Object identification using an optical scanner

摘要

A method to discriminate between multiple types of objects presented to a scanner is discussed. The method includes illuminating an object in a scan using a light source, performing multiple analog to digital conversions of light magnitude reflected off the object producing a multitude of digital values and processing the digital values using changes in the digital values and the light source position. One embodiment is a system which identifies blood sample vials a for blood testing. The system includes an optical scanner producing an analog output of a scan of a blood sample vial, a digitizer sampling the analog output to produce digitized scan data, a data processor interpreting the digitized data providing vial type identification information to the blood tester. The scanner used may also incorporate a barcode scanner to read barcodes affixed to the blood sample vials.