Patents by Inventor William F. Finney

William F. Finney has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method and system for measuring sub-surface composition of a sample
    Patent number: 8054463
    Abstract: In a method for measuring a composition of a sample, an illumination surface area of the sample is illuminated using a light source, and light from a plurality of emitting surface areas of the sample is received, each emitting surface area at a different location, the received light scattered by the sample. A cumulative area of the illumination surface area is greater than a cumulative area of two emitting surface areas of the plurality of emitting surface areas. For each emitting surface area, spectral content information associated with received light corresponding to that emitting surface area is determined, and composition information corresponding to a sub-surface region of the sample is determined based on the determined spectral content information. Different shapes of illumination surface areas as well as the plurality of emitting surface areas may advantageously be utilized for various specimen or sample geometries or illumination sources.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2011
    Assignee: The Regents of the University of Michigan
    Inventors: Michael D. Morris, William F. Finney, Matthew Schulmerich
  • Method and System for Measuring Sub-Surface Composition of a Sample
    Publication number: 20090219523
    Abstract: In a method for measuring a composition of a sample, an illumination surface area of the sample is illuminated using a light source, and light from a plurality of emitting surface areas of the sample is received, each emitting surface area at a different location, the received light scattered by the sample. A cumulative area of the illumination surface area is greater than a cumulative area of two emitting surface areas of the plurality of emitting surface areas. For each emitting surface area, spectral content information associated with received light corresponding to that emitting surface area is determined, and composition information corresponding to a sub-surface region of the sample is determined based on the determined spectral content information. Different shapes of illumination surface areas as well as the plurality of emitting surface areas may advantageously be utilized for various specimen or sample geometries or illumination sources.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 23, 2006
    Publication date: September 3, 2009
    Applicant: THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
    Inventors: Michael D. Morris, William F. Finney, Matthew Schulmerich