Patent ID: 8345239

Claim:
A system for imaging birefringent particles in a flowing fluid, the system comprising: a. a flow chamber including a channel arranged to transport the flowing fluid therethrough at a selectable rate; b. a light source arranged to generate scatter excitation light to illuminate birefringent particles in the flowing fluid in the flow chamber; c. a backlighting generator arranged to produce a light of sufficient intensity to backlight the flow chamber; d. a microscope objective arranged to focus light from the light source onto the flow chamber; e. a scatter detector to detect changes in the light from the light source indicative of the existence of one or more particles in the flow chamber; f. control electronics configured to receive signals from the scatter detector, wherein the control electronics are coupled to the backlighting generator and configured to activate the operation of the backlighting generator; g. an image capturing system including a camera to capture images of the birefringent particles in the fluid, a first polarization analyzer and a second polarization analyzer, wherein the first and second polarization analyzers are arranged in a cross polarization configuration to permit the passage of light to the camera only when the birefringent particles with detectable birefringence pass between the first and second polarization analyzers; and h. a computing device to receive signals from the control electronics and the image capturing system and to output information about the birefringent particles detected in the flowing fluid.