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 wherein the light detector monitors a portion of the light output, internal to the light engine;
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 each of the plurality of different colors of light; and
wherein, during operation, the systemdetermines a reference count for each color of the plurality of different colors of light,for an exposure period, enables the light engine to turn on a particular color of the plurality of different colors of light,monitors the indication of light flux in the light output, as detected by the light detector and converted to the pulse train counted by the counter for the particular color of the one or more of the plurality of different colors of light, andwhen the ongoing count reaches the reference count for the particular color of the one or more of the plurality of different colors of light, causes the light engine to turn off said particular color.
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Abstract
A system and method for metered dosage illumination in a bioanalysis or other system includes an illumination system or subsystem 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 be precisely controlled to generate a prescribed minimum amount of light, in order to reduce adverse lighting effects on both fluors and samples. The system and method is particularly useful in any quality-control, analysis, or assessment-based environment. Typical research and development applications can include quality control, instrument calibration, and light output standardization; while clinical and diagnostics applications can include clinical monitoring, bioassay calibration and control for diagnostics, treatment and or therapeutic evaluation.
206 Citations
11 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 wherein the light detector monitors a portion of the light output, internal to the light engine; 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 each of the plurality of different colors of light; and wherein, during operation, the system determines a reference count for each color of the plurality of different colors of light, for an exposure period, enables the light engine to turn on a particular color of the plurality of different colors of light, monitors the indication of light flux in the light output, as detected by the light detector and converted to the pulse train counted by the counter for the particular color of the one or more of the plurality of different colors of light, and when the ongoing count reaches the reference count for the particular color of the one or more of the plurality of different colors of light, causes the light engine to turn off said particular color. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. 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 internal to the light engine that can detect an indication of light flux in the light output for each of said plurality of colors; 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 each of said plurality of colors; and during operation of the illumination system determining a reference count for each of said plurality of colors, for an exposure period, enabling the light engine to turn on a particular color of said plurality of colors, 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 for the particular color of said plurality of colors, and when the ongoing count reaches the reference count for the particular color of said plurality of colors, turning off the particular color.
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Specification