A neurosurgery system for resecting tissue after administration of a contrast agent to a patient, the system including an electrosurgical instrument for manipulating tissue which generates a fluid sample from the tissue during ablation, an aspiration channel configured to obtain the fluid sample, an analyzer for analyzing the fluid sample, an indicator configured to provide an indication of the presence of a rare earth metal, and a controller configured to instruct the indicator to provide the indication of the presence of the rare earth metal. The analyzer includes a collector coupled to the aspiration channel and configured to receive a portion of the fluid sample from the aspiration channel, a heater configured to atomize the portion of the fluid sample, and a detector configured to measure an absorption of a wavelength corresponding to a rare earth metal.

A method for determining contents of sample liquids spectrometrically includes an empty-state measurement with no liquid present, to obtain an empty-state light intensity measurement I.sub.e. A liquid-blank measurement is then taken of a pure unmixed volume of said liquid component, to obtain a liquid-blank light intensity measurement I.sub.w. A sample measurement of the sample liquid is then taken to obtain a sample light intensity measurement I.sub.s. Using I.sub.e, I.sub.w, and I.sub.s, determination is made of a volume concentration of a liquid component [H2O] in the sample liquid, and a liquid-corrected light intensity measurement I.sub.wc. From I.sub.s, I.sub.wc and a known length of the light path, a volume concentration of alcohol [Alc] is calculated. From [H2O] and [Alc], a remnant volume concentration attributable to other constituents is determined, from which a carbohydrate concentration [Carb] is calculated using a predetermined carbohydrate coefficient. Provisions for turbidity determination and light scatter correction are included.

A method is disclosed for increasing an intensity of a signal detected in a spectroscopy device using a vapor cell and a spectroscopy device using the same. An operation method of the spectroscopy device may include: causing a first light for exciting an atom trapped in a vapor cell in a first hyperfine ground state to a first excited state to be incident on the vapor cell; causing a second light for exciting an atom trapped in the vapor cell in a second hyperfine ground state to a second excited state to be incident on the vapor cell; causing a third light for exciting the atom in the second excited state to a third excited state to be incident on the vapor cell; and detecting fluorescence which is emitted while the atom in the third excited state returns to the ground state.

An optically based combustion off-gas stream velocity sensor assembly is provided for detecting in real-time off-gas flow velocity and/or volume as it moves through a flue duct. The sensor assembly includes two paired coherent light emitters and optic sensors, positioned in a spaced orientation in the flow path direction. The light emitter/optic sensor pairs operate to emit and detect across the off-gas stream coherent light beam energy having a wavelength component corresponding to an absorption profile of an off-gas species component. The detection of non-absorbed portions of the emitted beam is used to identify and detect the movement of a flow species signature at different locations along the flue duct.

Some variations provide an atomic vapor-cell system comprising: a vapor-cell region configured with vapor-cell walls for containing an atomic vapor; and a coating disposed on at least some interior surfaces of the walls, wherein the coating comprises magnesium oxide, a rare earth metal oxide, or a combination thereof. The atomic vapor-cell system may be configured to allow at least one optical path through the vapor-cell region. In some embodiments, the coating comprises or consists essentially of magnesium oxide and/or a rare earth metal oxide. When the coating contains a rare earth metal oxide, it may be a lanthanoid oxide, such as lanthanum oxide. The atomic vapor-cell system preferably further comprises a device to adjust vapor pressure of the atomic vapor within the vapor-cell region. Preferably, the device is a solid-state electrochemical device configured to convey the atomic vapor into or out of the vapor-cell region.

The present invention discloses, inter alia, a method for measuring and analyzing semi-transparent transient sources by remote sensing, comprising the steps of bore-sighting at least one spectrometer and at least one optic device selected from a group consisting of one or more spectrometers, one or more imagers, and at least one spectrometer and at least one imager; mounting at least one bore-sighted pair on at least one platform; and pointing simultaneously all platforms towards at least one field of view. The invention also discloses a platform for remote sensing of semi-transparent transient source comprising at least one first spectrometer in a first wavelength range; at least one second optic device selected from a group consisting of one or more spectrometers, one or more imagers, and at least one spectrometer and at least one imager; each of which is sensitive either in said first wavelength range or in any second wavelength range; at least one platform; wherein said at least one first spectrometer and said at least one second spectrometer are mounted on said platform and bore-sighted to observe the same or at least overlapping field of view.

A device for measuring a matter flux, including: at least one first light source to emit a first light beam having a measurement wavelength corresponding to the absorption wavelength of an element of interest of the matter flux; an optical connector; and a light sensor to receive, via the optical connector: an attenuated beam resulting from a transmission of the first light beam through the matter flux; and a non-attenuated beam resulting from a transmission of the first light beam without passing through the matter flux. The light sensor is one-dimensional and the optical connector is positioned relative to the light sensor so that the center of the optical connector is aligned with the center of the light sensor, the non-attenuated beam is spectrally directed towards a first part of the light sensor and the attenuated beam is spectrally directed towards a second part of the light sensor.

The present invention provides a system for measuring concentrations of analytes. The system comprises a sampler (17) for taking at least one sample from each of one or more surfaces. The system also comprises an analyser (19) for analysing the at least one sample to determine the concentrations of the analytes on the sampled one or more surfaces. The system further comprises a management platform (43) for receiving the measured concentrations from the analyser and communicating the concentrations of the analytes on the one or more surface, wherein the system provides the results within a suitable time.

A method for characterizing an aggregate sample involves using a first laser pulse to create a crater on the surface of a sample, using a second laser pulse to produce a plasma emission spectrum on the prepared crater surface, and detecting the emission spectrum to collect spectral data. Laser application, and detecting spectral emission are repeated on different points on the sample, then non-representative spectral data is discarded based on a ratio of ions to atoms in the data. Finally a calibration loading is used to determine a property characteristic of the aggregate sample. The sample may be an oil sands sample, and the properties detected may be percentages of bitumen, water, and solids. A laser-based system is provided for carrying out the characterization method.

A flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer in which an angle of a burner can be manually adjusted and a rotation position of the burner can be easily obtained is provided. An atomization unit burns mixed gas of fuel gas and supporting gas with a burner to form flame, and atomizes a sample by spraying the sample into the flame. Alight source emits a measuring beam into the flame. A detector detects the measuring beam that has passed through the flame. A manual rotation mechanism allows the burner to be manually rotated to change an angle of the burner with respect to an optical path of the measuring beam. A rotation position detection unit detects a rotation position of the burner.