Patents by Inventor Francesco Difato

Francesco Difato has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10776955
    Abstract: A method for analyzing spatial and temporal information of samples using optical microscopy includes choosing a field of view in a sample; scanning the sample by applying an electrical signal having a first frequency to an electrically tunable liquid lens in the detection path, performing a sequential acquisition, at a first acquisition frequency higher than the first frequency of the electrical signal, of a stack of images placed on different in-focus planes; processing the stack of images to identify the position of one or more regions of interest; scanning the sample by applying the electrical signal having a second frequency to the tunable lens, performing a sequential acquisition, at a second acquisition frequency lower than the second frequency of the electrical signal, of a temporal series of images with extended depth of field; and calculating the mean intensity of each region of interest for each image of the temporal series.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2020
    Inventors: Francesco Difato, Monica Moroni, Gemma Palazzolo, Alessandro Soloperto
  • Patent number: 10655147
    Abstract: A method for the optoinjection of exogenous material in a recipient biological cell is disclosed and comprises: placing a biological cell on a planar surface of a substrate, transmitting a sub-ns pulsed laser beam through a variable convergence/divergence collimator; focusing the laser beam in a focal spot positioned along an axial direction substantially perpendicular to the substrate; moving the focal spot towards the cell along the axial direction by continuously varying the electric control signal from a first amplitude value a second amplitude value the second amplitude value of the control signal is selected such that the second axial position is positioned inside the cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Assignee: Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
    Inventors: Francesco Difato, Alessandro Soloperto, Gemma Palazzolo
  • Publication number: 20190251706
    Abstract: A method for analyzing spatial and temporal information of samples using optical microscopy includes choosing a field of view in a sample; scanning the sample by applying an electrical signal having a first frequency to an electrically tunable liquid lens in the detection path, performing a sequential acquisition, at a first acquisition frequency higher than the first frequency of the electrical signal, of a stack of images placed on different in-focus planes; processing the stack of images to identify the position of one or more regions of interest; scanning the sample by applying the electrical signal having a second frequency to the tunable lens, performing a sequential acquisition, at a second acquisition frequency lower than the second frequency of the electrical signal, of a temporal series of images with extended depth of field; and calculating the mean intensity of each region of interest for each image of the temporal series.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2017
    Publication date: August 15, 2019
    Inventors: Francesco Difato, Monica Moroni, Gemma Palazzolo, Alessandro Soloperto
  • Publication number: 20190017071
    Abstract: A method for the optoinjection of exogenous material in a recipient biological cell is disclosed and comprises: placing a biological cell on a planar surface of a substrate, transmitting a sub-ns pulsed laser beam through a variable convergence/divergence collimator; focusing the laser beam in a focal spot positioned along an axial direction substantially perpendicular to the substrate; moving the focal spot towards the cell along the axial direction by continuously varying the electric control signal from a first amplitude value a second amplitude value the second amplitude value of the control signal is selected such that the second axial position is positioned inside the cell.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2016
    Publication date: January 17, 2019
    Applicant: Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
    Inventors: Francesco Difato, Alessandro Soloperto, Gemma Palazzolo
  • Publication number: 20150106979
    Abstract: An optical and atomic force microscopy measurement integrated system is described. The system has an atomic force microscope having a first probe configured to interact with a sample to be analysed, an optical tweezer, a second probe configured to be held in the focus of the optical tweezer, movement means for moving the two probes, measurement means for measuring the variations of position of the two probes and processing means configured to receive, as an input, the measurement signals of the two probes to generate an output signal representative of the sample.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2012
    Publication date: April 16, 2015
    Applicant: FONDAZIONE ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI TECNOLOGIA
    Inventors: Francesco Difato, Bruno Torre, Alberto Diaspro, Fabio Benfenati, Roberto Cingolani