Pesticide detector and method
AssigneeBio-Chek LLC
InventorsDarius Sadeghi, Herbert Berman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Highly portable, handheld instrument which can be pointed at the produce to be checked. Light from a source within the instrument is directed onto the produce to induce fluorescent emission from the produce, and fluorescent emissions from the produce are monitored with a detector within the instrument to detect the presence of pesticide residue on the produce. The light from the source is filtered to selectively pass light of a wavelength which induces maximum fluorescent emission from the pesticide to be detected, and the emissions from the produce are filtered to selectively pass emissions having a spectral content characteristic of the pesticide to be detected.
Claims25
An instrument for checking produce for the presence of pesticide residue, comprising:
- a housing which can be held in one hand and pointed at the produce to be checked, a light source within the housing, means within the housing for directing light from the source onto the produce to induce fluorescent emission from the produce, a detector within the housing responsive to fluorescent emissions having a spectral content characteristic of a pesticide to be detected, and means within the housing for directing fluorescent emissions from the produce onto the detector.
A method of checking produce for the presence of pesticide residue, comprising the steps of:
- pointing a portable, handheld instrument toward the produce to be checked, directing light from a source within the instrument onto the produce to induce fluorescent emission from the produce, and monitoring fluorescent emissions from the produce with a detector within the instrument to detect the presence of pesticide residue on the produce.
A handheld instrument for checking produce for the presence of pesticide residue, comprising:
- a housing having a grip which can be held in the hand and a barrel which can be pointed at the produce, an excitation source and an emission detector within the housing toward the rear of the barrel, a first group of optical fibers for directing light from the source down the barrel toward the produce to induce fluorescent emission from the produce, a dichroic filter positioned toward the front of the barrel for transmitting the light to the produce and reflecting emissions from the produce, and a second group of optical fibers for transmitting the reflected emissions down the barrel to the detector.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.