Resolution enhancement by multiple scanning with a low-resolution, two-dimensional sensor array
First Claim
1. An enhanced resolution image scanner for generating a data signal representative of an image of an associated specimen wherein the data signal has a resolution greater than a resolution of a sensor array of the scanner, comprising:
- an array of sensors wherein said sensors are relatively spaced by an interstice and disposed to generate a signal representative of a first subportion of a selected pixel of the associated specimen during a first scan, each said selected pixel having an area greater than said first subportion, andorientation means interposed between the specimen and the array for reorienting each of the sensors relative to the data signal of the associated specimen during a second scan for displacing the data signal as an undivided signal and generating a second signal representative of at least a second subportion of the selected pixel comprising an area of said specimen missed by the scanner array due to said interstice.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The system achieves high-resolution imaging with low-resolution two-dimensional imagers whose sensors are only a fraction of a selected pixel area. Sensors are stepped across an image with an optical or mechanical stepper to acquire an image at each sensor position. Thereby, resolution is defined by a step size which is comparable to the sensor size, rather than by pixel resolution. The system thus uses multiple image, obtained from individual sensors, which have a sensed area substantially less than the area of the pixels of the sensor array. Such rescanning is accomplished by movable mirrors or lenses that are disposed between an illuminated specimen and a sensor area.
54 Citations
23 Claims
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1. An enhanced resolution image scanner for generating a data signal representative of an image of an associated specimen wherein the data signal has a resolution greater than a resolution of a sensor array of the scanner, comprising:
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an array of sensors wherein said sensors are relatively spaced by an interstice and disposed to generate a signal representative of a first subportion of a selected pixel of the associated specimen during a first scan, each said selected pixel having an area greater than said first subportion, and orientation means interposed between the specimen and the array for reorienting each of the sensors relative to the data signal of the associated specimen during a second scan for displacing the data signal as an undivided signal and generating a second signal representative of at least a second subportion of the selected pixel comprising an area of said specimen missed by the scanner array due to said interstice. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of obtaining enhanced scanned image data of a specimen comprising the steps of:
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illuminating the specimen; directing light from the illuminated specimen to a sensor array comprising a plurality of spaced sensor elements, wherein a first portion of a pixel of the specimen can be detected by the sensor elements; selectively orienting the sensor elements relative to the associated specimen via a light director interposed between the specimen and the array; generating a first signal representative of the first portion of the illuminated specimen by directing the light from the first portion on to the sensor array; reorienting the sensor array relative to the specimen by redirecting the light as an undivided signal to the sensor array from a second portion comprising a portion of the specimen missed by the sensor array due to spacings of the spaced sensor elements; and generating a second signal representative of the second portion of the second pixel on the illuminated specimen. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An enhanced resolution image scanner comprising:
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an array of sensors, each sensor of the array adapted to generate a signal representative of a first subportion of a selected pixel of an associated specimen; orientation means for selectively orienting each of the sensors relative to the associated specimen so as to generate a second signal representative of at least a second, unique subportion of each selected pixel in accordance with the relation;
space="preserve" listing-type="equation">x=A sin(2π
f.sub.1 t)+B sin (2π
f.sub.2 +Φ
); and
space="preserve" listing-type="equation">y=A cos(2π
f.sub.1 t)+B cos (2f.sub.d +Φ
); andwherein A and B represent amplitudes of trajectory and displacement and wherein f1 and f2 are the effective rotation frequencies of the sensors and the associated specimen, respectively; wherein a section of parameters A, B, Φ
, f1 and f2 are such that the trajectory of the sensor position overlap to a pixel grid that has an enhanced resolution. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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Specification