Patent ID: 6603537
Filing Date: 2003-08-05
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
A confocal scanning system comprising:(a) means for generating and scanning over a sample along an axis a plurality of spots of excitation light, wherein emission light is released by said sample in response to excitation by said spots; (b) a spatial filter comprising a rectangular aperture, said spatial filter positioned such that said emission light is imaged thereupon; (c) means for dispersing emission light that passes through said spatial filter into its component wavelengths; and (d) a CCD positioned such that said component wavelengths are imaged thereupon; wherein said CCD is partitioned into rectangular pixel regions orthogonal to said spatial filter such that each rectangular region receives a portion of the emission light resulting from the excitation of said sample by one of said spots; wherein each rectangular region is subdivided along its long axis into at least two spectral bins such that each specIal bin collects a different component wavelength of said portion; and wherein the dimensions of each said rectangular region are chosen such that said portion comprises emission light from a predetermined focal depth of said sample.