Patent ID: 8362446

Claim:
An apparatus for identifying a position of marked objects having unknown positions and detecting a property of the marked objects contained in a specimen, wherein the marked objects are marked with a fluorescent stain, the apparatus comprising a frame, a member positioned on the frame and having a surface that is adapted to receive and hold the specimen, at least a first light source for emitting at least a first light beam towards the specimen held by the member, wherein the first light beam is adapted to provide a light spot having a diameter between 20-150 μm on the specimen, at least a detector for detecting fluorescent light emitted from the marked objects upon interaction with the first light beam, the first light source and the detector being arranged so that a part of a light beam path from the first light source to the specimen is co-axial with a part of the light emitted from the marked objects, at least one beam-splitter being arranged to reflect the first light beam towards the specimen and filter light emitted from the specimen, thereby allowing fluorescent light from the marked objects to pass through the beam-splitter to the detector, scanning means for scanning the entire surface of the member in relation to the detector along a non-linear curve, wherein the scanning means comprises means for rotating the member and means for displacing the member along a radius of the rotation of the member, so as to identify the position of the marked objects in the entire specimen and detect the property of the marked objects, the means for rotating and the means for displacing being directly connected to the member, the member being rotatable and displaceable along a radius of the rotation of the member, scanning control means for controlling the scanning means for scanning the specimen along the non-linear curve, storage means for storing detector signals relating to the marked objects provided by the detector and corresponding position signals provided by the scanning control means, means for retrieving the position signals stored in the storage means, and a microscope for viewing images of the marked objects, wherein the scanning control means use the retrieved position signals to place the microscope at the position of the marked objects to allow performing a detailed examination of the marked objects.