Patent ID: 7457446

Claim:
A method for creating a contiguous digital image of a portion of a microscope sample, comprising: accelerating a microscope sample along a first path to a substantially constant velocity relative to a line scan camera having a linear field of view and a data read rate; synchronizing the data read rate to the velocity of the microscope sample; acquiring first image data from the line scan camera while the data read rate and the velocity are synchronized; decelerating the microscope sample to a substantially complete stop, wherein said deceleration desynchronizes the data read rate and the velocity; storing the first image data as a first strip of contiguous image data; accelerating the microscope sample along a second path to the substantially constant velocity relative to the line scan camera, wherein the second path is substantially parallel to the first path; synchronizing the data read rate to the velocity of the microscope sample; acquiring second image data from the line scan camera while the data read rate and the velocity are synchronized; decelerating the microscope sample to a substantially complete stop, wherein said deceleration desynchronizes the data read rate and the velocity; storing the second image data as a second strip of contiguous image data; composing the first strip of contiguous image data and the second strip of contiguous image data into a contiguous digital image of a portion of the microscope sample.