A system for characterizing at least one particle from a fluid sample is disclosed. The system includes a filter disposed upstream of an outlet, and a luminaire configured to illuminate the at least one particle at an oblique angle. An imaging device is configured to capture and process images of the illuminated at least one particle as it rests on the filter for characterizing the at least one particle. A system for characterizing at least one particle using bright field illumination is also disclosed. A method for characterizing particulates in a fluid sample using at least one of oblique angle and bright field illumination is also disclosed.

A system for visualizing one or more bubbles formed by a catheter, the system includes a fluid container, a pulse generator, a schlieren imaging assembly, and a processor. The fluid container is configured to: (i) contain a fluid, and (ii) receive into the fluid the catheter having one or more electrodes. The pulse generator is configured to apply one or more pulses to at least one of the electrodes. The schlieren imaging assembly is configured to acquire schlieren images of the bubbles occurring in the fluid when applying the one or more pulses, and the processor is configured to visualize the bubbles using the schlieren images.

The present disclosure provides apparatuses, systems, and methods for performing particle analysis through flow cytometry at comparatively high event rates and for gathering high resolution images of particles.

The inventive concept relates to an apparatus for treating a substrate. The apparatus includes a liquid supply unit that supplies a liquid to a substrate, a cover that is formed of a light transmitting material and installed on a component provided in the liquid supply unit and that provides an inspection area, and an inspection unit that inspects bubbles contained in the liquid flowing in the component provided in the inspection area. The inspection unit includes a light source that applies light toward the inspection area from outside the cover, a light receiving part that is located outside the cover and that receives the light passing through the inspection area, and an inspection part that inspects the bubbles from the light received by the light receiving part.

A bubble measurement system includes a bubble detector including a vessel having a flow path configured to receive a flow of fluid includes air bubbles from a bubble generator. The bubble measurement system includes an imaging system having an imaging device for imaging the fluid and air bubbles in the flow path of the vessel of the bubble detector. The imaging system has an imaging controller coupled to the imaging device and receiving images from the imaging device. The imaging controller processes the images to measure bubble size of each air bubble passing through the bubble detector.

A process tube device can detect the presence of any external materials that may reside within a fluid flowing in the tube. The process tube device detects the external materials in-situ which obviates the need for a separate inspection device to inspect the surface of a wafer after applying fluid on the surface of the wafer. The process tube device utilizes at least two methods of detecting the presence of external materials. The first is the direct measurement method in which a light detecting sensor is used. The second is the indirect measurement method in which a sensor utilizing the principles of Doppler shift is used. Here, contrary to the first method that at least partially used reflected or refracted light, the second method uses a Doppler shift sensor to detect the presence of the external material by measuring the velocity of the fluid flowing in the tube.

An apparatus includes a pipe through which a multiphase fluid flows, with a transparent window structure formed in the pipe. A collimated light source emits light through the transparent window structure into the pipe having a wavelength at which a component of a desired phase of the multiphase fluid is absorptive. A photodetector is positioned such that the emitted light passes through the multiphase fluid in the pipe to impinge upon the photodetector. The photodetector has an actual dynamic range for collimated light detection. Processing circuitry is configured to continuously adjust a power of the collimated light source dependent upon an output level of the photodetector so as to cause measurement of the emitted light over an effective dynamic range greater than the actual dynamic range, and determine a property of the multiphase fluid as a function of the power of the collimated light source.

The systems and methods provided herein relate generally to the improvement of data quality in optical liquid particle counters and control of optical particle counters to achieve longer expected lifetime, for example by avoiding damage caused by electromagnetic radiation and heat. The systems and methods incorporate sensors which characterize the fluid flowing through the flow cell, thereby enhancing accuracy and reducing the number of false positives.

In order to secure measurement reproducibility and a measurement accuracy by making it possible to automatically execute a bubble removal sequence as needed, the particle size distribution measurement device comprises a circulation flow channel through which the dispersion medium circulates, a flow cell arranged in the circulation flow channel, an imaging device that takes a particle image as being an image of a particle in the flow cell, and a bubble removal execution part that obtains bubble information which is obtained based on the particle image and which is about a bubble in the dispersion medium and that executes a bubble removal sequence to remove the bubble from the dispersion medium circulating in the circulation flow channel in case that the bubble information meets a predetermined condition.

A sensor system (1) for inspecting oil, which comprises a micromechanical cell (10) defining a cavity (12), the micromechanical cell (10) being configured for allowing the entrance of oil (5) within said cavity (12) and the outcome of oil (5) from said cavity (12) through respective inlet (11a) and outlet (11b). The sensor system (1) comprises inside said micromechanical cell (10): a first transparent protective means (13a) configured to isolate the inner part of said first member (101) from said oil (5); a second transparent protective means (13b) configured to isolate the inner part of said second member (102) from said oil (5); a light source (14) disposed in said first member (101) and configured to emit incoherent light towards said oil (5) disposed within said cavity (12); an opaque plate (16) disposed between said light source (14) and said first transparent protective means (13a), said plate (16) having a pin-hole (165) configured to permit the passage of illumination towards said oil (5), said pin-hole (165) being located at a first distance (z1) from a focussing plane (F) defined by said oil (5) in cavity (12); and an image sensor (17) disposed in said second member (102) situated on the opposite side of the space (12) with respect to said first member (102) and configured to capture a sequence of images of the oil disposed within said cavity (12), said image sensor (17) being located at a second distance (z2) from said focussing plane (F) defined by said oil (5) in cavity (12).