Description:
Princeton Dockets # 12-2746, 12-2747, & 12-2748
Researchers at Princeton University have developed novel
modifications to microfluidic microscope (MFM) devices. These new features will allow full
three-dimensional (3D) profiling of objects, while retaining the simplicity and
high throughput of traditional MFMs.
Microfluidic Microscopy is a relatively new imaging technique based
on guiding samples under the window of observation by flowing them in a
microfluidic channel. They include both conventional microscopes (e.g.
objectives) with modified slide stages as well as lensless optofluidic
microscopes (in which objects, such as cells, are flowed directly over an
imaging sensor).
Currently, there are two types of MFMs: those that image only
intensity and those that use interference (holography) to record both intensity
and phase. The former method is
simple but has only been used to create a flat, 2D image. The latter has been
applied to obtain 3D data, but it requires additional beams and optical paths,
and the measurement sensitivity is compromised.
Princeton researchers have developed three modifications that
retain the simplicity and high throughput of regular MFMs, and enables full 3D
reconstruction of the object. The
first tilts the fluidic channel, so that the different heights of the object are
recorded as it flows. The second
uses the flow to rotate the object, so that multiple viewpoints are imaged. The third is a method of patterned
illumination of the object in the channel, which also permits 3D optical
profiling but increases resolution as well. Each method can be implemented
easily in any existing microfluidic microscope and is ideally suited for 3D
profiling in flow cytometers.
Applications
In
microfluidic microscopes for
·
Medical
diagnosis
·
Biological
research
·
Lab-on-a-chip
imaging device
Advantages
·
Full
3D profiling
·
Increased
resolution
·
Simplicity
·
High
throughput
Faculty Inventor
Jason
Fleischer is
Associate Professor of Electric Engineering at Princeton University. His research focuses on nonlinear optics
and computational imaging. The emphasis is on propagation
problems that are universal to wave systems, taking advantage of the fact that
optical systems allow easy control of the input and direct imaging of the
output. Among the numerous awards
and honors Professor Fleischer has received are Fellowship in the Optical
Society of America (2011), a Department of Energy Plasma Physics Junior Faculty
Award (2008), and the Emerson Electric Company Lawrence Keys '51 Faculty
Advancement Award (2007).
Intellectual Property status
Patent protection is pending.