Acuity White Light Confocal Medical Scans Posted in: Confocal Displacement Sensors

An Acuity medical customer is using the Initial 4.0 white light confocal model to create a 3D scan of medical samples to measure the change in surface features. The Initial 4.0 model uses a CL4 MG35 probe that has a standoff of 16 mm with a 4 mm measurement span and a resolution of 130 nanometers and a linearity of +/- 300 nanometers at up to 2,000 samples per second.

This technology is able to measure on any target surface including clear and mirror surfaces. This allowed the customer to scan across opaque and transparent targets without errors associated with the target surface.

View the video showing the cost effective motorized stage built and integrated with one of Acuity’s many machine builders. Knowledge of our confocal sensor technology ensures a smooth development of this customer’s application.

In the video from Mass Bay Engineering their chromatic confocal microscope is designed to perform 3D scanning of minute surface features. Our Acuity CCS Prima Confocal Distance Sensor is the heart of the system. It splits a white light confocal source into its component colors. Each wave length is in focus at a different distance from the sensor. The spectrometer observes the reflected light and converts the wave length to a distance measurement with sub-micron accuracy.

To generate a three-dimensional image, a motion system moves the sample beneath the sensor in a raster scan pattern. An example scan of a coin shows the default three-dimensional heat map rendering. Scan data can also be exported for visualization or processing. Custom fixturing is available to suit your product or samples. Probes are available with a variety of measurement ranges. This technology is suitable for inspecting even shiny or transparent surfaces that would be challenging for other optical inspection devices.

For other challenging transparency measurements using profiling, consider our laser profile scanners.