Confocal imaging methods and apparatus
First Claim
1. A detection apparatus comprising:
- (a) a line generator positioned to send a radiation line to a sample region, wherein the shorter of two dimensions for the radiation line is between 0.05 micrometer and 10 micrometers;
(b) 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 the horizontal axis is longer than the vertical axis; and
(c) optics positioned to direct radiation from the sample region to the rectangular detector array,wherein the rectangular detector array is configured to collect electrical responses from pixel elements in the vertical axis in a common bin, wherein the Rayleigh resolution of the detection apparatus is in the range of 0.1 micrometer to 10 micrometers.
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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.
84 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A detection apparatus comprising:
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(a) a line generator positioned to send a radiation line to a sample region, wherein the shorter of two dimensions for the radiation line is between 0.05 micrometer and 10 micrometers; (b) 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 the horizontal axis is longer than the vertical axis; and (c) optics positioned to direct radiation from the sample region to the rectangular detector array, wherein the rectangular detector array is configured to collect electrical responses from pixel elements in the vertical axis in a common bin, wherein the Rayleigh resolution of the detection apparatus is in the range of 0.1 micrometer to 10 micrometers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of detecting a sample in a detection apparatus, comprising
(a) directing a radiation line to a sample, thereby exciting fluorophores to produce emission radiation, wherein the shorter of two dimensions for the radiation line is between 0.05 micrometer and 10 micrometers; -
(b) directing the emission radiation from the sample to a rectangular detector array, wherein the rectangular detector array comprises a plurality of pixel elements in a horizontal axis and a plurality of pixel elements in a vertical axis, wherein the horizontal axis is longer than the vertical axis; (c) collecting electrical responses from a plurality of pixel elements of the vertical axis in a common bin; and (d) reading the collected electrical responses from the common bin as a single value, wherein the Rayleigh resolution of the detection apparatus is in the range of 0.1 micrometer to 10 micrometers. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification