IMAGING SYSTEMS/VISION SYSTEMS
The SensiCam High Performance Digital Camera System from The Cooke Corporation (Tonawanda, NY) is a 12-bit cooled imaging system capable of digital imaging at video rates. It is able to resolve low-light-level fluorescence phenomena at a relatively high temporal rate with good spatial resolution. The system interfaces to lens-based instrumentation or an optical microscope. Its progressive-scan interline transfer CCD has "lens on chip" technology that increases the fill factor of the pixels and the light collection ability; the readout noise is kept low at the 12.5-MH¥readout speed to maintain a 12-bit dynamic range. The Cooke Corp. collaborated with PCO Computer Optics GmbH (Germany) to create a electronic digitization technique that minimizes noise. Applications for the camera include laser spectroscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and laser-induced fluorescence, among others.