Low-cost, smartphone-compatible UV spectrometry system

Unmet Need: Accessible spectrometer for characterizing ultraviolet spectra

Measuring the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum can help monitor environmental changes and facilitate public health endeavors aimed at minimizing harmful UV exposure. Current methods to measure the UV spectrum require highly specialized and expensive equipment and are, therefore, limited to scientific laboratories. While current advancements in microfabrication, optics, and computational power have enabled the development of more accessible miniaturized spectrometers, these spectrometers have mainly focused on detecting wavelengths in the visible and infrared radiation ranges.

The Technology: Inexpensive, compact UV spectrometry system compatible with smartphones

This technology is an inexpensive, portable, miniaturized spectrometry system for measuring and characterizing the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum. It uses a smartphone camera to capture light emitted by UV-excited phosphors, which are coated on a carrier substrate. These phosphors emit light in the visible light range and can thus be readily detected and separated into distinct color measurements by filters already integrated into most smartphone cameras. A supervised machine learning model is then used to classify the measurements into known UV sources, reconstructing the original UV spectrum. These UV sources include gas lamps and UV LEDs covering the UVB and UVC range.

Applications:

Environmental monitoring
Public health endeavors, such as prevention of skin cancer and eye damage
Educational tool for learning about UV exposure
UV light manufacturing
Research tool for understanding the effects of UV on health

Advantages:

Compatible with smartphones
Cost-effective
Portable
Accessible
Automated classification of UV light source

Lead Inventor:

David Welch, Ph.D.

Patent Information:

Patent Pending

Related Publications:

Tech Ventures Reference:

IR CU23185, CU24270
Licensing Contact: Joan Martinez