Patent ID: 6104945
Filing Date: 2000-08-15
Classification: A61B,G01N

Abstract:
Apparatus for determining a characteristic of a sample of material by the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with the sample, comprising:a source of electromagnetic radiation;illuminating optics for sequentially illuminating a plurality of volume elements in the sample with an intensity distribution in the sample that drops off substantially monotonically from a first region in a first optical path;collecting optics for collecting electromagnetic radiation emanating from each of said volume elements, said collecting optics collecting said electromagnetic radiation emanating from each of said volume elements with a collection distribution that drops off substantially monotonically from a second region in a second optical path, said first and second regions at least partially overlapping in each of said volume elements, said illuminating and collecting optics each having respective field stops whose dimensions are large compared to a quotient of wavelength of said electromagnetic radiation divided by a working numerical aperture of said illuminating and collecting optics, respectively, measured from said respective field stops; anda detector for detecting the collected electromagnetic radiation emanating from each of said sequentially illuminated volume elements to produce a response representative of said characteristic in each of said volume elements.