Use of Image Processing to Aid Furnace Set-up in Electrothermal Atomic Absorption Spectrometry†

Abstract

A charge-coupled device (CCD) camera has been used to obtain high-definition video images of the cross-section of the tube in a graphite furnace atomizer. Image processing algorithms have been developed to extract automatically from the images certain features which are of use during the initial set-up and alignment of the atomizer in an atomic absorption spectrometer. These features include the alignment of the tube, the angle of a platform with respect to the vertical axis and the height of an autosampler capillary tip above the tube wall or the platform. In addition, algorithms have been developed to analyse images recorded after sample injection, to detect whether all of the liquid has been deposited correctly into the tube. Detection of the poor injection of a blood serum sample is given to illustrate the usefulness of the algorithm.