WHAT MAKES OCCHIO PARTICLE SIZE AND SHAPE TECHNOLOGY DIFFERENT?
NORMAL DIGITAL IMAGING TECHNOLOGY USES STANDARD WHITE BACKLIGHT TO PROVIDE PARTICLE DEFINITION.
THROUGH YEARS OF RESEARCH IN LIGHTING AND OPTICS, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE UNVERSITY DE LIEGE IN BELGIUM, OCCHIO DISCOVERED THAT MONOCHROMATIC SINGLE HUE LIGHT SOURCES PROVIDED ENHANCED PARTICLE DEFINITION, IN PARTICULAR ENVIRONMENTS, PAVING THE WAY FOR THE ANALYSIS OF PARTICLES BELOW 1 MICRON. IN FACT, OCCHIO INSTRUMENTS ARE ABLE TO DETECT EVEN GHOST (TRANSPARENT) PARTICLES AS SMALL AS 200 NANOMETERS.
THE LIGHT SOURCE IS COLLIMATED, ACTING LIKE A CALIPER, MEASURING EVERY FACET OF THE PARTICLE AS IT IS DISPERSED PAST THE LENS.
SPECIAL ALGORITHMS TRACK EACH PARTICLE, PROVIDING COMPREHENSIVE SIZE, SHAPE, AND COLOR DATA.
3 DIMENSIONAL IMAGING IS ALSO MADE POSSIBLE.
BY USING A PARAMETER CALLED MAXIMUM INSCRIBED DISC, NEAR PERFECT SIEVE CORRELATION IS POSSIBLE, SINCE THIS EFFECTIVELY MEASURES THE WIDEST PART OF A PARTICLES WIDTH, WHICH CONSEQUENTLY DETERMINES THE SIEVE APERTURE SIZE THE PARTICLE WOULD FALL THROUGH.
BECAUSE WE CANNOT TELL WHETHER A PARTICLE FALLS THROUGH A SIEVE APERTURE SQUARELY OR ON ITS' DIAGONAL, THERE WILL BE SOME VARIANCE.
Fig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3
Fig 1 Green light used for particle size analysis, "INSITU" through syringes or sample bottles. (PharmaScan) Fig 2 Blue light used for high resolution liquid analysis, (FC200S) and high speed particles in flight. (Zephyr) Fig 3 Red light used for 30 micron and larger particles in gravity dispersion (ESR)
CORRELATION TO OTHER METHODS REPLACING SIEVE ANALYSIS
BY USING THE AREA DIAMETER, OR NUMBER OF PIXELS IN A DISC WITH THE SAME AREA MEASUREMENT AS THE PARTICLE, A CORRELATION TO LASER DIFFRACTION IS POSSIBLE.
RESULTS MAY VARY DEPENDING ON THE MAKE AND MODEL OF DIFFRACTOMETER, AND DIFFRACTION INDEX EMPLOYED
LASER DIFFRACTION
SIEVE ANALYSIS
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT: Many industries have their particle sizing standards based on sieve analysis, because it is the least expensive method, and requires little training. Later on, laser diffraction became available as a more robust method, and later still , advances in digital imaging allowed for distinctions between both size and shape. Although all of the methods are usable to an extent, they do not provide the same results. An understanding of why this is so, is especially important when communicating your findings to others.
Powders, granulars, and liquids, can now be analyzed with extreme precision, using a number of innovative sample transport techniques. For less dense powders, vacuum dispersion, either by itself, or in conjunction with a vibrating platform, are utilized to move the particles in to the field of view. Liquids and slurries, are kept in suspension using magnetic stirrers, while specially designed pumps, draw precise amounts through specially engineered parallel glass slides (flowcell). Our particle measurement systems have superior resolution, compared to laser diffraction, allow for precise analysis of particles as small as 200 nanometers, which makes this technology not only suitable, but preferable for exacting applications like protein aggregate characterization.
A MONOCHROMATIC, COLLIMATED BACK LIGHT, ACTS LIKE A CALIPER, PROVIDING PRECISE PARTICLE DEFINITION
A TELECENTRIC LENS PROVIDES THE SAME MAGNIFICATION LEVEL AT ALL DISTANCES
Occhio Particle size and shape analyzers, are the collaboration of many years of focused research in the fields of optics, lighting, and digital imaging. Using a collimated (parallel beam), and variable, monochromatic backlight, in conjunction with a high speed, telecentric lens camera, and sophisticated software, extremely robust particle definitions are made possible. Newly defined parameters, such as bluntness, luminance, and solidity, are now available, as well as traditional measurement parameters, like length, width, and particle count.
THE BLUE MONOCHROMATIC LIGHT PROVIDES PARTICLE DEFINITIONS BELOW 1 MICRON, WHICH CANNOT BE ACCOMPLISHED WITH THE STANDARD WHITE LIGHT USED BY OTHER DIGITAL IMAGERS
PARTICLES SUSPENDED IN LIQUIDS AND EMULSIONS
FIBER AND TEXTURE ANALYSIS, PARTICLES INSIDE CONTAINERS
DEDICATED APPLICATIONS
www.occhio-usa.com
FLOWCELL SERIES (WET)
ZEPHYR SERIES (WET / DRY) DYNAMIC SIZE & SHAPE ANALYSISROCKS, GRAINS, SEEDS, MEDIUM POWDERS, LIQUIDS
500 NANO SERIES (WET / DRY) STATIC SIZE & SHAPE ANALYSIS FINE POWDERS, DYNAMIC ANALYSIS LIQUIDS
RANGE 200 nm - 3 mm
SCANNER SERIES (SOLIDS / LIQUIDS IN SITU)
No matter what your application is, we have a particle sizing solution.
Full selection of particle size and shape analyzers, including 3-D
New, fully automatic calibrator for laboratory test sieves. Using predefined SOPS, for each mesh size, the SieveCal can calibrate sieves to ASTM Inspection Grade Specifications in less than two minutes per sieve.
DIGITAL IMAGING EQUIPMENT FOR PARTICLE CHARACTERIZATION IN LIQUIDS, POWDERS, AND SOLIDS
OCCHIO DIGITAL IMAGE ANALYZERS HAVE THE ABILITY TO DETECT AND QUANTIFY BOTH PARTICLE SIZE AND PARTICLE SHAPE, PAVING THE WAY FOR THE ADVANCED ANALYSIS OF PARTICLES IN BOTH LIQUID AND SOLID FORMS.
CORRELATIONS TO OTHER PARTICLE SIZE ANALYSIS METHODS, LIKE SIEVE ANALYSIS AND LASER DIFFRACTION, ARE SEAMLESSLY EMPLOYED. EVEN SHAPE PARAMETERS LIKE LENGTH, FLATNESS, AND ANGULARITY IN AGGREGATES, OR THE LENGTH OF STRINGY PARTICLES LIKE SHREDDED CHEESE, OR TOBACCO, ARE POSSIBLE.
ONCE A BASIC CORRELATION HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED, THE RESULTS ARE FINE TUNED WITH THE OCCHIO CORRELATION PROGRAM, ALLOWING FOR TURNKEY SOLUTIONS TO PARTICLE CHARACTERIZATION.
