JP2018173560A - Microscope device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a microscope device capable of preventing or reducing fatigue of an observer by reducing glare due to light amount switching or the like even at an intermediate position and on a light path when light amount control of illumination light is performed in response to switching of objective lenses.SOLUTION: A microscope device 1 includes: a light source unit 107a; a revolver 106 for holding a plurality of objective lenses 105 and placing the objective lenses 105 on a light path L in a switchable manner; a revolver hole sensor 106a for detecting an objective lens 105 placed on the light path L; a dimming table for storing amounts of illumination light set to the respective objective lenses 105; a determination unit for determining which is larger, an amount of light path illumination light, i.e. an amount of illumination light of an objective lens before switching or an expected amount of illumination light, i.e. an amount of illumination light of an objective lens after switching; and an illumination control unit for controlling illumination at an intermediate position to an amount of illumination light which is smaller according to a determination made by the determination unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a microscope apparatus for observing a specimen placed on a stage.

  Conventionally, in a microscope apparatus equipped with a revolver in which a plurality of objective lenses can be switched to the optical path, a sensor is installed on the optical path in order to save the trouble of adjusting the amount of illumination light when observing the specimen by switching the objective lens. Uses a light quantity setting / reproduction function that detects the hole number of the revolver located at, obtains the optimal illumination light quantity for the objective lens corresponding to the hole number stored in advance in memory, and controls the illumination light quantity (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

JP-A-5-341197

  In a microscope apparatus having a light quantity setting / reproduction function, the observer usually switches the objective lens while observing the specimen with the eyepiece, but the illumination unit emits light at an intermediate position during the objective lens switching. If it is large, the light reflected on the metal frame or the like of the revolver may be visually recognized, and the eyes may become tired due to glare.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and when performing light amount control of illumination light according to switching of the objective lens, the glare caused by light amount switching or the like is reduced on the intermediate position and on the optical path, and the observer's An object of the present invention is to provide a microscope apparatus capable of suppressing fatigue.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a microscope apparatus according to the present invention can hold a light source unit that irradiates a specimen with illumination light and a plurality of objective lenses, and the objective lenses can be switched on an optical path. , A revolver sensor for detecting an objective lens disposed on the optical path, a dimming table for storing the amount of illumination light set for each of the plurality of objective lenses, and a revolver sensor. An optical path illumination light amount set in the dimming table as the illumination light amount of the objective lens in the current optical path, and an expected illumination light amount set in the dimming table as the illumination light amount of the objective lens after switching. According to the determination result of the determination unit, the determination unit for determining the size and the illumination from the objective lens arranged on the optical path to the next objective lens are switched. Characterized in that it comprises a lighting control unit that controls to any of the road illumination light amount or expected illumination amount, and.

  Further, in the microscope device according to the present invention, in the above invention, when the determination unit determines that the light path illumination light amount is larger than the expected illumination light amount, the illumination control unit is configured to start the switching of the objective lens, It is characterized by switching control to the expected illumination light quantity.

  In the microscope device according to the present invention, in the above invention, when the determination unit determines that the optical path illumination light amount is smaller than the expected illumination light amount, the illumination control unit is configured to switch the next objective lens when the switching is completed. It is characterized by switching control to the expected illumination light quantity.

  In the microscope apparatus according to the present invention, the light source unit is an LED.

  The microscope apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above invention, the revolver is an electric revolver.

  According to the microscope apparatus of the present invention, the glare caused by the reflection of the illumination light at the intermediate position is reduced, and when the amount of illumination light is increased by switching the objective lens, the objective lens to be switched is inserted into the optical path. At the same time, since control is performed so as to switch the amount of illumination light, glare caused by switching the amount of illumination light or the like can be reduced even on the intermediate position and on the optical path, thereby suppressing fatigue of the observer.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a microscope apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an illumination light amount operation unit of the microscope apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of the revolver holes of the revolver of the microscope apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a light control table of the microscope apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control unit of the microscope apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a timing chart for switching the illumination light quantity of the microscope apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a timing chart for switching the illumination light amount of the microscope apparatus according to the related art. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the control of the illumination light quantity of the microscope apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining control of the amount of illumination light of the microscope apparatus according to the modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for implementing the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited by the following embodiment. The drawings referred to in the following description only schematically show the shape, size, and positional relationship so that the contents of the present invention can be understood. That is, the present invention is not limited only to the shape, size, and positional relationship illustrated in each drawing.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a microscope apparatus according to the present embodiment. A microscope apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a frame unit 101 placed on a desk, a stage 102 on which a specimen SP is placed, and a holding table 103 that holds the stage 102 so as to be movable in the vertical direction (up and down direction). A rotation focusing unit 104 that is connected to the holding table 103 through a mechanism such as a rack or pinion (not shown) provided in the frame unit 101 and moves the stage 102 in the vertical direction through the holding table 103; A revolver 106 that is provided on the part 101 and is arranged on the specimen SP and that selectively places a plurality of objective lenses 105 having different magnifications on the optical path L, and is detachably attached to the frame part 101. The lamp house 107 which is configured and provided with the light source unit 107a for projecting the light beam that irradiates the specimen SP, and the illumination light irradiated from the light source unit 107a The illumination optical system (not shown) converts the light into parallel light. The mirror 108 reflects the illumination light converted into the parallel light toward the specimen SP, and the condenser lens 109 irradiates the specimen SP with the illumination light reflected from the mirror 108. The observation image of the specimen SP, which is fixed to the upper surface of the arm unit 110 of the frame unit 101 and is incident through the objective lens 105, is reflected by the mirror 111a and formed by an imaging lens (not shown) provided inside. A lens barrel 111 that is attached to the lens barrel 111, a binocular unit 113 that magnifies and observes the observation image of the specimen SP with the eyepiece 112, and an illumination light amount operation unit 114 that adjusts the amount of illumination light emitted from the light source unit 107a. A control unit 115 that is communicably connected to each unit and controls the amount of illumination of the light source unit 107a and the rotation of the revolver 106; It includes a revolver operation unit 116 for selecting a lens 105, a.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the illumination light amount operation unit 114. The illumination light quantity operation unit 114 sets the first illumination light quantity set for each objective lens 105 according to the types (magnification) of the plurality of objective lenses 105. The illumination light amount set by the observer for each objective lens 105 is stored as a dimming table 121a (see FIG. 4). The illumination light quantity operation unit 114 includes an illumination light quantity switch 114a that accepts an instruction of whether the light quantity reproduction function stored in the dimming table 121a is valid (ON) or invalid (OFF), and rotatable illumination light that accepts an input of the illumination light quantity. It has the input part 114b and the illumination light quantity setting part 114c which determines the illumination light quantity input in the illumination light input part 114b.

  By pressing the illumination light quantity switch 114a, the reproduction function of the light quantity stored in the dimming table 121a is switched between valid (ON) and invalid (OFF). The illumination light amount switch 114a is pressed to be effective (ON), and the illumination light input unit 114b is rotated to adjust the light amount of the objective lens 105 disposed in the optical path L. The light amount is adjusted while observing with the eyepiece lens 112, adjusted to the optimum light amount, and then the illumination light amount setting unit 114c is pressed to determine the illumination light amount of the objective lens 105 arranged in the optical path L. The determined illumination light quantity is stored in the dimming table 121a. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of the revolving holes of the revolver 106 of the microscope apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the dimming table 121a. The dimming table 121a shown in FIG. 4 includes the magnification of the objective lens 105 and the illumination light amount (current value) input by the illumination light input unit 114b for each of the rebo holes where the objective lens 105 shown in FIG. 3 is arranged. It is remembered. The observer adjusts the illumination light amount of all the objective lenses 105 held by the revolver 106 by using the illumination light amount operation unit 11b.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the control unit 115. Based on the output signal transmitted from the illumination light amount operation unit 114, the control unit 115 controls the light amount output from the light source unit 107a, and the dimming table 121a that is the illumination light amount set for each objective lens 105. And a revolver control unit 122 that transmits the switching signal of the objective lens 105 received from the revolver operation unit 116 to the revolver driving unit 106b and controls the switching of the objective lens 105.

  The illumination control unit 120 predicts the optical path illumination light amount, which is the illumination light amount of the objective lens 105 disposed on the optical path L, and the illumination light amount of the objective lens 105 to be used next selected via the revolver operation unit 116. The determination part 120a which determines the magnitude of illumination light quantity is provided. The illumination control unit 120 switches from the objective lens 105 disposed on the optical path L to the next objective lens 105, that is, the illumination at the intermediate position, that is, the optical path illumination light amount that the determination unit 120a determines that the light amount is small, or Control to one of the expected illumination light quantities. For example, when the 40 × objective lens 105 is disposed on the optical path L and switching to the 60 × objective lens 105 is input by the revolver operation unit 116, the determination unit 120 a performs the optical path illumination of the 40 × objective lens 105. The illumination control unit 120 controls the illumination at the intermediate position by comparing the light amount (300 mA) with the expected illumination light amount (450 mA) of the 60 × objective lens 105 and adjusting the illumination light amount of the 40 × objective lens 105 determined to be small.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a timing chart for switching the illumination light amount of the microscope apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a timing chart for switching the illumination light amount of the microscope apparatus according to the related art. In FIG. 6, the upper row shows a case where the 4 × objective lens 105 is switched to the 100 × objective lens 105, and the lower row shows a case where the 100 × objective lens 105 is switched to the 4 × objective lens 105. Yes.

  When the switching signal of the objective lens 105 is transmitted to the revolver driving unit 106b via the revolver control unit 122 and the revolver driving unit 106b is driven at time t1, the revolver sensor 106a detects the revolver 106 switching Δt after Δt. A switching signal for the objective lens 105 is transmitted from the sensor 106 a to the illumination control unit 120. When switching from the 4 × objective lens 105 to the 100 × objective lens 105, the illumination control unit 120 maintains the illumination light amount (50 mA) of the 4 × objective lens 105 having a low intensity as the illumination at the intermediate position. Control is performed so that the illumination light amount becomes the illumination strong light amount (650 mA) of the 100 × objective lens at time t4 when the × objective lens 105 is inserted into the optical path. That is, the illumination light quantity switching signal is transmitted to the light source section 107a at time t3 in consideration of the time Δt0 required for switching the illumination light quantity of the light source section 107a.

  In the prior art, for example, Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 7, after the revolver 21 is rotated at time t1, the revolver position / rotation direction detection unit 8 detects the switching of the revolver 21 and the rotation direction after Δt. The light control unit 3 controls the continuously variable ND filter 5 so that the light is controlled to an appropriate light at time t2 after (Δt + Δt0) from time t1. In Patent Document 1, since the illumination light amount is switched at an intermediate position where the objective lens on the optical path L and the objective lens to be switched are not considered, and at the intermediate position where the next objective lens is switched, the illumination light is increased. The eyes get tired due to the reflection.

  In the present embodiment, the amount of illumination light at the intermediate position is controlled to be smaller than the illumination light amount of the objective lens 105 before and after switching, that is, the optical path illumination light amount and the expected illumination light amount. Can be reduced. In addition, since the illumination light amount is switched almost simultaneously with the switching of the objective lens 105, it becomes difficult to feel a change in the light amount even when the illumination light amount becomes large, fatigue can be reduced, and the illumination light amount can be switched when the objective lens 105 is switched. Observation becomes possible.

  On the other hand, when the objective lens 105 is switched from high magnification (100 ×) to low magnification (4 ×), Δt after the revolver sensor 106a detects the switching of the revolver 106 from the time t1 when the drive of the revolver driving unit 106b is started. The illumination control unit 120 receives the switching signal for the objective lens 105 from the rebo hole sensor 106a, and the illumination control unit 120 immediately transmits the switching signal for the illumination light amount to the light source unit 107a. The illumination light quantity of the light source unit 107a is switched to 50 mA from time t1 to time t2 after (Δt + Δt0). In this embodiment, when the illumination light amount (predicted illumination light amount) of the objective lens 105 to be switched is smaller than the illumination light amount (optical path illumination light amount) of the objective lens 105 on the optical path L, immediately after receiving the switching signal of the objective lens 105. Further, by switching and controlling the illumination light quantity, it is possible to reduce glare due to the reflection of illumination at the intermediate position.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining control of the illumination light amount of the microscope apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The revolver control unit 122 determines whether or not the revolver 106 can input a switching signal from the revolver operation unit 116 (step S101). When there is no input (step S101: No), step S101 is repeated, and when the input is received (step S101: Yes), a drive signal is transmitted to the revolver driving unit 106b, and the revolver 106 is driven and controlled (step S102).

  When the illumination control unit 120 acquires the switching signal of the revolver 106 transmitted from the revolving hole sensor 106a (step S103), the illumination light amount (optical path illumination light amount) of the objective lens 105 before switching is obtained from the dimming table 121a of the storage unit 121. And illumination light quantity information such as the illumination light quantity (expected illumination light quantity) of the objective lens 105 after switching is acquired (step S104).

  The determination unit 120a compares the illumination light amount before switching (light path illumination light amount) with the illumination light amount after switching (expected illumination light amount), and determines whether or not the illumination light amount before switching is larger than the illumination light amount after switching. (Step S105).

  When the illumination light amount before switching is larger than the illumination light amount after switching (step S105: Yes), the illumination control unit 120 immediately transmits an illumination light amount switching signal to the light source unit 107a and switches the illumination light amount of the light source unit 107a. The illumination light amount (expected illumination light amount) is controlled (step S106).

  When the illumination light amount before switching is smaller than the illumination light amount after switching (step S105: No), the illumination control unit 120 controls the light amount of the light source unit 107a at the intermediate position to the illumination light amount before switching (light path illumination light amount). At the same time when the next objective lens 105 is arranged in the optical path L, that is, when the driving of the revolver 106 is completed, the light amount of the light source unit 107a is controlled to the illumination light amount after switching (expected illumination light amount) (step S107).

  By controlling as described above, the glare caused by the reflection of the illumination light at the intermediate position is reduced, and even when the light amount of the illumination light is increased by switching the objective lens 105, the light amount of the illumination light is switched even on the optical path L. This can suppress the fatigue of the observer.

  In the microscope apparatus 1 described above, the electric revolver 106 that automatically switches the objective lens 105 is used, but the present invention can also be applied to the case where a manual revolver is used. FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining control of the amount of illumination light of the microscope apparatus according to the modification of the embodiment of the present invention. When a manual revolver is used, as in the dimming table 121a in FIG. 4, the magnification of the objective lens 105 may be increased in the order of the rebo holes, or the magnification of the objective lens 105 may be decreased in the order of the rebo holes. . Hereinafter, a case where the magnification of the objective lens 105 is increased in the order of the rebo hole as in the dimming table 121a of FIG. 4 will be described.

  The illumination control unit 120 acquires a switching signal and rotation direction information of the revolver 106 by a sensor that detects the rotation direction of the revolver sensor 106a and the revolver 106 (step S201).

  When the rotation direction is CW (clockwise) (step S202: Yes), the illumination light quantity information of the next objective lens 105 is acquired (step S203), and the illumination before switching the light quantity of the light source unit 107a at the intermediate position. At the same time when the next objective lens 105 is placed in the optical path L, that is, when the driving of the revolver 106 is completed, the light amount of the light source unit 107a is changed to the illumination light amount (expected illumination light amount) after switching. Control (step S204). As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, when the rotation direction is CW (clockwise), the magnification of the objective lens 105 after switching is increased and the amount of illumination light is also increased. Switch the amount of light.

  When the rotation direction is CCW (counterclockwise) (step S202: No), the illumination light amount information of the next objective lens 105 is acquired (step S205), and the illumination control unit 120 immediately applies the illumination light amount to the light source unit 107a. Is switched to control the illumination light amount of the light source unit 107a to the illumination light amount (expected illumination light amount) after switching (step S206). As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, when the rotation direction is CCW (counterclockwise), the magnification of the objective lens 105 after switching is reduced and the amount of illumination light is also reduced. Therefore, after receiving the switching signal of the revolver 106 Immediately, the control is switched to the illumination light amount of the next objective lens 105.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Microscope apparatus 101 Frame part 102 Stage 103 Holding stand 104 Rotation focusing part 105 Objective lens 106 Revolver 106a Revo hole sensor 106b Revolver drive part 107 Lamphouse 107a Light source part 108 Mirror 109 Condenser lens 110 Arm part 111 Lens barrel 112 Eyepiece lens 113 Binocular part 114 Illumination light quantity operation part 114a Illumination light quantity switch 114b Illumination light input part 114c Illumination light quantity setting part 115 Control part 120 Illumination control part 121 Storage part 122 Revolver control part L Optical path SP Sample

Claims (5)

A light source unit for illuminating the specimen with illumination light;
A revolver that holds a plurality of objective lenses and arranges the objective lenses to be switchable on an optical path;
A rebo hole sensor for detecting an objective lens arranged on the optical path;
A dimming table for storing the amount of illumination light set for each of the plurality of objective lenses;
The optical path illumination light amount set in the light adjustment table as the illumination light amount of the objective lens in the current optical path detected by the rebo hole sensor, and the illumination light amount of the objective lens after switching are set in the light adjustment table. A determination unit that determines the magnitude of the expected illumination light amount,
An illumination control unit that controls the illumination from the objective lens arranged on the optical path to the next objective lens to either the optical path illumination light amount or the expected illumination light amount according to the determination result of the determination unit; ,
A microscope apparatus comprising: When the determination unit determines that the optical path illumination light amount is larger than the expected illumination light amount,
The microscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the illumination control unit performs switching control to the expected illumination light amount when switching of the objective lens is started. When the determination unit determines that the optical path illumination light amount is smaller than the expected illumination light amount,
The microscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the illumination control unit performs switching control to the expected illumination light amount when switching to the next objective lens is completed.   The microscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light source unit is an LED.   The microscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the revolver is an electric revolver.

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