The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 02, 2007
Filed:
Jul. 09, 2003
Richard H. Bruce, Los Altos, CA (US);
Douglas N. Curry, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Robert T. Krivacic, San Jose, CA (US);
Huangpin B. Hsieh, Mountain View, CA (US);
Richard H. Bruce, Los Altos, CA (US);
Douglas N. Curry, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Robert T. Krivacic, San Jose, CA (US);
Huangpin B. Hsieh, Mountain View, CA (US);
Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
In accordance with one aspect of the present application, an imager and method for detecting and locating rare cells in a sample is disclosed. An imager stage supports the sample. A fiber optic bundle has a proximate bundle end of first fiber ends arranged to define an input aperture viewing the sample on the translation stage. The fiber optic bundle further has a distal bundle end of second fiber ends arranged to define an output aperture shaped differently from the input aperture and disposed away from the imager stage. A scanning radiation source is arranged in fixed relative position to the input aperture. The scanning radiation source scans a radiation beam on the sample within a viewing area of the input aperture. The radiation beam interacts with the sample to produce a light signal that is reflected, scattered, transmitted, re-emitted, or otherwise collected and received by the input aperture and transmitted via the fiber optic bundle to the output aperture. The scanning radiation source rasters the radiation beam over a selected area of the sample. A photodetector is arranged to detect the light signal at the distal bundle end, and a processor processes the detected light signals.