Time measurement device, fluorescence lifetime measurement device, and time measurement method
AssigneeHamamatsu Photonics K.K.
InventorFuminori Niikura
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A time measurement apparatus 10 includes a TAC circuit 12, a measurement gate 11, a control unit 14 for setting a gate dead time, which is a time during which the measurement gate 11 is set to be in the second state, in the measurement gate 11, and the control unit 14 for deriving and outputting time information related to the detection signal based on a measurement signal output from the TAC circuit 12, and the control unit 14 functioning as a setting unit sets a time, which is an integral multiple of a repetition period of fluorescence detected by the detector 4 and is longer than a dead time of the TAC circuit 12 itself, in the measurement gate 11 as a gate dead time.
Claims8
A fluorescence lifetime measurement apparatus that measures a lifetime of fluorescence emitted from a measurement target, the fluorescence lifetime measurement apparatus comprising:
- a light source configured to generate light;
- a detector configured to detect fluorescence with a repetition period from a measurement target irradiated with the light and output a detection signal;
- a time-amplitude converter configured to receive an input of the detection signal and output a measurement signal corresponding to a time associated with the detection signal;
- a gate configured to be provided between the detector and the time-amplitude converter and set to be in a first state where the detection signal is transmitted in a direction of the time-amplitude converter, or a second state where the detection signal is not transmitted in a direction of the time-amplitude converter;
- a controller configured to receive the measurement signal corresponding to the time associated with the detection signal when the gate is set to be in the first state, wherein the controller sets a gate dead time during which the gate is set to be in the second state in the gate, and derive and output time information related to the detection signal based on the measurement signal output from the time-amplitude converter, and the controller sets a time, which is an integral multiple of the repetition period of the fluorescence detected by the detector and is longer than a dead time of the time-amplitude converter itself, in the gate as the gate dead time;
- and
- a computer configured to derive a fluorescence lifetime of the measurement target based on the time information.
A time measurement method executed by a time measurement apparatus, the time measurement method comprising:
- detecting, at a detector, fluorescence with a repetition period from a measurement target irradiated with light and outputting a detection signal;
- receiving, at a time-amplitude converter, an input of the detection signal and outputting a measurement signal corresponding to a time associated with the detection signal;
- receiving the measurement signal corresponding to the time associated with the detection signal when a gate is set to be in a first state, wherein a gate is configured to be provided between the detector and the time-amplitude converter and set to be in the first state where the detection signal is transmitted in a direction of the time-amplitude converter, or a second state where the detection signal is not transmitted in a direction of the time-amplitude converter;
- setting a gate dead time during which the gate is set to be in the second state;
- and
- deriving and outputting time information related to the detection signal based on the detection signal output from the time-amplitude converter,
- wherein the first dead time is longer than a second dead time of the time-amplitude converter itself.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.