System and method for single optical axis multi-detector microscope slide scanner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9235041-B2
Application number	US-201213453797-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 23, 2012
Priority date	Jul 1, 2005
Publication date	Jan 12, 2016
Grant date	Jan 12, 2016

Abstract

Systems and methods for microscope slide scanning using multiple sensor arrays that receive imagery data from a single optical axis are provided. A single, high quality, easily obtained microscope objective lens is used to project an image onto two or more sensor arrays. The sensor arrays can be linear or two dimensional and imaging takes place along a single optical axis. Simultaneous sensor acquisition and parallel data processing reduce the image acquisition time by a factor of N, where N represents the number of sensors employed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system for capturing a digital image of a slide, the system comprising:
an objective lens having a single optical axis;
a beam splitter optically coupled to the objective lens and configured to provide an image of a sample from the objective lens to a plurality of sensors;
a first sensor optically coupled to the objective lens via the beam splitter and configured to capture a first portion of the image; and
a second sensor optically coupled to the objective lens via the beam splitter and configured to capture a second portion of the image at substantially the same time as the first sensor captures the first portion of the image;
wherein an edge of the first portion of the image is adjacent to an edge of the second portion of the image, and each of the edges is orthogonal to a scan direction.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a motorized stage configured to move the sample relative to the objective lens in the scan direction.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the motorized stage is configured to move the sample at a constant velocity.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the objective lens is configured to move relative to the sample in the scan direction.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the first sensor and the second sensor comprises a beam splitter and three linear detectors, wherein the beam splitter separates a portion of the image into separate color paths, and each of the separate color paths is captured by a different one of the three linear detectors.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the first sensor and the second sensor comprises a tri-linear array comprising three linear sensor arrays, wherein each of the three linear sensor arrays is covered with a different color filter.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one data processor which aligns the first portion of the image and the second portion of the image into a contiguous portion of the image.

8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one data processor which processes the captured first portion of the image and the captured second portion of the image in parallel.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processing comprises one or more of spatial correction and compression.

10. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a positioner configured to move the objective lens along the single optical axis to adjust a focus of the objective lens.

11. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a web server that provides an operator interface.

12. A method for capturing a digital image of a slide, the method comprising:
by an objective lens having a single optical axis, receiving an image of a sample;
by a beam splitter optically coupled to the objective lens, providing the image from the objective lens to a plurality of sensors;
by a first sensor optically coupled to the objective lens, capturing a first portion of the image; and
by a second sensor optically coupled to the objective lens, capturing a second portion of the image;
wherein an edge of the first portion of the image is adjacent to an edge of the second portion of the image, and each of the edges is orthogonal to a scan direction.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising, by a motorized stage, moving the sample in the scan direction at a constant velocity relative to the objective lens.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein each of the first sensor and the second sensor comprises a beam splitter and three linear detectors, and wherein capturing the first and second portions of the image comprises:
by the beam splitter of each of the first sensor and the second sensor, separating the respective portion of the image into separate color paths; and
by each of the three linear detectors of the first sensor and the second sensor, capturing a different one of the separate color paths.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein each of the first sensor and the second sensor comprise a tri-linear array comprising three linear sensor arrays, wherein each of the three linear sensor arrays is covered with a different color filter.

16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising, by at least one data processor, aligning the first portion of the image and the second portion of the image into a contiguous portion of the image.

17. The method of claim 12 , further comprising, by at least one data processor, processing the captured first portion of the image and the captured second portion of the image in parallel.

18. The method of claim 12 , further comprising, by a positioner, moving the objective lens along the single optical axis to adjust a focus of the objective lens.

19. A system for capturing a digital image of a slide, the system comprising:
an objective lens having a single optical axis;
a beam splitter optically coupled to the objective lens and configured to provide an image from the objective lens to a plurality of sensors;
a first sensor optically coupled to the objective lens via the beam splitter and configured to capture a first portion of the image at a first focus level; and
a second sensor optically coupled to the objective lens via the beam splitter and configured to capture a second portion of the image at a second, different focus level at substantially the same time as the first sensor captures the first portion of the image at the first focus level.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the first portion of the image and the second portion of the image are the same.

Assignees

• Crandall Greg
• Leica Biosystems Imaging Inc

Inventors

• Crandall Greg

Classifications

• G02B21/367 Primary

  providing an output produced by processing a plurality of individual source images, e.g. image tiling, montage, composite images, depth sectioning, image comparison · CPC title