Patent ID: 6963445

Claim:
A light diffuser for use in illumination systems of optical microscopes which utilize a light source to illuminate a specimen supported on a light-transmitting stage for observation, comprising: a light diffusing plate which includes a transparent base material operatively associated with a light diffusing material adapted to randomly break up light transmitted from the light source which passes through said base material into a multiplicity of scattered light rays comprising substantially spatially isotropic light; a housing having an upper end positionable closely adjacent the stage and a lower end distal therefrom, said housing having a bore extending therethrough from said upper end to said lower end, said upper end of said housing which retains said light diffusing plate transversely within said bore, said lower end of said housing being adapted to adjustably removably engage a mating portion of the microscope to allow adjustment of a distance from said light diffusing plate to a focus plane of the specimen to adjust image contrast; and wherein said light diffusing plate is adapted to be positioned closely adjacent the specimen such that transmitted light which passes therethrough to illuminate the specimen with the substantially spatially isotopic light evenly and without distinction as to direction where the specimen is illuminated producing an image for observation having substantially reduced diffraction shadows visible through the microscope which obscure the specimen.