Readhead for optical inspection apparatus
First Claim
1. A readhead for a diagnostic instrument for illuminating a sample carrier and receiving light from the sample carrier, the readhead comprising:
- a housing adapted to be incorporated in the diagnostic instrument and including an illumination chamber for receiving a sample carrier;
an array of reflectance light sources mounted within the housing in a fixed position relative to the illumination chamber, and including a first light-emitting diode for emitting substantially monochromatic light of a first wavelength and a second light-emitting diode for emitting substantially monochromatic light of a second wavelength substantially different from the first wavelength;
a light guide mounted in the housing to receive light from each of the light-emitting diodes, for conveying, when only one of the light-emitting diodes is illuminated, substantially all of the light from the one light-emitting diode to the illumination chamber so that the illumination chamber is illuminated substantially uniformly;
a light detector coupled to receive light from the illumination chamber;
a fluorescence excitation light source positioned in the housing and positioned to direct excitation light of a predetermined wavelength to the illumination chamber; and
a light filter positioned between the illumination chamber and the light detector and adapted to prevent passage therethrough of the excitation light from the fluorescence excitation light source but allow passage of emissive light from a sample carrier in the illumination chamber having a wavelength different from the predetermined wavelength of the excitation light.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A readhead for illuminating a sample carrier and receiving light from the sample carrier, including a housing for receiving a sample carrier, an array of light sources mounted within the housing in a fixed position relative to the sample carrier, and including first and second light-emitting diodes for emitting substantially monochromatic light of a two different wavelengths, a light guide mounted in the housing between the light-emitting diodes and the sample carrier, and a light detector coupled to receive light from the sample carrier. The readhead also includes a light source for directing excitation light of a predetermined wavelength to the sample carrier, and a light filter positioned between the sample carrier and the light detector and adapted to prevent passage therethrough of the excitation light. The readhead allows both fluorescence spectroscopy and reflectance spectroscopy to be conducted on the sample carrier.
33 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A readhead for a diagnostic instrument for illuminating a sample carrier and receiving light from the sample carrier, the readhead comprising:
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a housing adapted to be incorporated in the diagnostic instrument and including an illumination chamber for receiving a sample carrier; an array of reflectance light sources mounted within the housing in a fixed position relative to the illumination chamber, and including a first light-emitting diode for emitting substantially monochromatic light of a first wavelength and a second light-emitting diode for emitting substantially monochromatic light of a second wavelength substantially different from the first wavelength; a light guide mounted in the housing to receive light from each of the light-emitting diodes, for conveying, when only one of the light-emitting diodes is illuminated, substantially all of the light from the one light-emitting diode to the illumination chamber so that the illumination chamber is illuminated substantially uniformly; a light detector coupled to receive light from the illumination chamber; a fluorescence excitation light source positioned in the housing and positioned to direct excitation light of a predetermined wavelength to the illumination chamber; and a light filter positioned between the illumination chamber and the light detector and adapted to prevent passage therethrough of the excitation light from the fluorescence excitation light source but allow passage of emissive light from a sample carrier in the illumination chamber having a wavelength different from the predetermined wavelength of the excitation light. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 28, 35, 36, 37)
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10. A readhead for a diagnostic instrument for illuminating a sample carrier and receiving light from the sample carrier, the readhead comprising:
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a housing adapted to be incorporated in the diagnostic instrument and adapted to receive and support a sample carrier; a reflectance light source comprising a light-emitting diode mounted within the housing in a fixed position relative to the sample carrier; a diverging light guide, mounted in the housing to receive light from the light-emitting diode and adapted to convey substantially all of the light from the light-emitting diode to the sample carrier so that the sample carrier is illuminated substantially uniformly, the diverging light guide having a relatively small width at a point adjacent an inlet of the diverging light guide and a relatively large width at a point adjacent an outlet of the diverging light guide; a light detector coupled to receive light from the sample carrier; a fluorescence excitation light source for directing excitation light of a predetermined wavelength to the sample carrier; and a light filter positioned between the sample carrier and the light detector and adapted to prevent passage therethrough of the excitation light from the fluorescence excitation light source but allow passage of emissive light from the sample carrier having a wavelength different from the predetermined wavelength of the excitation light. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 27, 32, 33, 34)
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17. A readhead for a diagnostic instrument for illuminating a sample carrier and receiving light from the sample carrier, the readhead comprising:
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a housing adapted to be incorporated in the diagnostic instrument and including an illumination chamber for receiving a sample carrier; a reflectance light source comprising a lensless light-emitting diode mounted within the housing in a fixed position relative to the illumination chamber; a light guide, mounted in a fixed position relative to the lensless light-emitting diode, for conveying light from the lensless light-emitting diode to a sample carrier in the illumination chamber; a light detector coupled to receive light from the sample carrier; a fluorescence excitation light source positioned in the housing for directing excitation light of a predetermined wavelength to the illumination chamber; and a light filter positioned between the illumination chamber and the light detector and adapted to prevent passage therethrough of the excitation light from the fluorescence excitation light source but allow passage of emissive light from a sample carrier in the illumination chamber having a wavelength different from the predetermined wavelength of the excitation light. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification