Apparatus and method for the detection of solid substances in a liquid phase

An apparatus for dissolving a solid material into a liquid solvent, wherein the solid material and the liquid solvent are enclosed as a mixture in a container with at least one transparent portion, the apparatus comprising:

• an agitator device, adapted to hold the container, and operable to impart movements thereto, thereby injecting kinetic energy into the mixture;
• and
• a camera, aimed at one of the transparent portions, for taking images of the mixture in motion during a recording phase, the images digitized in the form of arrays of pixels with their associated pixel values;
• a processor unit, operatively connected to each of the agitator device and the camera, the processor unit comprising software programmed to:
• activate the agitator device to inject kinetic energy into the mixture;
• receive from the camera at least one series of at least two digitized images of the mixture moving around inside the container;
• calculate an analytical representation of the mixture by comparing the pixel arrays of the at least two digitized images, such that corresponding areas thereof having different pixel values define contrast areas that represent the moving solid material;
• determine an amount of the solid material remaining undissolved by comparing the calculated analytical representation to a predetermined end amount;
• and
• repeat the method from the activating step, if the amount of solid material remaining undissolved exceeds the predetermined end amount.