Microscopy imaging

• US 10,345,564 B2
• Filed: 08/27/2018
• Issued: 07/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alentic Microscience Inc.
• Original Assignee: Alentic Microscience Inc.
• Inventors: Fine, Alan Marc, Gregson, Peter Hodges
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Nam D
• Application Number:
  US16/113,578
• Publication Number:
  US 20190094509A1
• Time in Patent Office: 316 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 21/0008 Microscopes having a simple construction, e.g. portable microscopes

Abstract

Among other things, an imaging device has a photosensitive array of pixels, and a surface associated with the array is configured to receive a specimen with at least a part of the specimen at a distance from the surface equivalent to less than about half of an average width of the pixels.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising

a housing,

a lid hinged to the housing,

the housing and the lid enclosing a space,

within the enclosed space and facing the lid, a sensor having an array of photosensitive elements exposed at a surface, the surface being configured to receive a specimen within a near field distance of the photosensitive elements,

the hinged lid configured to give access to the space to permit placement of the specimen on the surface of the sensor, and

on the lid and facing the sensor, a light source containing an array of LEDs, the array being configured to be controlled singly or in groups to illuminate the specimen at different wavelengths and positions relative to the surface of the sensor.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the LEDs comprise OLEDs.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising

a controller configured to control the LEDs.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 in which the controller is within the space enclosed by the housing and the lid.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 in which the controller comprises a microprocessor of a computing device.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the array of LEDs, the specimen, and the sensor are aligned for conventional microscopy.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the array of LEDs, the specimen, and the sensor are aligned for dark-field microscopy in which the specimen is illuminated from an angle outside the acceptance angle of the photosensitive elements.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the array of LEDs is interchangeable.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the LEDs comprise AMOLEDs.

10. The apparatus of claim 3 in which the controller is configured to selectively excite one or more LEDs simultaneously or in sequence.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising

an adhesive layer on the surface of the sensor and configured to adhere to elements of the sensor.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 in which the adhesive layer comprises molecules having specific affinities.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 in which the adhesive layer is configured to exclude particular elements of the specimen.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 in which the particular elements of the specimen comprise cells.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 in which the adhesive layer is configured to enrich particular elements of the specimen.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 in which the adhesive layer comprises elements for binding assays.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 in which the elements for the binding assays comprise fluorophores.

18. The apparatus of claim 16 in which the elements for the binding assays comprise nanoparticles or microbeads.

19. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising

a layer of light-transmissive material on the surface containing elements that are responsive to light.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 in which the elements that are responsive to light comprise fluorophores.

21. The apparatus of claim 19 in which the elements that are responsive to light comprise phosphors.

22. The apparatus of claim 19 in which the elements that are responsive to light comprise up-converters.

23. The apparatus of claim 19 in which the elements that are responsive to light comprise molecules excited at one wavelength and emitting at another wavelength.

24. The apparatus of claim 19 in which the light-sensitive elements have ranges of spectral sensitivity, the elements comprise fluorophores, and the fluorophores are excited by wavelengths outside the ranges of spectral sensitivity and are emitting within the ranges of spectral sensitivity.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 in which the fluorophores are excited in the x-ray spectrum.

26. A method comprising

opening a hinged lid associated with the housing,

placing a specimen on a surface of an array of photosensitive elements within a near field distance of the photosensitive elements,

closing the hinged lid,

controlling an array of LEDs to illuminate the specimen, the array being configured to be controlled singly or in groups to illuminate the specimen at different wavelengths and positions relative to the surface of an array of photosensitive elements, and

capturing an image of the specimen formed at the array of photosensitive elements by the illumination of the array of LEDs.