Microscopic imaging method and apparatus
AssigneeCambridge Enterprise Limited
InventorsSteven F. LEE, Kevin O'HOLLERAN, Alex COLLINS
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A microscopic imaging method comprising: illuminating a three-dimensional object with a light sheet generated by an illumination optical system and capturing light-field information of the illuminated object with an imaging optical system.
Claims38
A microscopic imaging method for three-dimensional imaging of an object, comprising:
- flowing a three-dimensional object through a microfluidics channel such that the object position is varied relative to an imaging optical axis;
- illuminating the object with an illumination optical system as the object flows through the microfluidics channel;
- and
- capturing light-field information of the illuminated object with an imaging optical system as the object flows through the microfluidics channel.
The method of any preceding claim, wherein the illuminating of the three-dimensional object is performed with a light sheet generated by the illumination optical system.
The method of any preceding claim, wherein the illumination optical system comprises a laser light source.
The method of any preceding claim, wherein the microfluidics channel forms part of a flow cytometer.
The method of claim 3 or 17 to 20, wherein the micro lens array has an order of symmetry of three or more.
The method of any preceding claim, wherein the smallest dimension of the object is 100 μm or less.
The method of any preceding claim, wherein the imaging optical system has a magnification of at least 10×, optionally in the range of 20× to 100×.
The method of any preceding claim, further comprising processing the captured light-field information to generate a three-dimensional image of the object.
The method of any preceding claim, further comprising illuminating the three-dimensional object with one or more further light sheets generated by the illumination optical system and capturing light-field information of the object illuminated with the one or more further light sheets.
A microscopic imaging apparatus comprising:
- a microfluidics channel through which a three-dimensional object is configured to flow such that the object position is varied relative to an imaging optical axis;
- an illumination optical system configured to illuminate a three-dimensional object as the object flows through the microfluidics channel;
- and
- an imaging optical system configured to capture light-field information of the illuminated object as the object flows through the microfluidics channel.
A microscopic imaging method comprising:
- illuminating a three-dimensional object with a light sheet generated by an illumination optical system;
- and
- capturing light-field information of the illuminated object with an imaging optical system.
The method of claim 30 or 32, wherein imaging optical system comprises a micro lens array arranged to focus images the illuminated object from different viewing angles and the micro lens array is arranged at a back focal plane of the imaging optical system.
A microscopic imaging apparatus comprising:
- an illumination optical system configured to generate a light sheet and illuminate a three-dimensional object with said light sheet;
- and
- an imaging optical system configured to capture light-field information of the illuminated object.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.