Confocal imaging methods and apparatus
First Claim
1. A detection apparatus comprising:
- (a) a rectangular detector array comprising a plurality of pixel elements in a horizontal axis and a plurality of pixel elements in a vertical axis, wherein said horizontal axis is longer than said vertical axis; and
(b) optics positioned to direct radiation to said rectangular detector array, wherein said rectangular detector array is configured to collect electrical responses from pixel elements in the vertical axis in a common bin, thereby achieving confocality in a single axis of said detector, wherein said single axis is said vertical axis.
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Abstract
The invention provides imaging apparatus and methods useful for obtaining a high resolution image of a sample at rapid scan rates. A rectangular detector array having a horizontal dimension that is longer than the vertical dimension can be used along with imaging optics positioned to direct a rectangular image of a portion of a sample to the rectangular detector array. A scanning device can be configured to scan the sample in a scan-axis dimension, wherein the vertical dimension for the rectangular detector array and the shorter of the two rectangular dimensions for the image are in the scan-axis dimension, and wherein the vertical dimension for the rectangular detector array is short enough to achieve confocality in a single axis.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A detection apparatus comprising:
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(a) a rectangular detector array comprising a plurality of pixel elements in a horizontal axis and a plurality of pixel elements in a vertical axis, wherein said horizontal axis is longer than said vertical axis; and (b) optics positioned to direct radiation to said rectangular detector array, wherein said rectangular detector array is configured to collect electrical responses from pixel elements in the vertical axis in a common bin, thereby achieving confocality in a single axis of said detector, wherein said single axis is said vertical axis. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of detecting a sample, comprising
(a) directing radiation from at least a portion of a sample region to a rectangular detector array, wherein said rectangular detector array comprises a plurality of pixel elements in a horizontal axis and a plurality of pixel elements in a vertical axis, wherein said horizontal axis is longer than said vertical axis; -
(b) collecting electrical responses from a plurality of pixel elements of the vertical axis in a common bin; and (c) reading the collected electrical responses from said common bin as a single value, thereby achieving confocality in a single axis of said detector, wherein said single axis is said vertical axis. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification