Patent ID: 7469056
Filing Date: 2008-12-23
Classification: G01N,G06K,G06T

Abstract:
1. An optomechanical system for automated analysis of cellular elaboration, comprising: an electronic camera; an optical subsystem providing a focused image for the camera; a positioning subsystem for positioning specimens in a plurality of containers at a location within the range of the optical subsystem; and a computer controlling the camera and the subsystems, the computer running a computer program on a computer-readable medium including a set of selectable sub-programs together defining a general control process for the analysis of cellular elaboration; wherein the control sub-programs include a software autofocus algorithm that may be used with cells which lie at positions that are not fixed with respect to a surface of the container, comprising: using the best focus position achieved by the positional autofocus as a reference; moving into the specimen container a fixed distance; taking a number of images at distance intervals; and calculating a best focus from these images.