Importance

Loading Importance Indicators...

Abstract

Flash photolysis is carried out in a microscope imaging system while maintaining continuous and superimposed imaging of the target area to which the flash is directed as well as its surroundings. In scanning imaging systems an excitation optical coupler receives the flash excitation beam and directs it onto an optical path through an aperture spatial filter to a main optical coupler, which directs the excitation beam into the microscope. The scanning beam from the scanning system is also passed through the main optical coupler to the microscope and the reflected light from the specimen is passed back from the microscope through the main optical coupler to the scanning system in a normal fashion to allow imaging of the specimen when the excitation beam is not provided. The position of the excitation beam is determined by directing a portion of the scanning beam toward the same aperture through which the excitation beam passes and detecting when the scanning beam light passes through the aperture, which corresponds to the point in time at which the scanning beam is at the position on the specimen at which the excitation beam will be incident. The detected signal can then be correlated with the displayed image of the specimen to indicate the target position in the image. In full image capture systems which do not use scanning, a target illumination beam can be passed onto the same optical path on which the excitation beam will be directed to the microscope.

Loading the Abstract Image...

First Claim