Optical tomography of small objects using parallel ray illumination and post-specimen optical magnification

A parallel-beam optical tomography system for imaging an object of interest comprising:

• a parallel beam radiation source for illuminating the object of interest with a plurality of parallel radiation beams;
• an outer tube having an optically flat input surface and a convex output surface or convex lens, where the convex output surface or convex lens focuses radiation emerging from the outer tube after passing through the object of interest;
• an object containing tube located within the outer tube, wherein the object of interest is held within the object containing tube;
• a mechanical stage or micromanipulator coupled to rotate the object containing tube to present differing views of the object of interest;
• a pinhole aperture located at the focal point of the convex lens and arranged to produce a cone beam of emergent radiation;
• and
• a detector array located to receive the cone beam of emergent radiation from the pinhole aperture.

A parallel-beam optical tomography system for imaging an object of interest comprising:

• a plurality of parallel beam radiation sources for illuminating the object of interest, each of the plurality of parallel beam radiation sources generating a plurality of parallel radiation paths at a differing angle of view with respect to the object of interest;
• an outer tube having a plurality of optically flat input surfaces and a plurality of corresponding concave output surfaces or concave lenses, where the plurality of corresponding concave output surfaces or concave lenses diverge radiation emerging from the outer tube after passing through the object of interest;
• an object containing tube located within the outer tube, wherein the object of interest is held within the object containing tube;
• and
• a plurality of detector arrays, where each of the plurality of detector arrays is located to receive the emerging radiation from one or more of the plurality of concave output surfaces.

A parallel-beam optical tomography system for imaging an object of interest comprising:

• a plurality of parallel beam radiation sources for illuminating the object of interest, each of the plurality of parallel beam radiation sources generating a plurality of parallel radiation paths at a differing angle of view of the object of interest;
• an outer tube having a plurality of optically flat input surfaces and a plurality of corresponding convex output surfaces or convex lenses, where the plurality of corresponding convex output surfaces or convex lenses focus radiation emerging from the outer tube after passing through the object of interest;
• an object containing tube located within the outer tube, wherein the object of interest is held within the object containing tube;
• a plurality of pinhole apertures, where each of the plurality of pinhole apertures receives radiation from one of the plurality of corresponding convex output surfaces or lenses so as to produce an emergent cone beam;
• and
• a plurality of detector arrays, where each of the plurality of detector arrays is located to receive the emerging radiation from one of the plurality of pinhole apertures.

A method for three dimensional reconstruction of an object of interest comprising the steps of:

• packing at least one object of interest into a linear container;
• moving the linear container at a rate of translation;
• illuminating the at least one object of interest with at least one parallel beam radiation source;
• and
• generating at least one projection image with a time delay and integration (TDI) image sensor having a line transfer rate synchronized to the rate of translation.

A method for three dimensional reconstruction of an object of interest using a reconstruction cylinder design wherein a plane of point sources and a plane of sensors are parallel and concentric, one above the other, and wherein the reconstruction cylinder has an arrangement of sources and detectors around a circumference of a sample, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) injecting objects of interest into a flow stream of controlled velocity;
• (b) illuminating the object of interest with a plurality of parallel optical projection beams;
• and
• (c) generating a set of projection images at a plurality of angles for each object as it flows through the reconstruction cylinder.

A method for three dimensional reconstruction of an object of interest using a reconstruction cylinder including at least one plane of point sources and at least one plane of sensors that are parallel and concentric to the at least one plane of point sources, one above the other, and arranged around a circumference of a sample in a linear container including at least one object of interest, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) packing the at least one object of interest into a linear container;
• (b) illuminating the at least one object of interest with a plurality of parallel optical projection beams;
• (c) translating the linear container until a selected object of interest is located within a region of the plurality of optical projection beams;
• (d) centering the selected object of interest as necessary;
• (e) generating a set of projection images from the selected object of interest at a plurality of angles;
• and
• (f) repeating the steps (b) through (e) until the selected object of interest has been scanned.