Method of analyzing particles in a dilute fluid sample

Claim 1

A method of displaying electronically concentrated microscopic particles, from a dilute biological fluid sample containing said particles, comprising: distributing said fluid sample over an extended area with substantially no particle overlapping other particles; forming a plurality of optical still images of said sample over said area, with each optical image representing a different portions of said area; converting each of said optical still images to an electronic image; compositing the images of the different particles from said electronic images to form one resultant electronic image; processing the resultant image; and displaying said processed image, whereby said processed image is an image of electronically concentrated microscopic particles.

Claim 2

A method of displaying electronically concentrated microscopic particles, from a dilute biological fluid sample containing said particles, comprising: distributing said fluid sample over an extended area with substantially no particle overlapping other particles; forming a plurality of optical still images of said sample over said area, with each optical image representing a different portions of said area; converting each of said optical still images to an electronic image; compositing the images of the different particles from said electronic images to form one resultant electronic image; processing the resultant image; and displaying said processed image, whereby said processed image is an image of electronically concentrated microscopic particles.

Claim 3

A method of displaying electronically concentrated microscopic particles, from a dilute biological fluid sample containing said particles, comprising: distributing said fluid sample over an extended area substantially with no particle overlapping other particles; forming a plurality of optical still images of said sample over said area, with each optical image representing a different portion of said area; converting each of said optical still images to an electronic image; processing each of said electronic images; compositing the images of the different particles from said electronic images to form one resultant electronic image; and displaying said one resultant electronic image; whereby said resultant image is an image of electronically concentrated microscopic particles.

Claim 4

A method of displaying electronically concentrated microscopic particles, from a dilute biological fluid sample containing said particles, comprising: distributing said fluid sample over an extended area substantially with no particle overlapping other particles; forming a plurality of optical still images of said sample over said area, with each optical image representing a different portion of said area; converting each of said optical still images to an electronic image; processing each of said electronic images; compositing the images of the different particles from said electronic images to form one resultant electronic image; and displaying said one resultant electronic image; whereby said resultant image is an image of electronically concentrated microscopic particles.

Claim 10

A method of displaying electronically concentrated microscopic particles, from a moving dilute biological fluid sample containing said particles, comprising: moving said sample in a direction of flow; distributing said fluid sample over an extended area having a width and a thickness both measured perpendicular to the direction of flow, with the width many times the thickness, said sample distributed with substantially no particle overlapping other particles; illuminating said fluid at a predetermined location in the direction of flow, with said illumination directed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of flow; forming a plurality of optical still images of said fluid sample, at said location with each optical image representing a different portion of said sample; converting each of said optical still images to an electronic image; compositing the images of the different particles from said plurality of electronic images to form one resultant electronic image; processing said one resultant image; and displaying said processed image, whereby said processed image is an image of electronically concentrated microscopic particles.

Claim 11

A method of displaying electronically concentrated microscopic particles, from a moving dilute biological fluid sample containing said particles, comprising: moving said sample in a direction of flow; distributing said fluid sample over an extended area having a width and a thickness both measured perpendicular to the direction of flow, with the width many times the thickness, said sample distributed with substantially no particle overlapping other particles; illuminating said fluid at a predetermined location in the direction of flow, with said illumination directed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of flow; forming a plurality of optical still images of said fluid sample, at said location with each optical image representing a different portion of said sample; converting each of said optical still images to an electronic image; compositing the images of the different particles from said plurality of electronic images to form one resultant electronic image; processing said one resultant image; and displaying said processed image, whereby said processed image is an image of electronically concentrated microscopic particles.

Claim 12

A method of displaying electronically concentrated microscopic particles, from a moving dilute biological fluid sample containing said particles, comprising: moving said sample in a direction of flow; distributing said fluid sample over an extended area having a width and a thickness both measured perpendicular to the direction of flow, with the width many times the thickness, said sample being distributed with substantially no particle overlapping other particles; illuminating said fluid at a predetermined location in the direction of flow, with said illumination directed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of flow; forming a plurality of optical still images of said fluid sample, at said location, with each optical image representing a different portion of said sample; converting each of said optical still images to an electronic image; processing each of said electronic images; compositing the images of the different particles from said plurality of electronic images to form one resultant elec tronic image; and displaying said one resultant electronic image, whereby said resultant image is an image of electronically concentrated microscopic particles.

Claim 13

A method of displaying electronically concentrated microscopic particles, from a moving dilute biological fluid sample containing said particles, comprising: moving said sample in a direction of flow; distributing said fluid sample over an extended area having a width and a thickness both measured perpendicular to the direction of flow, with the width many times the thickness, said sample being distributed with substantially no particle overlapping other particles; illuminating said fluid at a predetermined location in the direction of flow, with said illumination directed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of flow; forming a plurality of optical still images of said fluid sample, at said location, with each optical image representing a different portion of said sample; converting each of said optical still images to an electronic image; processing each of said electronic images; compositing the images of the different particles from said plurality of electronic images to form one resultant elec tronic image; and displaying said one resultant electronic image, whereby said resultant image is an image of electronically concentrated microscopic particles.