An intelligent method for measuring high refractive index based on optical coherence tomography and image processing

This study introduces a new method to measure high refractive index (RI) materials with irregular shapes based on optical coherent tomography (OCT) images. Since the optical path length is the critical parameter to calculate RI, image fusion, thresholding, boundary extraction, and Hough transform were adopted in a well-organized sequence to extract this parameter when analyzing OCT images. Hough transform plays a key role in target recognition and parameter extraction. Glass and diamond were used as samples to test the validity of this method. The measurement result has reasonable consistency with the standard value. The method introduced in this paper has the potential to raise the automation and intelligence level of the existing research. A bright application prospect can be expected in industrial fields, such as optical glass, jewelry, and mineral substance.

Automated summary

This study introduces a new method based on optical coherent tomography to measure high refractive index materials with irregular shapes. By adopting a well-organized sequence of image fusion, thresholding, boundary extraction, and Hough transform, the critical parameter for calculating refractive index, optical path length, can be extracted from OCT images. Glass and diamond samples were used to validate the effectiveness of this method, and the measurement results showed reasonable consistency with the standard values. The introduced method has the potential to enhance the automation and intelligence level of current research and holds promising application prospects in industrial fields such as optical glass, jewelry, and mineral substances.