SCANNING LIGHT MICROSCOPE IMAGING SYSTEM

ADVANCES IN VIDEO IMAGING TECHNOLOGY IN THE MEDICAL SCIENCESHAVE LED TO THE WIDESPREAD USE OF COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (CT) SCANNERS, MAGNETIC RESONANCE (MR) IMAGING, ULTRASOUND IMAGING, AND CHEST RADIOGRAPHY. HOWEVER, SIMILAR BROAD-BASED PROGRESS IN VIDEO IMAGING TECHNOLOGY FOR OPTICAL MICROSCOPY HAS NOT OCCURRED, PARTLY BECAUSE THE HIGHRESOLUTION COLOR IMAGES OF ORDINARY MICROSCOPES CANNOT BE EASILY DUPLICATED BY ORDINARY VIDEO MEANS. THE OBJECT OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT IS TO SHOW THE FEASIBILITY OF AN ADVANCED-CONCEPT, THREE-COLOR VIDEO MICROSCOPE SUITABLE FOR BOTH ROUTINE ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH APPLICATIONS. FEATURES INCLUDE REAL-TIME, THREE-COLOR VIDEO IMAGES, INSTANTANEOUS ZOOM, VERY LOW ILLUMINATION POWER, SELECTIVE CONTRAST ENHANCEMENT, AND HIGHLY LINEAR DENSITOMETRY. DATA RESOLUTION MATCHES THE DIFFRACTION LIMIT OF THE OPTICS OVER A WIDE RANGE OF MAGNIFICATION. THE UNIT CAN ALSO BE OPERATED IN A CONFOCAL MODE.