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the sample support, the beam splitter, and the photodetector are disposed on the same axis. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a zoom lens disposed between the beam splitter and the photodetector and adapted to adjust image information of the sample. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a wavelength selection filter disposed between the light scattering element and the sample support and outputting the light scattered by the light scattering element as light of a single wavelength.

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