Microscope Image Stacking for Shallow Depth-of-Field Blur
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
High-magnification microscope lenses often capture images with shallow depth of field, resulting in partial blurring of objects thicker than the depth of field, making existing image capturing techniques unsuitable for detection or analysis.
Innovation Solution
An image acquiring system that captures multiple images at different focuses and combines them using gray scale value change rates to select the clearest sub-image data for each pixel position, generating a clearer combined image.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If high-magnification microscope lens is used to capture images, then magnification is improved, but depth of field becomes shallow causing partial blurring
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the image acquisition process into multiple segments by capturing images at different focal positions. Instead of attempting to capture the entire thick object in focus with a single high-magnification lens, the system segments the focusing task across multiple discrete focal planes, allowing each segment to be captured clearly and then recombined.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds the focal position dimension to the image acquisition process. By capturing images across multiple focal positions (adding a dimensional variable), the system overcomes the limitation of shallow depth of field in high-magnification microscopy, enabling complete clear images of thick objects.
2Measurement precision
If high-magnification microscope lens is used to capture images, then detail resolution is improved, but complete image clarity is lost due to shallow depth of field
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple partially clear images captured at different focal positions into a single complete clear image. By combining the information from multiple images, each contributing clear details from different focal planes, the system achieves both high detail resolution and complete image clarity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates multiple copies of the same scene at different focal positions. Instead of relying on a single image capture, the system generates multiple image copies focused at different depths, then selects the clearest data from each position to construct the final complete clear image.
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple images at different focuses are captured and combined, then complete clear image is achieved, but image acquiring time is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by capturing multiple images at different focal positions in advance. Rather than attempting complex post-processing or refocusing during analysis, the system pre-acquires all necessary focal plane data, enabling complete clear image reconstruction without time loss during subsequent operations.
Data Source
AI summary
In a method for acquiring image using an image acquiring system, a first image data at a first position is acquired in a first direction of the image acquiring system, wherein the first image data corresponds to a plurality of pixel positions and includes a plurality of first sub-image data; a second image data at a second position is acquired in the first direction, wherein the second image data corresponds to the plurality of pixel positions and includes a plurality of second sub-image data; a larger value among values of the first sub-image data and the second sub-image data corresponding to one of the plurality of pixel positions is selected as a combination sub-image data of a combination image data.