Fluorometer

A fluorometer for measuring a particular fluorescence emanating from particular fluorophore molecules in a specimen, including

• means for producing a burst of concentrated light energy having a pulse time short compared to the decay time of the particular fluorescence and having sufficient energy to excite substantially all of the particular fluorophore molecules,
• means responsive to the concentrated light energy for directing the concentrated light energy toward the specimen to produce fluorescence from the specimen including the particular fluorescence,
• means responsive to the fluorescence for detecting the fluorescence and for producing signals in accordance with the fluorescence,
• means coupled to the detecting means for controlling the detecting means within a particular time period to optimize the detection of the particular fluorescence and wherein the controlling means is an electro-optic modulator formed by a cubic crystal of the class T.sub.d,
• means coupled to the burst producing means, to the detecting means and to the controlling means for timing the operation of the above means to sequence the detection of the fluorescence within the particular time period after the production of the burst of concentrated light energy, and
• data processing means responsive to the signals produced by the detecting means for analysing the signals to enhance the portion of the signals representing the particular fluorescence relative to the portion of the signals representing the remaining fluorescence.

A fluorometer for measuring a particular fluorescence emanating from particular fluorophore molecules in a specimen, including

• means for producing a burst of concentrated light energy having a pulse time short compared to the decay time of the particular fluorescence and having sufficient energy to excite substantially all of the particular fluorophore molecules,
• means responsive to the concentrated light energy for directing the concentrated light energy toward the specimen to produce a fluorescence from the specimen including the particular fluorescence,
• means responsive to the fluorescence for detecting the fluorescence and for producing signals in accordance with the fluorescence,
• means coupled to the detecting means for controlling the detecting means within a particular time period to optimize the detection of the particular fluorescence and wherein the controlling means is an electro-optic modulator formed by a cubic crystal of the class T.sub.d,
• means coupled to the burst producing means, to the detecting means and to the controlling means for timing the operation of the above means to sequence the detection of the fluorescence within the particular time period after the production of the burst of concentrated light energy, and
• means coupled to the detection means for forming signals representative of the particular fluorescence from the specimen.

A fluorometer for measuring a particular fluorescence emanating from particular fluorophore molecules in a specimen, including

• means for producing a burst of concentrated light energy having a pulse time short compared to the decay time of the particular fluorescence and having sufficient energy to excite substantially all of the particular fluorophore molecules,
• means responsive to the concentrated light energy for directing the concentrated light energy toward the specimen to produce a fluorescence from the specimen including the particular fluorescence,
• means responsive to the fluorescence for detecting the fluorescence and for producing signals in accordance with the fluorescence,
• means coupled to the detecting means for controlling the detecting means within a particular time period to optimize the detection of the particular fluorescence and wherein the controlling means is an electro-optic modulator formed from at least one of the following group of materials:
• CuCl (Cuprous chloride)
• CuBr (Cuprous bromide)
• CuI (Cuprous iodide)
• ZnS (Zinc sulfide)
• ZnSe (Zinc selenide)
• ZnTe (Zinc telluride)
• (CH.sub.2).sub.6 N.sub.4 (Hexamine or hexamethylenetetramine)
• (Na, Ca).sub.8-4 (SO.sub.4).sub.2-1 [(AlSiO.sub.4).sub.6 ](Hauynite)
• GaP (Gallium phosphide)
• Bi.sub.4 (GeO.sub.4).sub.3 (Bismuth germanate)
• NaClO.sub.3 (Sodium chlorate)
• BaTiO.sub.3 (Barium titanate)
• SrTiO.sub.3 (Strontium titanate)
• KTaO.sub.3 (Potassium tantalate)
• KTa.sub.x Nb.sub.1-x O.sub.3 (Potassium tantalate niobate)

A fluorometer for measuring a particular fluorescence emanating from particular fluorophore molecules in a specimen, including

• means for producing a burst of concentrated light energy having a pulse time short compared to the decay time of the particular fluorescence and having sufficient energy to excite substantially all of the particular fluorophore molecules,
• means responsive to the concentrated light energy for directing the concentrated light energy toward the specimen to produce a fluorescence from the specimen including the particular fluorescence,
• means responsive to the fluorescence for detecting the fluorescence and for producing signals in accordance with the fluorescence,
• means coupled to the detecting means for controlling the detecting means within a particular time period to optimize the detection of the particular fluorescence,
• means coupled to the burst producing means, to the detecting means and to the controlling means for timing the operation of the above means to sequence the detection of the fluorescence within the particular time period after the production of the burst of concentrated light energy, and
• means coupled to the detection means for forming signals representative of the particular fluorescence from the specimen, and
• data processing means responsive to the signals produced by the detecting means for analysing the signals to enhance the portion of the signals representing the particular fluorescence relative to the portion of the signals representing the remaining fluorescence, and wherein the data processing means includes first means for differentiating the signals produced by the detecting means at a number of time points to produce a plurality of individual time point signals, second means for integrating the signals produced by the detecting means over a corresponding number of time intervals to produce a plurality of individual time integrated signals and third means responsive to the signals from the detecting means, the individual time point signals and the individual time integrated signals for operating upon these signals in a particular relationship to determine the particular fluorescence from the specimen during the particular period as a result of the burst of concentrated light energy.

A fluorometer for measuring a particular fluorescence emanating from particular fluorophore molecules in a specimen, including,

• means for producing a burst of concentrated light energy having a pulse time short compared to the decay time of the particular fluorescence and having sufficient energy to excite substantially all of the particular fluorophore molecules,
• means responsive to the burst of concentrated light energy for directing the burst of concentrated light energy toward the specimen to produce a fluorescence from the specimen including the particular fluorescence,
• means responsive to the fluorescence from the specimen for detecting the fluorescence and for producing signals in accordance with such detection,
• means coupled to the detecting means for obtaining a controlled operation of the detecting means during a particular time period to optimize the detection of the particular fluorescence and wherein the time period has a beginning time and an ending time to enhance the detection of the signals representing the particular fluorescence relative to the portion of the signals representing the remaining fluorescence, the beginning time of the time period being a first particular time after the burst of concentrated light energy and after the production of the particular fluorescence, and the ending time being a second particular time after the first particular time and during the production of the particular fluorescence from the specimen as a result of the burst of concentrated light energy,
• means coupled to the burst producing means, to the detecting means and to the controlling means for timing the operation of the detecting means to sequence the detection of the fluorescence during the particular time period as a result of the production of the burst of concentrated light energy, and
• data processing means responsive to the signals produced by the detecting means during the particular time period for analysing the signals to enhance the portion of the signals representing the particular fluorescence during the particular time interval relative to the portion of the signals representing the remaining fluorescence during the particular time interval.

A fluorometer for measuring a particular fluorescence emanating from particular fluorophore molecules in a specimen, including

• means for producing a burst of concentrated light energy having a pulse time short compared to the decay time of the particular fluorescence and having sufficient energy to excite substantially all of the particular fluorophore molecules,
• means responsive to the concentrated light energy for directing the concentrated light energy toward the specimen to produce fluorescence from the specimen including the particular fluorescence,
• means responsive to the fluorescence for detecting the fluorescence and for producing signals in accordance with the fluorescence,
• means coupled to the detecting means for controlling the detecting means within a particular time period to optimize the detection of the particular fluorescence,
• means coupled to the burst producing means, to the detecting means and to the controlling means for timing the operation of the above means to sequence the detection of the fluorescence within the particular time period after the production of the burst of concentrated light energy,
• data processing means responsive to the signals produced by the detecting means for analysing the signals to enhance the portion of the signals representing the particular fluorescence relative to the portion of the signals representing the remaining fluorescence, and
• the data processing means including first means for differentiating the signals produced by the detecting means at a number of time points to produce a plurality of individual time point signals, second means for integrating the signals produced by the detecting means over a corresponding number of time intervals to produce a plurality of individual time integrated signals and third means responsive to the signals from the detecting means, the individual time point signals and the individual time integrated signals for producing signals representing the particular fluorescence.

A fluorometer for measuring a particular fluorescence emanating from particular fluorophore molecules in a specimen, including

• means for producing a burst of concentrated light energy having a pulse time short compared to the decay time of the particular fluorescence and having sufficient energy to excite substantially all of the particular fluorophore molecules,
• means responsive to the burst of concentrated light energy for directing the burst of concentrated light energy toward the specimen to produce a fluorescence from the specimen including the particular fluorescence,
• means responsive to the fluorescence from the specimen for detecting the fluorescence and for producing signals in accordance with such detection,
• means coupled to the detecting means for obtaining a controlled operation of the detecting means in a particular time period to optimize the detection of the particular fluorescence wherein the time period has a beginning time and an ending time to enhance the detection of the particular fluorescence relative to the total fluorescence, the beginning time occurring a first particular time after the burst of concentrated light energy and during the production of the particular fluorescence and the ending time occurring a second particular time after the first particular time and during the production of the particular fluorescence from the specimen as a result of the burst of concentrated light energy,
• means coupled to the burst producing means, to the detecting means and to the controlling means for timing the operation of the detecting means to sequence the detection of the fluorescence during the particular time period as a result of the production of the burst of concentrated light energy,
• means coupled to the detecting means for forming signals representative of the particular fluorescence from the specimen, and
• means responsive to the detection of the particular fluorescence from the specimen during the particular time period for producing an image of the particular fluorescence during the particular time interval.

A fluorometer for measuring a particular fluorescence emanating from particular fluorophore molecules in a specimen, including

• means for producing a burst of concentrated light energy having a pulse time short compared to the decay time of the particular fluorescence and having sufficient energy to excite substantially all of the particular fluorophore molecules,
• means responsive to the burst of concentrated light energy for directing the burst of concentrated light energy toward the specimen to produce a fluorescence from the specimen including the particular fluorescence,
• means responsive to the fluorescence from the specimen for detecting the fluorescence and for producing signals in accordance with such detection,
• means coupled to the detecting means for obtaining a controlled operation of the detecting means during a particular time period to optimize the detection of the particular fluorescence wherein the particular time period has a beginning time and an ending time to enhance the detection of the particular fluorescence relative to the total fluorescence, the beginning time and the ending time occurring during the production of the particular fluorescence from the specimen as a result of the burst of concentrated light energy,
• means coupled to the burst producing means, to the detecting means and to the controlling means for timing the operation of the detecting means to sequence the detection of the particular fluorescence during the particular time period as a result of the production of the burst of concentrated light energy,
• means coupled to the detecting means for forming signals representative of the particular fluorescence from the specimen during the particular time period, and
• means responsive to the fluorescence from the specimen for producing an image of the particular fluorescence during the particular time period.

A fluorometer for measuring a particular fluorescence emanating from particular fluorophore molecules in a specimen, including

• means for producing a burst of concentrated light energy having a pulse time short compared to the decay time of the particular fluorescence and having sufficient energy to excite substantially all of the particular fluorophore molecules,
• means responsive to the burst of concentrated light energy for directing the burst of concentrated light energy toward the specimen to produce a fluorescence from the specimen including the particular fluorescence,
• means responsive to the fluorescence from the specimen for detecting the fluorescence and for producing signals in accordance with such detection,
• means coupled to the detecting means for obtaining a controlled operation of the detecting means during a particular time period to optimize the detection of the particular fluorescence during the particular time period, the particular time period having a beginning time and an ending time to enhance the detection of the particular fluorescence relative to the fluorescence including the particular fluorescence, the beginning time and ending time occurring during the production of the particular fluorescence from the specimen as a result of the production of the burst of concentrated energy,
• means coupled to the burst producing means, to the detecting means and to the controlling means for timing the operation of the detecting means to sequence the detection of the fluorescence during the particular time period as a result of the production of the burst of concentrated light energy,
• means coupled to the detecting means for forming signals representative of the particular fluorescence from the specimen, and
• means responsive to the signals from the detecting means during the particular time period for producing an image of the particular fluorescence during the particular time period.

A fluorometer for measuring a particular fluorescence emanating from particular fluorophore molecules in a specimen, including

• means for producing a burst of concentrated light energy having a pulse time short compared to the decay time of the particular fluorescence and having sufficient energy to excite substantially all of the particular fluorophore molecules,
• means responsive to the burst of concentrated light energy for directing the burst of concentrated light energy toward the specimen to produce a fluorescence from the specimen including the particular fluorescence,
• means responsive to the fluorescence from the specimen for detecting the fluorescence and for producing signals in accordance with such detection,
• means coupled to the detecting means for obtaining a controlled operation of the detecting means during a particular time period to optimize the detection of the particular fluorescence during the particular time period the particular time period having a beginning time and an ending time to enhance the detection of the signals representing the particular fluorescence during the particular time period relative to the portion of the signals representing the remaining fluorescence during the particular time period, the beginning time and the ending time occurring during the production of the particular fluorescence from the specimen as a result of the burst of concentrated light energy,
• means coupled to the burst producing means, to the detecting means and to the controlling means for timing the operation of the detecting means to sequence the detection of the fluorescence from the specimen during the particular time period as a result of the production of the burst of concentrated light energy,
• data processing means responsive to the signals produced by the detecting means for analysing the signals to enhance the portion of the signals representing the particular fluorescence during the particular time interval relative to the portion of the signals representing the fluorescence during the particular time interval other than the particular fluorescence, and
• means responsive to the signal from the data processing means for producing an image of the particular fluorescence.

A fluorometer for measuring a particular fluorescence emanating from particular fluorophore molecules in a specimen, including

• means for producing a burst of concentrated light energy having a pulse time short compared to the decay time of the particular fluorescence and having sufficient energy to excite substantially all of the particular fluorophore molecules,
• means responsive to the burst of concentrated light energy for directing the burst of concentrated light energy toward the specimen to produce fluorescence from the specimen including the particular fluorescence,
• means responsive to the fluorescence from the specimen for detecting such fluorescence and for producing signals in accordance with such detection,
• means coupled to the detecting means for obtaining a controlled operation of the detecting means within a particular time period to optimize the detection of the particular fluorescence wherein the particular time period has a beginning time and an ending time to enhance the detection of the signals representing the particular fluorescence during the particular time period relative to the portion of the signals representing the fluorescence during the particular time period other than the particular fluorescence, the beginning and ending times occurring during the production of the particular fluorescence from the specimen as a result of the burst of concentrated energy,
• means coupled to the burst producing means, to the detecting means and to the controlling means for timing the operation of the detecting means to sequence the detection of the particular fluorescence from the specimen during the particular time period as a result of the production of the burst of concentrated light energy,
• data processing means responsive to the signals produced by the detecting means during the particular time period for analysing the signals to enhance the portion of the signals representing the particular fluorescence during the particular time period relative to the portion of the signals representing the fluorescence during the particular time period other than particular fluorescence, and
• means responsive to the signals from the data processing means for producing an image of the fluorescence.

A fluorometer for measuring a particular fluorescence emanating from particular fluorophore molecules in a specimen, including

• means for producing a burst of concentrated light energy having a pulse time short compared to the decay time of the particular fluorescence and having sufficient energy to excite substantially all of the particular fluorophore molecules,
• means responsive to the burst of concentrated light energy for directing the burst of concentrated light energy toward the specimen to produce fluorescence from the specimen including the particular fluorescence,
• means responsive to the fluorescence from the specimen for detecting such fluorescence and for producing signals in accordance with such detection,
• means coupled to the detecting means for obtaining a controlled operation of the detecting means within a particular time period to optimize the detection of the particular fluorescence wherein the time period has a beginning time and an ending time to enhance the detection of the signals representing the particular fluorescence during the particular time interval relative to the portion of the signals representing the fluorescence during the particular time period other than the particular fluorescence, the beginning and ending times occurring during the production of the particular fluorescence from the specimen as a result of the burst of concentrated light energy,
• means coupled to the burst producing means, to the detecting means and to the controlling means for timing the operation of the detecting means to sequence the detection of the fluorescence within the particular time period as a result of the production of the burst of concentrated light energy,
• data processing means responsive to the signals produced by the detecting means during the particular time period for analysing the signals to enhance the portion of the signals representing the particular fluorescence during the particular time period relative to the portion of the signals representing the fluorescence during the particular time period other than the particular fluorescence, and
• means responsive to the enhanced signals from the data processing means for producing an image of the particular fluorescence during the particular time period.

A fluorometer for measuring a particular fluorescence emanating from particular fluorophpre molecules in a specimen, including

• means for producing a burst of concentrated light energy having a pulse time short compared to the decay time of the particular fluorescence and having sufficient energy to excite substantially all of the particular fluorophore molecules,
• means responsive to the burst of concentrated light energy for directing the burst of concentrated light energy toward the specimen to produce fluorescence from the specimen including the particular fluorescence,
• means responsive to the fluorescence from the specimen for detecting such fluorescence and for producing signals in accordance with such detection,
• means coupled to the detecting means for obtaining a controlled operation of the detecting means within a particular time period to optimize the detection of the particular fluorescence wherein the particular time period has a beginning time and an ending time to enhance the detection of the signals representing the particular fluorescence during the particular time relative to the portion of the signals representing the fluorescence during the particular time period other than the particular fluorescence the beginning and ending times occurring during the production of the particular fluorescence,
• means coupled to the burst producing means, to the detecting means and to the controlling means for timing the operation of the detecting means to sequence the detection of the fluorescence during the particular time period as a result of the production of the burst of concentrated light energy,
• data processing means responsive to the signals produced by the detecting means during the particular time period for analysing the signals to enhance the portion of the signals representing the particular fluorescence during the particular time period relative to the portion of the signals representing the fluorescence during the particular time period other than the particular fluorescence, and
• the means for controlling the passage of the image constituting an electro-optic modulator formed by a cubic crystal of the class T.sub.d.