Gemstone Fluorescence Imaging on a Transparent Stage for Consistent Focusing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current gemstone analysis methods are cumbersome and difficult to reproduce due to the need for precise aiming of illumination sources, which are often dependent on the stone's size and shape, and require additional hardware for focusing, making auto-focusing on polished gem facets challenging.
Innovation Solution
A fluorescence imaging system using a dichroic beam splitter and a flat stage that allows gemstones to be placed table-side down, enabling easy alignment and consistent focusing without adjustments, capturing fluorescence images through a dichroic beam splitter that reflects UV light and passes visible light for analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If illumination source aiming is used to analyze gemstones, then fluorescence imaging can be achieved, but the method becomes cumbersome and difficult to reproduce due to precise aiming requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The gemstone table itself serves as the focusing and alignment reference. By placing the gemstone table-side down on the stage, the table's flat surface automatically defines the focal plane and alignment reference, eliminating the need for external aiming mechanisms or adjustment hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The stage acts as an intermediary element that provides a stable, flat reference surface. This intermediary allows the illumination source and camera to be positioned at fixed angles without requiring precise manual aiming, as the stage surface mediates between the optical components and the gemstone.
2Extent of automation
If auto-focusing on polished gem facets is attempted, then focusing can be automated, but it fails because polished surfaces lack definable features for analysis
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of trying to focus on the gemstone's polished facets (which lack features), the system inverts the approach by focusing on the flat stage surface beneath the gemstone table. This reversed strategy provides a reliable reference surface for automatic focusing while the gemstone table maintains its natural position.
Solution Approach 2:
The stage surface serves as an intermediary reference that provides definable features for auto-focusing. Rather than attempting to focus directly on the gemstone's featureless polished surface, the system uses the stage as a mediator to establish focus, which then transfers to the gemstone imaging.
3Measurement precision
If additional hardware is used to aim and focus illumination sources, then imaging precision can be improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and eliminates the complex aiming and focusing hardware by using the gemstone table and stage as passive reference elements. The table's flat surface and the stage provide the necessary geometric reference, removing the need for active adjustment mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The gemstone table and stage serve themselves as the alignment and focusing references. This self-service approach eliminates the need for external aiming devices, reducing hardware complexity while maintaining imaging precision through the inherent geometry of the table-stage interface.
4Reliability
If gemstone holders are used to position stones at particular angles, then consistent imaging can be achieved, but the setup becomes less flexible and more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The stage serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides a flat reference surface for focusing, an alignment reference for positioning, and a stable base for the gemstone. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate holders and positioning hardware, reducing overall setup complexity while maintaining imaging consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges the functions of the stage, gemstone holder, and alignment reference into a single integrated component. The stage combines the support function with the reference function, eliminating the need for separate holders and simplifying the overall setup while ensuring reliable and consistent imaging results.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Facilitates reproducible and efficient fluorescence image capture of gemstones with minimal adjustments, allowing for reliable identification of natural vs. synthetic diamonds and detection of synthetic overgrowth by analyzing fluorescence patterns and growth patterns.
Implementation Method 1
directing the fluorescence exciting beam through a filter and to a dichroic beam splitter, wherein the dichroic beam splitter is configured to reflect wavelengths of the fluorescence exciting beam and pass wavelengths of excited fluorescence from the sample gemstone
Implementation Method 2
generating a fluorescence exciting beam, directing the fluorescence exciting beam through a filter and to a dichroic beam splitter... receiving, at a camera with a computer processor and a memory, an excited fluorescence image from the sample gemstone
Implementation Method 3
irradiated with high energy ultraviolet radiation to cause emission of luminescence
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A
Figure 2B
AI summary
Systems and methods here may be used for a setup of fluorescence image capturing of a gemstone, such as a diamond placed on a flat stage. Some examples utilize a setup that both sends light and captures the image from the table side of the gemstone by passing ultraviolet (UV) light between 10 nm and 400 nm to the gemstone and capturing the excited fluorescence image for analysis through a dichroic beam splitter. In some examples, the cutoff is 300 nm. The dichroic beam splitter arrangement allows for the camera to focus on the same interface of the stage and gemstone over and over for ease of use and without moving, changing, or adjusting the equipment for different samples.