The invention relates to an optical detecting apparatus, and more particularly to an optical detecting apparatus with high detection reliability.
Referring to
In the structure described above, a motor (not shown) is usually used for rotating the light splitter 5 to obtain the light with different bandwidth. However, since the motor may vibrate during operation, the light passing through the exit slit 6 may has other undesired bandwidth which is outside the predetermined bandwidth (that is, error is occurred). In addition, vibration of the light splitter 5 may change the optical path along which the light passes through the exit slit 6, the object 7 and the sensor 9, so that energy of the light received by the sensor 9 is unstable. In brief, if the vibrations of the light splitter 5 cannot be well controlled, then the detection of the prior optical detecting apparatus will be not reliable.
In an example of examining urine of a person for screening diabetes, the object 7 is urine. If the bandwidth or energy of the light is not properly controlled, the target component (such as glucose, urinary protein and ketone body) contained in urine cannot be accurately detected.
The invention provides an optical detecting apparatus includes an adjustable light filter produced by using MEMS (Microelectromechanial Systems) processing techniques. The adjustable light filter is packaged to be a receiving unit, and the receiving unit can substitute for conventional light splitter (or optical grating), slit and sensor. By such arrangement, the detection reliability of the optical detecting apparatus is increased as well as the structure of the optical detecting apparatus is simplified. The adjustable light filter can be substituted with a light splitter.
The optical detecting apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the invention includes a light source, a receiving unit and a first optical element. The light source is configured to emit first light. The receiving unit includes a light splitting portion and a sensing portion, wherein the light splitting portion is configured to separate second light with a predetermined bandwidth from the first light, the sensing portion is configured to receive the second light with the predetermined bandwidth, and the light splitting portion and the sensing portion are connected. The first optical element is disposed between the light source and the receiving unit and is configured to converge or collimate the first light.
In another embodiment, the light splitting portion is a Fabry-Perot interferometer produced by using MEMS (Microelectromechanial Systems) processing techniques. The light splitting portion and the sensing portion are connected to form a single element.
In yet another embodiment, the first optical element is disposed between an object and the receiving unit, the first light enters the object, part of the first light is absorbed by the object, and the other part of the first light leaves the object, is converged or collimated by the first optical element and arrives at the receiving unit.
In another embodiment, a ratio of a first distance from the light source to the first optical element to a second distance from the first optical element to the receiving unit ranges from 1 to 5.
In yet another embodiment, the optical detecting apparatus further includes a second optical element disposed between the light source and the object to converge or collimate the first light before the first light enters the object, and a ratio of a third distance from the light source to the second optical element to a second distance from the first optical element to the receiving unit ranges from 0.1 to 10.
In another embodiment, the second optical element is a lens or concave mirror.
In yet another embodiment, the first optical element is a lens or concave mirror.
In another embodiment, the optical detecting apparatus further includes an aperture disposed between the second optical element and the object, wherein size of the aperture is tunable or fixed, and an incident angle at which the first light is incident on the aperture ranges from 1 to 30 degrees.
In yet another embodiment, the optical detecting apparatus further includes an aperture disposed between the first optical element and the receiving unit or disposed on a surface of the receiving unit.
In another embodiment, the optical detecting apparatus further includes an aperture disposed between the object and the first optical element.
In yet another embodiment, size of the aperture is tunable or fixed, and an incident angle at which the first light is incident on the aperture ranges from 1 to 30 degrees.
In another embodiment, the optical detecting apparatus further includes an aperture disposed between the first optical element and the receiving unit or disposed on a surface of the receiving unit.
In yet another embodiment, the first optical element is disposed between the light source and an object; the first light is converged or collimated by the first optical element and enters the object; part of the first light is absorbed by the object; and the other part of the first light leaves the object and arrives at the receiving unit.
In another embodiment, a ratio of a first distance from the light source to the first optical element to a second distance from the first optical element to the receiving unit ranges from 0.2 to 5.
In yet another embodiment, the optical detecting apparatus further includes an aperture disposed between the object and the first optical element, wherein size of the aperture is tunable or fixed.
In another embodiment, the light splitting portion is an adjustable light filter or light splitter.
In yet another embodiment, an aperture disposed between the light source and the receiving unit or disposed on a surface of the receiving unit.
In another embodiment, an incident angle at which the first light is incident on the aperture ranges from 1 to 30 degrees.
A detailed description is given in the following embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Referring to
In the first embodiment, the light source 11 is an LED (light-emitting diode) and is configured to emit first light (not shown). The first optical element 13 is disposed between the light source 11 and the receiving unit 15 for converting the first light from divergent into converged or collimated. The first optical element 13 can be a biconvex lens, plano-convex lens or meniscus lens. In other words, the shape of the first optical element 13 is not limited to what is shown in the accompanying drawings. The first optical element 13 may be any devices capable of converging or collimating light.
The receiving unit 15 includes a light splitting portion and a sensing portion 153, wherein the light splitting portion may be an adjustable light filter 151 as shown in
As shown in
During operation, the first light emitted by the light source 11 enters the object 20. The object 20 absorbs part of the first light and allows the other part of the first light to leave. The part of the first light leaving the object 20 enters the first optical element 13, is converged or collimated by the first optical element 13 and is directed to the receiving unit 15. The first light emitted by the light source 11 has a plurality of bandwidths, the adjustable light filter 151 separates second light with a predetermined bandwidth from the first light, and the second light with the predetermined bandwidth is received by the sensing portion 153. After repeated separation, different bandwidths of second light are separated out by the adjustable light filter 151 and received by the sensing portion 153. When the first light passes through the object 20, the target component contained in the object 20 is able to absorb different amounts of optical energy from different bandwidths of first light. Therefore, the amount of the target component contained in the object 20 can be found out by analyzing spectrum transmittance.
Since MEMS processing techniques are applied to production of the receiving unit 15, the optical path in the optical detecting apparatus 10 is simpler than the conventional optical path that can effectively reduce the errors generated during operation of the optical detecting apparatus 10. In addition, the first optical element 13 is placed between the object 20 and the receiving unit 15 to converge or collimate the first light before the first light enters the receiving unit 15, so that the energy of the first light becomes more concentrated as well as the strength of the second light received by the sensing portion 153 is enhanced. When the first optical element 13 is placed between the object 20 and the receiving unit 15, the quantity of light that is received by the receiving unit 15 is maximal, the structure of the optical detecting apparatus 10 is most compact, and it is advantageous to pick and place the object 20. In brief, the detection reliability of the optical detecting apparatus 10 is increased by use of concentrated energy and accurate MEMS operation.
An example of operating the optical detecting apparatus 10 to detect amount of a target component (e.g. glucose, urinary protein, ketone body) contained in urine is described below. When the first light emitted by the light source 11 enters the urine, the target component contained in the urine absorbs energy from each bandwidth of the first light, so that the energy of each bandwidth of the first light is decreased in varying degrees. The energy of a predetermined bandwidth of the first light is greatly decreased by the target component, while the energy of other bandwidths of the first light is less decreased by the target component. The receiving unit 15 receives the first light passing through the urine and the first optical element 13. Then, the amount of the target component contained in the urine can be obtained by analyzing spectrum transmittance. If the target component is glucose, the predetermined bandwidth ranges from 1600 to 1800 nm. If the target component is urinary protein, the predetermined bandwidth ranges from 2100 to 2350 nm. Ketone body includes ethyl acetate, β-hydroxybutyrate and acetone. When the amount of the target component contained in the urine of the person is too high, it is predicted that the person may have diabetes. In another embodiment, the light source 11 is provided with a reflector (not shown). In such arrangement, the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) can be improved, the directivity angle can be reduced, and the light quantity loss can be suppressed.
Referring to
Referring to
In a fourth embodiment, the first optical element 13′ is disposed between the light source 11 and the object 20. In other words, first light (not shown) emitted by the light source 11 is reflected by the first optical element 13′ for being converted into converged light and enters the object 20. Then, the object 20 absorbs part of the first light and allows the other part of the first light to pass through, so that the other part of the first light is received by the receiving unit 15. The difference between the second and the fourth embodiment is that the first optical element 13′ is a concave mirror. The arrangement of other elements and operation of the fourth embodiment are similar to those of the second or the third embodiment described above, and therefore the descriptions thereof are omitted.
Referring to
Referring to
In a seventh embodiment, a first optical element (not shown) is a concave mirror, and a second optical element (not shown) is a biconvex lens, plano-convex lens or meniscus lens. In other words, first light (not shown) emitted by a light source (not shown) is converted into converged or collimated light by the second optical element and enters an object (not shown). The object absorbs part of the first light and allows the other part of the first light to pass through. The other part of the first light is then reflected by the first optical element for being converted into converged light and is received by a receiving unit (not shown). The arrangement of other elements and operation of the seventh embodiment are similar to those of the fifth embodiment described above, and therefore the descriptions thereof are omitted.
In an eighth embodiment, a first optical element (not shown) is a concave mirror, and a second optical element (not shown) is also a concave mirror. In other words, first light (not shown) emitted by a light source (not shown) is reflected by the second optical element for being converted into converged light and enters an object (not shown). The object absorbs part of the first light and allows the other part of the first light to pass through. The other part of the first light is then reflected by the first optical element for being converted into converged light and is received by a receiving unit (not shown). The arrangement of other elements and operation of the eighth embodiment are similar to those of the fifth embodiment described above, and therefore the descriptions thereof are omitted.
Referring to
In the ninth embodiment, it is worth noting that size of the aperture 21 is tunable, so that the quantity of light that is allowed through the aperture 21 can be determined by the size of the aperture 21. The bigger the size of the aperture 21, the greater energy of light that is received by the receiving unit 15. The smaller the size of the aperture 21, the less energy of light that is received by the receiving unit 15. As shown in
The size of the aperture 21 is tunable in the ninth embodiment. However, it is understood that the size of the aperture 21 can be fixed to meet a specific condition.
The aperture 21 is disposed on the receiving unit 15 in the ninth embodiment. However, it is understood that the aperture 21 can be disposed between the first optical element 13 and the receiving unit 15, between the object 20 and the first optical element 13, or between the second optical element 17 and the object 20.
As shown in
The optical detecting apparatus 10, 10′, 10″, 10′″, 10″″ of the invention can perform an accurate and stable measurement since the receiving unit applying MEMS processing techniques is used. Also, the structure of the optical detecting apparatus is simplified. Furthermore, by providing the optical element between the light source and the receiving unit for concentrating energy of light, the detection reliability of the optical detecting apparatus is increased.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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107133171 | Sep 2018 | TW | national |