The invention concerns method and an apparatus for analyzing the quality and quantity of bubbles or droplets of a dispersed phase in a construction material. The method may be used on construction materials before or during curing of the material, while in a non-solid state with the dispersed phase being entrapped therein. The inventive analyzing includes the steps of: applying a first side of an at least partially transparent plate in contact with a sample of said construction material to make a surface of said sample visible through said transparent plate; illuminating said surface of said sample through said plate from an opposite second side of said plate with at least one light source; providing a photosensitive sensor on said second side of said plate for receiving light reflected from said sample through said transparent plate, receiving from said photosensitive sensor electrical signals corresponding to said received reflected light and rendering from said electrical signals a visual representation of said surface of said sample using an imaging device; analyzing said visual representation with a computer system, by identifying bubbles or droplets of said dispersed phase from the surface of the sample by a spatial illumination encoding of the sample; and by determining the size and location of identified bubbles or droplets of said dispersed phase.

Finally, an indication of the quality of said construction material is computed, based on the size and distribution of the identified bubbles or droplets of said dispersed phase in said sample.

An optical analysis of saliva or a fluid-saliva mixture is performed in order to check whether the saliva or fluid-saliva mixture contains blood, which allows for determining whether or not a person may suffer from gingivitis or another condition affecting gum health. Light received from a representative volume of fluid (23) containing saliva is detected and analyzed. The analysis involves determination of at least one measurement value of light received by a light-receiving unit (25) for only a single wavelength of the light, particularly a wavelength that is associated with high absorption by a constituent of blood. It this respect, it is practical if the light-receiving unit (25) is configured to receive reflected light back from the volume of fluid (23). The optical analysis may be performed real-time during an action in a person's mouth involving a gum agitation effect, or after such action has taken place, for example.

The present disclosure provides an imaging system, including methods and apparatus, with oblique illumination. In an exemplary method of imaging, a sample may be illuminated obliquely with excitation light generated by only a subset of a plurality of light sources mounted to an annular frame. An image may be detected, with the image formed with photoluminescence induced in the sample by the excitation light and received from a central opening of the annular frame.

The present disclosure provides a marbled molded product obtained by injection-molding, in a mold cavity, a mixture including: a thermoplastic resin including one selected from the group of polycarbonate, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, polybutylene terephthalate, polypropylene, and combinations thereof; and fine pigment particles, where a pattern forming a texture is formed on the surface of the injection-molded product. The present disclosure also provides a system for evaluating a marble color effect of a marbled molded product, the system including: a light source unit, an image-capturing unit, an image processing unit and an evaluation factor determination unit.

Embodiments of the invention generally relate to color and appearance metric measurements and, in particular, developing instrumentation to enable self-consistent image appearance measurements within instruments of unitary construction.

An apparatus can be provided according to certain exemplary embodiments. For example, the apparatus can include a waveguiding first arrangement providing at least one electromagnetic radiation. A configuration can be provided that receives and splits the at least one electromagnetic radiation into a first radiation and a second radiation. The apparatus can further include a waveguiding second arrangement which has a first waveguide and a second waveguide, whereas the first waveguide receives the first radiation, and the second waveguide receives the second radiation. The first arrangement, the second arrangement and the configuration can be housed in a probe.

Embodiments of the invention generally relate to color and appearance metric measurements and, in particular, developing instrumentation to enable self-consistent image appearance measurements within instruments of unitary construction.

An illumination device for a spectral optical measurement device includes arranged with respect to an optical axis of the illumination device which, during a measurement operation, extends along a normal to a center point of an area of a sample to be illuminated. One or more segments of a mirror in a shape of a ring are centered on the optical axis. The mirror has an internal reflective surface arranged such that, during the measurement operation, the internal reflective surface receives light emitted from the light source and reflects the light over the area of the sample to be illuminated. The internal reflective surface has a freeform shape in a cross-section through the internal reflective surface in a plane parallel to the optical axis (for example in which the optical axis lies), and, in a cross-section of the mirror in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis, the internal reflective surface is represented by a straight line.

An optical analysis of saliva or a fluid-saliva mix obtained during or after an oral care action is performed in order to check whether the saliva or fluid-saliva mix contains blood, which allows for determining whether or not a person may suffer from gingivitis or another condition affecting gum health. In particular, light received from a representative sample (23) containing saliva is detected and analyzed. The analysis involves determination of measurement values of light received by a light-receiving unit (25) for one or more main wavelengths of the light and one or more auxiliary wavelengths of the light. Advantageously, the main wavelength(s) is/are associated with high hemoglobin absorption and the auxiliary wavelength(s) is/are associated with low hemoglobin absorption. A measurement value at an auxiliary wavelength is used for correcting a measurement value at as main wavelength for background influences.

Embodiments of the invention generally relate to color and appearance metric measurements and, in particular, developing instrumentation to enable self-consistent image appearance measurements within instruments of unitary construction.