Fluorescence locating system and method

DETAILED DESCRIPTION An object of this invention is the provision of an optical system for detecting and locating an object on the basis of the chemical composition of the object.
Another object is the provision of an object detecting and locating system which is capable of discriminating between objects in the field of search on the basis of their chemical composition.
Another object is the provision of a method of identifying and locating objects having a known composition and discriminating against adjacent objects having a different composition.
A more specific object is the provision of a system and method for detecting and locating or tracking an object having one chemical composition and disposed on or located adjacent to an object or objects having other chemical composition.
Still another object is the provision of an optical transmit-and-receive system and method which qualitatively distinguishes between illuminated objects on the basis of their chemical composition and identifies the relative position of a selected object.
These and other objects of the invention are achieved with a system and technique in which objects of interest are optically illuminated with predetermined radiation so as to cause the objects to emit radiations having wavelengths different from that of the illuminating radiation and corresponding to the composition of the objects.
Discrimination between desired and undesired objects is achieved with a filter which passes induced radiations from the desired object and blocks off other radiations.
The position or location of the desired object is determined by the point of incidence of imaged light on a detector array which feeds the position information to utilization apparatus capable of identifying the location of the object, counting the number of objects in the field of search, and/or providing an input to automatic tracking apparatus for tracking the object.