Polarization rotation controls that can be incorporated in structured illumination microscopy instruments to rotate an interference fringe pattern through a desired angle of rotation and rotate the polarization through substantially the same rotation angle are described. In one aspect, a polarization rotation control includes at least one polarization rotator and a splitter. A beam of polarized coherent light is transmitted through one of the at least one polarization rotator and the splitter. The splitter splits the beam into at least three coherent beams of light that are focus by an objective lens of the microscopy instrument to form an interference fringe pattern, and the splitter is rotated to rotate the interference pattern through a desired rotation angle. The at least one polarization rotator rotates the polarization of the light through substantially the same rotation angle.
Variable orientation illumination-pattern rotators ("IPRs") that can be incorporated into structured illumination microscopy instruments to rapidly rotate an interference pattern are disclosed. An IPR includes a rotation selector and at least one mirror cluster. The rotation selector directs beams of light into each one of the mirror clusters for a brief period of time. Each mirror cluster imparts a particular predetermined angle of rotation on the beams. As a result, the beams output from the IPR are rotated through each of the rotation angles imparted by each of the mirror clusters. The rotation selector enables the IPR to rotate the beams through each predetermined rotation angle on the order of 5 milliseconds or faster.
Various beam selectors for selectively placing one of at least two beams of light along the same output path are disclosed. In one aspect, a beam selector receives at least two substantially parallel beams of light. The beam selector includes a plate with an aperture so that when one of the at least two beams is selected for transmission, the beam selector directs only the selected beam along an output path through the aperture. The plate can also serve to block transmission of unselected beams. The output path through the aperture is the same for each of the at least two beams when each beam is selected. Beam selectors can be incorporated into fluorescence microscopy instruments to selectively place particular excitation beams along the same path through the microscope objective lens and into a specimen to excite fluorescence of fluorescent probes attached to a particular component of the specimen.
G02B 26/08 - Optical devices or arrangements for the control of light using movable or deformable optical elements for controlling the direction of light
G06K 7/10 - Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensingMethods or arrangements for sensing record carriers by corpuscular radiation
Irradiance control systems ("ICSs") that control the irradiance of a beam of light are disclosed. ICSs include in a beam translator and a beam launch. The beam translator translates the beam substantially perpendicular to the propagating direction of the beam with a desired displacement so that the beam launch can remove a portion of the translated beam and the beam can be output with a desired irradiance. The beam launch attenuates the irradiance of the beam based on the amount by which the beam is translated. ISCs can be incorporated into fluorescent microscopy instruments to provide high-speed, fine-tune control over the irradiance of excitation beams.
G02B 26/02 - Optical devices or arrangements for the control of light using movable or deformable optical elements for controlling the intensity of light
Illumination phase controls that provide precise and fast phase control of structured illumination patterns used in structure illumination microscopy are described. A coherent light source is used to generate a beam of coherent light that is split into at least three coherent beams of light. In one aspect, an illumination phase control is composed of at least one pair of rotatable windows to apply at least one phase shift to at least one of the beams. An objective lens is to receive the beams and focus the at least three beams to form an interference pattern. The phase control can be used to change the position of the interference pattern by changing the at least one phase shift applied to the at least one beam.
G02B 26/06 - Optical devices or arrangements for the control of light using movable or deformable optical elements for controlling the phase of light
G02B 26/08 - Optical devices or arrangements for the control of light using movable or deformable optical elements for controlling the direction of light
Various light-scanning systems that can be used to perform rapid point-by-point illumination of a focal plane within a specimen are disclosed. The light-scanning systems can be incorporated in confocal microscopy instruments to create an excitation beam pivot axis that lies within an aperture at the back plate of an objective lens. The light-scanning systems receive a beam of excitation light from a light source and direct the excitation beam to pass through the pivot point in the aperture of the back plate of the objective lens while continuously scanning the focused excitation beam across a focal plane.
Systems and methods for executing super-resolution microscopy of a specimen with most of the image processing performed in a camera of a fluorescence microscopy instrument are described. In one aspect, the camera includes one or more processors to execute machine-readable instructions that control excitation light output from a multi-channellight source, control capture of intermediate images of the specimen, and perform image processing of the intermediate images to produce a final super-resolution image of the specimen.
G01B 21/06 - Measuring arrangements or details thereof, where the measuring technique is not covered by the other groups of this subclass, unspecified or not relevant for measuring length, width, or thickness specially adapted for measuring length or width of objects while moving
This disclosure is directed to optical microscope calibration devices that can be used with optical microscopes to adjust the microscope imaging parameters so that images of samples can be obtained below the diffraction limit. The microscope calibration devices include at least one calibration target. Each calibration target includes a number of features with dimensions below the diffraction limit of a microscope objective. Separate color component diffraction limited images of one of the calibration targets are obtained for a particular magnification. The color component images can be combined and image processed to obtain a focused and non-distorted image of the calibration target. The parameters used to obtain the focused and non-distorted image of the calibration target can be used to obtain focused and non-distorted images of a sample for the same magnification by using the same parameters.
Oblique-illumination systems integrated with fluorescence microscopes and methods of using oblique illumination in fluorescence microscopy are disclosed. An oblique-illumination system is attached to a fluorescence microscope objective. The oblique-illumination system can be used to illuminate from any desired direction the surface of an object located at a fixed known offset away from a sample solution containing fluorescently tagged targets. Oblique illumination is used to illuminate features of the surface while epi-illumination is used to create fluorescent light emitted from the tagged targets. The combination of oblique illumination of the surface and epi-illumination of the targets enables capture of images of the surface features and the fluorescent targets so that the locations of the targets in the sample can be determined based on the locations of the surface features.
The approach of one embodiment of the present invention is to mechanically vibrate a length of fiber optic cable transmitting coherent laser light, so that a mechanical resonance in the optical fiber is excited. This is achieved by suspending the fiber optic cable between two points and controlling both the axial tension on the suspended fiber optic cable as well as the mechanical forcing frequency. The cyclic, high-frequency mechanical perturbations of the fiber rapidly vary the path length and internal reflection angles of one or more respective modes of the transmitted laser light. In certain embodiments, the system may be tuned to induce a standing mechanical wave in the fiber. Higher-harmonic waveforms and higher amplitudes in the resonant fiber produce excellent speckle reduction and uniform intensity distributions.
G02B 26/02 - Optical devices or arrangements for the control of light using movable or deformable optical elements for controlling the intensity of light
11.
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DENSE-STOCHASTIC-SAMPLING IMAGING
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to imaging technologies, and, in particular, to an imaging system that detects relatively weak signals, over time, and that uses the detected signals to determine the positions of signal emitters. Particular embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods and systems for imaging fluorophore-labeled samples in order to produce images of the sample at resolutions significantly greater than the diffraction-limited resolution associated with optical microscopy. Embodiments of the present invention employ overlapping-emitter-image disambiguation to allow data to be collected from densely arranged emitters, which significantly decreases the data-collection time for producing intermediate images as well as the number of intermediate images needed to computationally construct high-resolution final images. Additional embodiments of the present invention employ hierarchical image-processing techniques to further resolve and interpret disambiguated images.
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to providing and controlling illumination for three-dimensional structured illumination microscopy. Three phase-coherent beams, referred to as a "beam triplet," are produced with planar beamsplitters. The relative phases of the beams are controlled by piezo-coupled mirrors or other means. The beams pass through the microscope objective and interfere to produce the 3D structured illumination pattern. The spatial orientation and location of the pattern is manipulated by adjusting the relative phases of the beams.
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to autofocus subsystems within optical instruments that continuously monitor the focus of the optical instruments and adjust distances within the optical instrument along the optical axis in order to maintain a precise and stable optical-instrument focus at a particular point or surface on, within, or near a sample. Certain embodiments of the present invention operate asynchronously with respect to operation of other components and subsystems of the optical instrument in which they are embedded.
Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to optical-fiber-based light sources for use in microscopy, spectrometry, and other scientific and technical instruments, devices, and processes. Light-emitting diodes ("LEDs") and other light sources are, in various embodiments of the present invention, incorporated on or within an optical fiber or fiber-optic cable in order to produce a bright optical-fiber-based light source. By incorporating light-emitting devices on or within an optical fiber, a significantly greater photon flux can be obtained, within the optical fiber or fiber-optic cable, than can be obtained by directing light from equivalent, external light-emitting elements into the optical fiber or fiber-optic cable, and the optical-fiber-based light sources of the present invention provide desirable characteristics of the light sources embedded on or within them.
Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd. (Republic of Korea)
Applied Precision, Inc. (USA)
Inventor
Lee, Kyu-Sang
Brown, Carl S.
Teplitz, Kyla
Goodson, Steve
Abstract
An apparatus for scanning a biometric device includes a camera that scans the biometric device to generate images, and a computer that extracts data from the images. The computer measures three-dimensional locations of at least three different positions on a surface of the biometric device, determines a virtual approximation plane or a curved surface with respect to the surface of the biometric device based on the measured three-dimensional locations, determines imaging locations of two or more panels disposed on the biometric device based on the virtual approximation plane or the curved surface, obtains individual images of the two or more panels by scanning the biometric device based on the determined imaging locations, and extracts overall data of the biometric device from the individual images of the two or more panels.
A substrate includes; a fiducial mark disposed on the substrate, an area on the substrate on which a probe material is configured to be immobilized, the area being separated from the fiducial mark, and a probe immobilization compound disposed on the area on the substrate on which the probe material is configured to be immobilized, wherein the fiducial mark has a structure which reflects irradiated light at a greater intensity than an intensity of reflected irradiated light form the area on the substrate not corresponding to the fiducial mark.
A new optical substrate for fluorescence microscopy design allows a target to be illuminated with minimal illumination of undesired surfaces within the image collection ray path. The non rectangular substrate (10) provides different surfaces (20, 30, 40) through which a target is illuminated (40) and imaged (30) and thereby prevents illumination rays from crossing the substrate surface through which the target is imaged.
Methods and apparatus are described for delivering index-matching immersion liquid in high numerical-aperture optical microscopy and lithography. An array of immersion liquid droplets (70) is delivered to a specimen substrate or specimen substrate cover by an immersion liquid printing apparatus. An immersion liquid reservoir provides immersion liquid to the printer by a precision pump The printer delivers immersion liquid to the substrate or substrate cover in arrays of immersion liquid droplets of defined volumes and array patterns. The volumes and patterns of array droplets delivered to the substrate or substrate cover are optimized to maintain adequate immersion liquid between the substrate or substrate cover and an immersion objective while avoiding the formation of air bubbles in the immersion liquid and the accumulation of excess volumes of immersion liquid.
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