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Analog circuit for an autofocus microscope system

an autofocus microscope and analog circuit technology, applied in the field of microscopy, can solve the problems of detail blur, resolution loss, and inability to take into account the effect of autofocus, and achieve the effects of low cost, fast and accurate autofocus

Inactive Publication Date: 2009-03-24
Q3DM
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]The goal of this invention is to implement fast, accurate autofocus at a low cost for use in, for example, scanning microscopy, of fluorescent stained biologic specimens.

Problems solved by technology

Details blur as an image is defocused and resolution is lost.
These designs, however do not take into account the effect of the autofocus system transfer function in the choice of the high frequency filter.
Further, in low information content images, background intensity changes can dominate via filter distortion at the ends of horizontal lines.

Method used

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  • Analog circuit for an autofocus microscope system
  • Analog circuit for an autofocus microscope system
  • Analog circuit for an autofocus microscope system

Examples

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Embodiment Construction

[0022]Refereeing now to the figures where like reference numerals indicate identical elements, in FIG. 1 there is illustrated an autofocus system 10 including a microscope 12 that includes an objective lens 14, and a microscope stage 16 on which a slide may be mounted. The stage 16 is translatable in the X and Y directions so that a succession of areas on a microscope slide carried on the stage can be scanned according to known methods. One such area is indicated by reference numeral 18. The microscope includes means 20 for illumination of fluorescent stained biologic specimens and means 22 for phase contrast or other transmitted microscopy illumination. An image of the area 18 is magnified by magnifying optics of the microscope 12 that include the objective lens 14 and a zoom lens 23. Each magnified image is acquired by a camera 30 that produces, by interlaced scanning, a video signal representing a magnified image, and including various synchronization components that are necessar...

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Abstract

An analog circuit for an autofocus microscope system measures a degree of focus of an object directly from the video signal of a microscope CCD camera. The circuit then returns an index to a host computer for the purpose of adjusting the position of the microscope's objective lens to bring the object in focus. Best focus is found by comparing indices at several different vertical positions. The criterion adopted for determining the degree of focus is derived from the energy distribution of the video signal spectrum. The high frequency energy of the video spectrum is a maximum at best focus and as the optics defocus, the distribution shifts to lower frequencies. Low cost, real time autofocus is achieved with the analog circuitry of this invention, replacing more expensive dedicated, real time image processing hardware.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]The invention is in the field of microscopy in which focus of an image, observed by way of a microscope, is automatically adjusted. Such automatic adjustment of microscope focus is termed “autofocus”. The invention is practiced in an autofocus system. More particularly, the invention concerns the incorporation of an analog circuit that accounts for the effect of a transfer function attributable to the microscope optics of the autofocus system, eliminates scanning artifacts that impair the autofocus function, and corrects for illumination instability.[0002]Autofocus is essential in automated microscopy to overcome the problems of mechanical instability, the irregularity of glass slides and coverslips, the movement of live specimens and the effects of thermal expansion. Autofocus can overcome these limitations and allow accurate and reproducible measurements in fully automated quantitative microscopy. Many experiments will benefit from autofocus and ex...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): H04N5/202G02B7/28G02B7/36G02B21/24G02B21/26
CPCG02B21/244
Inventor PRICE, JEFFREY H.BRAVO-ZANOGUERA, MIGUEL
Owner Q3DM