Biomedical and Pharmaceutical SWIR Imaging
In biological research applications, Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) light is useful due to its ability to travel deeper into biological tissues before scattering compared with visible light. This can be exploited by biomedical researchers to study the structure of multiple tissue layers immediately under the skin, in the retinal layers or in the walls of blood vessels using a method called Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). This method relies on a Time-of-Flight (TOF) type measurement to collect image data from different depths in the tissue and to reconstruct the images computationally.
The method typically uses a pulsed laser source along with a high speed, linear SWIR camera system. The Manx R 2048 260kHz camera is an ideal product for this application since the width of the sensor allows a good region of coverage while the very large rectangular pixel can collect lots of photons to increase signal to noise ratio in the calculations. In addition, the exceedingly high speed is very useful in avoiding movement artifacts in the biological specimen and the ability to trigger the acquisition allows for the user to set the time interval between the pulsed laser illumination and exposure window on the camera for depth discrimination.
The Manx R Series has the following features:
- High speed operation – 130kHz or 260kHz models
- Line Resolutions – up to 2048 pixels
- Rectangular (for sensitivity) pixel shapes
- Selectable Gain States to optimize measurements
- Manx R Series Datasheet
- Product information/quote
For Pharmaceutical Inspection, the SWIR wavelength region is quite useful due to the unique optical signatures of various chemical entities within the pills or capsules. Using a SWIR based inspection scheme, either spectroscopy-based or imaging-based, can provide a comparative fingerprint for the presence or absence of various drugs as is needed in analysis and verification of authentic medications.
Another advantage of the SWIR imaging method is the ability to detect particulate contaminants within a collection of pills or tablets. The contaminants will often have a very different absorption profile in the SWIR compared to the pharmaceuticals.
Finally, in liquid medications, it is often difficult to see the actual fill level within white plastic bottles due to the transparent nature of the fluids. In the SWIR, however, a suitable optical window can be chosen where water will appear dark, allowing the fill level to be determined easily and precisely.
For the Spectroscopic type inspections, the Manx RECT Cameras described above would be ideal. For the Imaging type inspections, The Wildcat 640 Series is ideal due to its VGA resolution senor for good area coverage along with high sensitivity due to its low noise readout along with its plug and play capability. For applications that are particularly cost sensitive, the Bobcat 640 Series can also be a solution.
The Wildcat Series has the following features:
- VGA Resolution Sensor, up to 200 FPS
- Lower noise for higher sensitivity and high dynamic range for varying signal sizes
- USB3 connectivity for plug and play operation
- Wildcat 640 Series Datasheet
- Product information/quote
The Bobcat 640 Series has the following features:
- VGA Resolution Sensor
- Lower cost
- GigE Connectivity for plug and play operation
- Bobcat 640 Series Datasheet
- Product information/quote