Immersion imaging systems and methods for flowcells
AssigneeMGI Tech Co., Ltd.
InventorsPaul Lundquist, Razvan Chirita
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods for immersion imaging of a flowcell. In one example, an imaging system includes liquid ports in leading and trailing positions relative to a scanned imaging objective. The leading liquid port dispenses an immersion liquid into a space between the distal end of the imaging objective and the flowcell's cover, with the trailing liquid port collecting the immersion liquid. In another example, an imaging system includes a flowcell with a cover that is moveable relative a substrate. The system is configured to move the imaging objective and flowcell cover as a unit relative to the flowcell substrate.
Claims19
A flowcell imaging system, comprising:
- (a) a flowcell, the flowcell comprising a substrate, a cover, and a fluid passageway between the substrate and the cover;
- (b) an imaging objective, the imaging objective comprising a distal end spaced from the flowcell cover;
- (c) an actuator configured to translate the flowcell relative to the imaging objective;
- (d) a first liquid port, wherein the system is configured to dispense a liquid from the first liquid port into a space between the distal end of the imaging objective and the flowcell cover while the flowcell translates relative to the imaging objective;
- and
- (e) a second liquid port, wherein the system is configured to collect the liquid into the second liquid port from the space between the distal end of the imaging objective and the flowcell cover while the flowcell translates relative to the imaging objective.
A flowcell imaging method comprising:
- (a) scanning an imaging objective relative to a flowcell, wherein:
- (i) the flowcell comprises a substrate, a cover, and a fluid passageway between the substrate and the cover, and
- (ii) the imaging objective comprises a distal end spaced from the flowcell cover;
- (b) while the imaging objective is scanned relative to the flowcell, dispensing a liquid from a liquid port in a leading position relative to the imaging objective, the liquid dispensed into a space between the distal end of the imaging objective and the flowcell cover;
- and
- (c) while the imaging objective is scanned relative to the flowcell, collecting the liquid into a liquid port in a trailing position relative to the imaging objective, the liquid collected from the space between the distal end of the imaging objective and the flowcell cover.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.