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US 5,162,941 AGranted
Confocal microscope
AssigneeBoard of Governors of Wayne State University
InventorsLawrence D. Favro, Robert L. Thomas, Pao-Kuang Kuo, Li Chen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A confocal microscope comprises a focusing lens for focusing a light source onto a pin hole. The use of the lens for this purpose, when used within a confocal microscope apparatus, greatly reduces image artifacts and creates an increased transfer efficiently between the light source and the sample.
Claims21
A confocal microscope, comprising:
- a light source for illuminating a portion of a specimen,
- an aperture plate disposed between said light source and said specimen, said aperture plate including an aperture for passing a portion of the light emanating from said light source into said portion of said specimen,
- means disposed between said light source and said aperture plate, and spaced apart from said aperture plate, for focusing a portion of said light onto said aperture of said aperture plate, wherein said aperture plate and said focusing means are adapted to rotate about a common axis in synchronism,
- objective means disposed between said aperture plate and said specimen for focusing said light passing through said aperture onto said specimen and for illuminating said portion of said specimen, and
- means, optically coupled to said illuminated portion of said specimen, for collecting an image created by said light illuminating a portion of said specimen.
2 more elements
A confocal microscope, comprising:
- a light source for illuminating a portion of a specimen,
- an aperture plate disposed between said light source and said specimen, said aperture plate including a plurality of apertures for passing a portion of the light emanating from said light source onto portions of said specimen,
- means disposed between said light source and said aperture plate, and spaced apart from said aperture plate, for focusing a portion of said light onto said plurality of apertures of said aperture plate, wherein each of said focusing means is respectively associated with an aperture of said aperture plate, and wherein each of said focusing means is adapted to focus light emanating from said light source into a portion of its respectively associated aperture of said aperture plate,
- objective means disposed between said aperture plate and said specimen for focusing said light passing through said apertures onto said specimen for illuminating portions of said specimen, and
- means, optically coupled to said illuminated portion of said specimen, for collecting an image created by said light illuminating portions of said specimen.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.