Apparatuses, systems and methods for generating color with a monochrome sensor
Apparatuses, systems and methods for generating color video with a monochrome sensor include the acts of (i) selectively energizing each of a plurality of light sources in a sequence, (ii) capturing a monochrome image of the illuminated sample at a monochrome sensor at each stage of the sequence, and (iii) generating a color video from the monochrome images. The sequence can have a series of stages with each stage of the sequence corresponding to activation of a different wavelength of light from the light sources to illuminate a sample. Generating the monochrome video can include the acts of compiling a plurality of monochrome images captured at the monochrome sensor with a single light source into a series of monochrome video frames comprising the monochrome video.
1 . A system for generating color videos from monochrome images, comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more computer readable media having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that are executable by the one or more processors to cause the system to perform at least the following:
associate, with each collected color image of a plurality of color images, at least one of (i) information related to illumination color used when collecting the collected color image or (ii) timestamp information; and
generate a color video from the plurality of collected color images, wherein generating the color video causes the system to:
compile the plurality of collected color images, based on at least one of the (i) information related to illumination color used when collecting the collected color image or the (ii) timestamp information associated with each collected color image, into a series of color video frames comprising the color video.
2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a monochrome camera configured to collect monochrome images.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the system to capture a monochrome image.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein capturing a monochrome image comprises capturing monochrome z-stack images of an illuminated sample at the monochrome camera.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the system to focus a biological sample while continuing to generate the color video.
6 . The system of claim 5 , further comprising a user display device, and wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the system to display the color video on the user display device while focusing the biological sample.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions cause the system to receive a selection of the illumination color.
8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein a collected color image is not a false-color image.
9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein a color is assigned based on a wavelength of light used to illuminate a biological sample.
10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the system to color balance the color video.
11 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of a condenser or a diffuser configured to encourage uniform illumination of a sample on which the plurality of color images are based.
12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein a given frame of the color video shares monochrome image data with an adjacent frame of the color video.
13 . The system of claim 1 , wherein a given frame of the color video does not share any monochrome image data with an adjacent frame of the color video.
14 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the system comprises a plurality of light sources and wherein the system is configured to centralize and distribute illumination from the plurality of light sources along an optical axis.
15 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions are executable by the one or more processors to cause the system to associate timestamp information with a collected color image.
16 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a display configured to output a collected color image and one or more fluorescence channels together in an overlay, wherein the one or more fluorescence channels are shown with true colors.
17 . The system of claim 1 , wherein generating the color video further causes the system to incorporate one or more fluorescent images into the series of color video frames comprising the color video.
18 . The system of claim 1 , wherein generating the color video further causes the system to incorporate one or more fluorescent images as an additional component of the color video.
19 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the system to store the plurality of collected color images as a sequence of images in a file.
20 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the system to store color video as a video file configured for playback on a display.