System and method for metered dosage illumination in a bioanalysis or other system
First Claim
1. A system for providing metered dosage illumination for use in a bioanalysis or other system, comprising:
- a light engine that can provide a plurality of different colors of light as a light output;
a light detector that can detect an indication of light flux at the light output;
a light-to-frequency converter that can convert the indication of light flux as detected by the light detector to a pulse train, the frequency of which pulse train is proportional to the light flux;
a counter that can compare an ongoing count as indicated by the pulse train, to a preset reference count for a particular color; and
wherein, during operation, the illumination systemdetermines a reference count for each color,for an exposure period, enables the light engine to turn on a particular color,monitors the indication of light flux at the light output, as detected by the light detector and converted to the pulse train counted by the counter, andwhen the counter reaches the reference count, disables the particular color currently provided by the light engine, to select a different color.
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Abstract
A system and method for metered dosage illumination in a bioanalysis or other system. In accordance with an embodiment, an illumination system or subsystem is described that can provide optimized amounts of excitation light within the short exposure times necessary to measure fast biological activity. The amount of light can be precisely measured to provide quantitative results. The light flux can also be precisely controlled to generate only a prescribed minimum amount of light, in order to reduce adverse lighting effects on both fluors and samples. Although the examples herein illustrate the providing of metered dosage illumination in the context of a bioanalysis system, the techniques can be similarly used to provide metered dosage illumination in the context of other types of system.
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Citations
9 Claims
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1. A system for providing metered dosage illumination for use in a bioanalysis or other system, comprising:
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a light engine that can provide a plurality of different colors of light as a light output; a light detector that can detect an indication of light flux at the light output; a light-to-frequency converter that can convert the indication of light flux as detected by the light detector to a pulse train, the frequency of which pulse train is proportional to the light flux; a counter that can compare an ongoing count as indicated by the pulse train, to a preset reference count for a particular color; and wherein, during operation, the illumination system determines a reference count for each color, for an exposure period, enables the light engine to turn on a particular color, monitors the indication of light flux at the light output, as detected by the light detector and converted to the pulse train counted by the counter, and when the counter reaches the reference count, disables the particular color currently provided by the light engine, to select a different color. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for providing metered dosage illumination for use in a bioanalysis or other system, comprising the steps of:
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providing a light engine that can provide a plurality of different colors of light as a light output; providing a light detector that can detect an indication of light flux at the light output; providing a light-to-frequency converter that can convert the indication of light flux as detected by the light detector to a pulse train, the frequency of which pulse train is proportional to the light flux; providing a counter that can compare an ongoing count as indicated by the pulse train, to a preset reference count for a particular color; and during operation of the illumination system determining a reference count for each color, for an exposure period, enabling the light engine to turn on a particular color, monitoring the indication of light flux at the light output, as detected by the light detector and converted to the pulse train counted by the counter, and when the counter reaches the reference count, disabling the particular color currently provided by the light engine, to select a different color.
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Specification