System and method for controlled intensity illumination in a bioanalysis or other system
First Claim
1. A system for providing light to illuminate a sample comprising:
- a light engine including a plurality of color channels wherein each color channel includes,a solid state light source,a band pass filter, andan electronic circuit to power the solid state light source,whereby each color channel provides light of a different specific wavelength band suitable for exciting a fluorescent molecule;
an optical system comprising a plurality of reflective elements internal to the system which direct light from each color channel into a light beam;
a beam splitter which splits said light beam into an output light beam for illuminating said sample and a redirected light beam internal to the system;
a light to frequency converter internal to the system which receives said redirected light beam from the beam splitter and generates a pulse train having a frequency proportional to an intensity of said redirected light beam;
a counter that maintains a count of pulses in the pulse train such that the count of pulses provides a measure of the intensity of light in said redirected light beam; and
a light intensity circuit which monitors the ongoing count of pulses maintained by the counter and adjusts one or more of the plurality of color channels in real time to thereby control intensity of said output light beam for illuminating the sample.
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Abstract
A system and method for controlled illumination in a bioanalysis or other system where excitation of fluorescent molecules is desirable. In an embodiment, an illumination system is described which can provide excitation light at a controlled intensity to provide quantitative results. In an embodiment, a solid state light engine is described which includes a plurality of color channels each providing light output suitable for exciting a fluorescent molecule, a light to frequency converter which receives a portion of the light output, a counter which maintains a count of a signal from the light to frequency converter, and a light intensity circuit, responsive to the counter, which adjusts the color channels to control the intensity of the light output.
223 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A system for providing light to illuminate a sample comprising:
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a light engine including a plurality of color channels wherein each color channel includes, a solid state light source, a band pass filter, and an electronic circuit to power the solid state light source, whereby each color channel provides light of a different specific wavelength band suitable for exciting a fluorescent molecule; an optical system comprising a plurality of reflective elements internal to the system which direct light from each color channel into a light beam; a beam splitter which splits said light beam into an output light beam for illuminating said sample and a redirected light beam internal to the system; a light to frequency converter internal to the system which receives said redirected light beam from the beam splitter and generates a pulse train having a frequency proportional to an intensity of said redirected light beam; a counter that maintains a count of pulses in the pulse train such that the count of pulses provides a measure of the intensity of light in said redirected light beam; and a light intensity circuit which monitors the ongoing count of pulses maintained by the counter and adjusts one or more of the plurality of color channels in real time to thereby control intensity of said output light beam for illuminating the sample. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method comprising:
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providing a light engine including a plurality of color channels, wherein each color channel includes, a solid state light source, a band pass filter, and an electronic circuit to power the solid state light source, and whereby each color channel provides light of a different specific wavelength band suitable for exciting a fluorescent molecule; causing one or more of the color channels to provide light of a different specific wavelength band suitable for exciting a fluorescent molecule; combining the light from each of the plurality of color channel into a light beam using a plurality of reflective elements; splitting the light beam using a beamsplitter into a redirected light beam directed at a light to frequency converter internal to the light engine and an output light beam for illuminating a sample; receiving the redirected light beam from the beam splitter with a light to frequency converter; generating a pulse train with said light to frequency converter wherein the pulse train has a frequency proportional to an intensity of light in said redirected light beam; maintaining a count of pulses in the pulse train such that the count of pulses provides a measure of the intensity of light in said redirected of the light beam; and adjusting one or more of the plurality of color channels in real time in response to the count of pulses to thereby control intensity of said output light beam for illuminating the sample. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for the detection of fluorescent molecules in a biological sample, the system comprising:
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a light engine including a plurality of color channels wherein each color channel includes, a solid state light source, a band pass filter, and an electronic circuit to power the solid state light source, whereby each color channel provides light of a different specific wavelength band suitable for exciting a fluorescent molecule; an optical system comprising a plurality of reflective elements which direct light from each color channel into a light beam; a beam splitter which splits the light beam internal to the system into a redirected beam and an output light beam; a light to frequency converter which receives said redirected light beam from the beam splitter internal to the system and generates a pulse train having a frequency proportional to an intensity of light in said redirected light beam; a counter that maintains a count of pulses in the pulse train such that the count of pulses provides a measure of the intensity of light in said redirected light beam; a light intensity circuit which monitors the ongoing count of pulses maintained by the counter and adjusts one or more of the plurality of color channels in real time to thereby control intensity of the output light beam; and a camera for measuring fluorescence received from the sample in response to exposure of the biological sample to the output light beam. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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Specification