65 results about "Light microscopy technique" patented technology

The invention is directed to a method for improving the depth discrimination in optically imaging systems. It is applicable in particular in light microscopy for improving image quality when examining three-dimensionally extending objects. It is applicable in the method of structured illumination as described in WO 97 / 6509. For this purpose, influences due to variations in the brightness of the light source, positioning of the imaged periodic structure and bleaching of the object in fluorescence illumination are determined and taken into account in the calculation of the object structure.

An optical microscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes: a laser light source; a Y-directional scanning unit moving the light beam in a Y direction; an objective lens; a X-directional scanning unit moving the light beam in a X direction; a beam splitter provided in an optical path from the Y-directional scanning unit to the sample, and separating outgoing light out of the light beam incident on the sample, which exits from the sample toward the objective lens from the light beam incident on the sample from the laser light source; a spectroscope having an entrance slit extending along the Y direction and spatially dispersing the outgoing light passed through the entrance slit in accordance with a wavelength of the light; and a detector detecting the outgoing light dispersed by the spectroscope.

An optical microscope is adapted for observation of several spots of an object by a modifiable optical transmission screen placed on the path of the optical beam and able to generate in the object plane a screen image coinciding substantially with the spots of the object. The modifiable optical transmission screen can comprise a matrix of mirrors, each of the mirrors presenting a first position enabling the light beam to be reflected to the object along the optical path and a second position enabling the light beam to be diverted from the optical path. Alternatively, the modifiable optical transmission screen can comprise a matrix of liquid crystal elements, each of the liquid crystal elements presenting a first transparent state, a second opaque state and, possibly, a third polarising state. The light source can be a light-emitting diode array.

The present invention relates generally to the field of computer-based image recognition. More particularly, the invention relates to methods and systems for the identification, and optionally the quantitation of, discrete objects of biological origin such as cells, cytoplasmic structures, parasites, parasite ova, and the like which are typically the subject of microscopic analysis. The inventionmay be embodied in the form of a method for training a computer to identify a target biological material in a sample. The method may include accessing a plurality of training images, the training images being obtained by light microscopy of one or more samples containing a target biological material and optionally a non-target biological material. The training images are cropped by a human or a computer to produce cropped images, each of which shows predominantly the target biological material. A human then identifies the target biological material in each of the cropped images where identification is possible, and associating an identification label with each of the cropped images where identification was possible. A computer-implemented feature extraction method is then applied to each labelled cropped image. A computer-implemented learning method is then applied to each labelled cropped image to associate extracted features of a biological material with a target biological material.

In certain embodiments, this application discloses methods for detecting lung cancer. The method includes characterization of cells extracted from human sputum, which is a valuable tissue surrogate and source of upper respiratory cells that become cancerous early in 5 the process of lung cancer development. The method includes the staining of extracted cells with fluorescent reporters that produce a specific pattern in the nuclei of labeled cells, which can be made visible by light microscopy. The pattern is relevant to a type of epigenetic coding of DNA known as DNA methylation, which changes in specific cells of the lung during cancer development, in comparison to normal respiratory cells.

A method is described of viewing a single tissue sample with a light microscope and an electron microscope. A tissue sample is cryopreserved, cryo sectioned and then floated in a cryoprotectant solution on a surface of a glass slide or in a well and is viewed by light microscopy. The step of floating the tissue sample does not destroy said tissue sample for subsequent electron microscope viewing. The same tissue sample is then prepared by conventional ultrastructural processing for viewing by electron microscopy. The data from the light microscope and electron microscope images of selected sites of the same tissue sample can be compared and analyzed.

Methods and a computer program product for applying deconvolution to spatial light interference microscopy for resolution enhancement with respect to the diffraction limit in two and three dimensions. By exploiting the sparsity properties of the phase images, which is prominent in many biological imaging applications, and modeling of the image formation via complex fields, the very fine structures can be recovered which were blurred by the optics. The resolution improvement leads to higher accuracy in monitoring dynamic activity over time. Experiments with primary brain cells, i.e. neurons and glial cells, reveal new subdiffraction structures and motions. This new information can be used for studying vesicle transport in neurons, which may shed light on dynamic cell functioning. Finally, the method may flexibly incorporate a wide range of image models for different applications and can be utilized for all imaging modalities acquiring complex field images.

Methods and apparatus for reconstructing a wave, including interpolation and extrapolation of the phase and amplitude distributions, with application to imaging apparatus, such as microscopes.