Patent ID: 7561329
Filing Date: 2009-07-14
Classification: G02B

Abstract:
1. An illumination system for stained biological specimens comprising: an illumination source comprising a red LED light source, a green LED light source, a blue LED light source, and a plurality of yellow LED light sources arranged symmetrically in a ring around the red LED light source, the green LED light source, and the blue LED light source, each of the red LED light source, the green LED light source, the blue LED light source, and the plurality of yellow LED light sources being independently controllable, wherein the resultant light emitted from the red LED light source, the green LED light source, the blue LED light source, and the plurality of yellow LED light sources substantially approximates that from an incandescent light source, the illumination source configured to illuminate a biological specimen disposed on a slide; an imaging system comprising a camera configured to capture images of the biological specimen; and a pulse drive circuit configured to simultaneously drive the red LED light source, the green LED light source, the blue LED light source, and the plurality of yellow LED light sources in a pulsed manner, wherein the pulsed LED light is synchronized with the camera, the pulse drive circuit configured to alter the brightness of the red LED light source, the green LED light source, the blue LED light source, and the plurality of yellow LED light sources by pulse width modulation.