Patent ID: 7379578

Claim:
An imaging apparatus comprising: a sample carrier adjustable in X, Y and Z directions; a lighting device, comprising a light source generating a light beam with a large spectral band; a first optical transport transporting the light beam on to a sample disposed on the sample carrier; a receiver, comprising a second optical transport transporting rays emitted or transmitted by the sample; a detector mounted at an output of the receiver; wherein the first or second transport comprises an adjustable filter; a processor for processing signals detected by the detector to acquire a corresponding image of at least one selected zone of the sample; a control unit monitoring the adjustment of the sample carrier, parameters of the filter, parameters of the processor and parameters of the lighting device according to a plurality of image acquisition modes; an image database connected to the processor and containing the acquired images, the image database comprising a plurality of tables each comprising fields relating to acquisition conditions of the images, and to identification of the sample, the tables being interconnected according to selected relations; wherein each image acquisition comprises a command of at least one of the group consisting of the adjustment of the sample carrier, the parameters of the filter, the parameters of the processors, and the parameters of the lighting device; a correspondence is maintained between each image acquired and values of associated acquisition parameters; and the imaging apparatus further comprises a consultation unit for interrogating the image database according to at least one request containing at least one criterion corresponding to at least one acquisition parameter in order to select images associated with the at least one criterion and to display or process the selected images.