Whole slide fluorescence scanner

摘要

A system for creating a contiguous digital image of a fluorescence microscope sample. In an embodiment, the system comprises a both a macro camera and a time delay integration (TDI) line scan camera. The system may also comprise a motorized stage, an illumination module, a light source, an excitation filter, an objective lens, an emission filter, and at least one processor configured to assemble a plurality of digital images of portions of the fluorescence microscope sample, generated by the TDI line scan camera, into a contiguous digital image of at least a portion of the fluorescence microscope sample.

主权项

1. A system for creating a contiguous digital image of a portion of a fluorescence microscope sample, the system comprising:
a motorized stage configured to support a fluorescence microscope sample and move the fluorescence microscope sample at a substantially constant velocity; an illumination source configured to apply oblique illumination to the fluorescence microscope sample on the motorized stage, wherein the illumination source comprises a light source configured to provide excitation light to a portion of the fluorescence microscope sample via an illumination path while the fluorescence microscope sample on the motorized stage is moving at substantially constant velocity; a macro camera configured to capture an image of the fluorescence microscope sample on the motorized stage during oblique illumination; an excitation filter in the illumination path; a time delay integration (TDI) line scan camera comprising a plurality of linear sensor arrays configured to generate a digital image stripe of a portion of the fluorescence microscope sample on the motorized stage while the sample is moving at substantially constant velocity; an objective lens positioned in an optical path between the fluorescence microscope sample on the motorized stage and the TDI line scan camera; an emission filter in the optical path; and at least one processor configured to assemble a plurality of digital image stripes, corresponding to a plurality of stripe regions of the fluorescence microscope sample, generated by the TDI line scan camera, into a contiguous digital image of at least a portion of the fluorescence microscope sample, wherein the plurality of digital image stripes are generated by
(a) by the motorized stage, accelerating the fluorescence microscope sample from a substantially complete stop to the substantially constant velocity,(b) by the TDI line scan camera, generating a digital image stripe by sensing emission light, received at the plurality of linear sensor arrays via the optical path, from a stripe region of the fluorescence microscope sample,(c) by the motorized stage, decelerating the fluorescence microscope sample from the substantially constant velocity to the substantially complete stop, and(d) repeating steps (a) through (c) a plurality of times until the at least a portion of the fluorescence microscope sample has been digitized as the plurality of digital image stripes.