Patent ID: 7671345

Claim:
A method of analyzing a sample of biological material including fluorescent labels using apparatus including a processing arrangement, comprising the steps of: (a) irradiating the sample with excitation energy; (b) detecting fluorescent radiation emitted by labels in the sample when excited by the excitation energy; (c) creating images of the sample according to the light detected in step (b); (d) analyzing said images to detect the occurrence of a predetermined event in the sample; and (e) modifying at least one of: (i) the sample by irradiating a selected portion of the sample with an energy beam, (ii) labels in the sample by irradiating a selected portion of the sample with an energy beam, and (iii) the environmental conditions of the sample with the apparatus, in response to detection of said predetermined event in analysis step (d) either by a user providing user input or by the processing arrangement.