Confocal microscope apparatus and photographing apparatus for confocal microscope

Abstract

A confocal microscope apparatus includes a disk scanner for scanning a specimen with a laser beam, and camera main body for photographing a still image. An exposure time calculation circuit is arranged to generates an exposure time signal for the camera main body. A rotation sensor, a scan track start point / end point determination circuit, and a rotation period calculation circuit are arranged to generate a rotational period signal for the disk scanner. A comparator compares the exposure time signal with the rotational period signal, so that a motor controller and a motor driver control rotation of a motor of the disk scanner by a comparison output from the comparator.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to a confocal microscope apparatus and a photographing apparatus for a confocal microscope, for photographing a confocal image of a microscope specimen.[0002]In recent years, confocal microscopes have rapidly spread owing to their improved effects in optical performance called confocal effects including a sectioning effect along the optical axis and a super-resolution effect. These confocal microscopes can be roughly classified into two, single-beam type (fixed-pinhole type / a single pinhole) and multi-beam type (movable pinhole type / a plurality of pinholes) on the basis of the scanning principle and the basic arrangements of a scanner and an optical system.[0003]The single-beam type confocal microscope drives a laser beam for scanning, using a galvanometer mirror or an optical deflector such as an acousto-optical deflector (AOD). The-multi-beam type confocal microscope uses a rotating disk scanner (to be referred to as a...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0036]According to the present invention, even if the exposure time changes depending on the specimen brightness, the total number of turns of the disk within the exposure time can be kept constant. The exposure start and end timings can be synchronized with the disk rotational position, and the disk positions at the start and end of exposure can be maintained at the start and end points of the scan track pattern. Accordingly, striped noise by a pinhole pattern can be suppressed to photograph a high-quality still image.

Problems solved by technology

However, the application is often limited to real-time observation at a video rate or more for the movement of a cell injected with a fluorescent indicator such as Ca ions or pH.

This arises from marketing factors such as a small number of manufacturers for confocal microscopes using disk scanners, resulting in few product variations, and poor balance between apparatus cost and performance, resulting in low cost performance.

That is, this technique does not consider use conditions for photographing a still image, and particularly photographing conditions under which the exposure time changes over a wide range of several hundredth sec to several ten sec in accordance with the specimen brightness.

Again, however, the image sensing device is limited to the CCD camera 201 using a NTSC signal, and does not consider any application purpose of photographing a still image whose exposure time changes over a wide range.

Fine adjustment of the rotational speed in synchronism with the CCD camera 201 is possible, but a change of the rotational speed over a wide range is not possible.

As a result, image noise by the stripes of the pinhole pattern stands out, and a high-quality still image is difficult to obtain.

More specifically, when the exposure time changes depending on the specimen brightness in still image photography by a conventional multi-beam type confocal microscope using a disk scanner, the start and end points of the scan track cannot always coincide with the exposure start and end timings.

Then, image noise such as stripes caused by a nonuniform pinhole layout is easily superposed on an image, failing to obtain a high-quality still image.

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