Apparatus and method for focusing a laser scanning cytometer
US6674058B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 20, 2000 |
| Grant date | Jan 6, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 20, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B27/40
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The invention relates to a method and system for focusing a laser scanning cytometer. In the illustrative embodiment, during one cytometric measurement process, a single laser is used for focusing the cytometer and for taking cytometric measurements. Laser light is transmitted though an objective lens and directed at a substrate in order to cause markers in a sample on the substrate 122 to fluoresce. A byproduct the of cytometric measurement is that a portion of the laser light incident on the substrate 122 with or without a sample is backscattered. The objective of the illustrative system collects the backscattered light along with the fluorescing light. Optical elements separate this backscattered laser light from the fluorescing light. The illustrative system uses the backscattered light to focus the objective. According to a further feature, the illustrative system uses the backscattered light to generate a representative focal plane and/or topographical focal map of the substrate to determine the optimal focal distance for cytometric measurements made at any location on the substrate.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.