JP2007333800A - Microscope lighting device and microscope apparatus having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a microscope lighting device which is small in size, is simple in adjustment of a wavelength characteristic of illumination light, is inexpensive, and is high brightness, and a microscope apparatus having the same. <P>SOLUTION: The microscope lighting device has a light source 1, a collector lens 4 for collecting the light from the light source, and a condenser lens 20 for irradiating a specimen 10 with the light from the collector lens 4. The light source 1 is two-dimensionally arrayed with two or more kinds of white LEDs 2, 3 varying in wavelength distributions and includes a control means 24 controlling the light emission intensity of the white LEDs 2, 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a microscope illumination apparatus and a microscope apparatus having the same.

Conventionally, when a sample has wavelength dependency, it has been proposed to illuminate by changing the wavelength distribution of light that illuminates the sample (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-11-287958

  However, the illumination device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a sample to be observed by preparing a red (R) LED, a green (G) LED, and a blue (B) LED and adjusting the emission intensity of each. In order to match the wavelength characteristics of the sample, it is necessary to adjust the light emission intensity of each of the RGB three colors while observing the sample. However, there is a problem that it becomes complicated and expensive.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a high-intensity microscope illuminating device that is small, easily adjusts the wavelength characteristics of illumination light, and inexpensive, and a microscope device having the same. .

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention includes a light source, a collector lens that collects light from the light source, and a condenser lens that irradiates a sample with light from the collector lens, and the light source includes: Provided is a microscope illuminating device characterized in that two or more types of white LEDs having different wavelength distributions are two-dimensionally arranged and control means for controlling lighting of the white LEDs is provided.

  The present invention also provides a microscope apparatus comprising the microscope illumination apparatus.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a high-intensity microscope illumination apparatus that is small in size, easily adjusted in wavelength characteristics of illumination light, and inexpensive, and a microscope apparatus having the microscope illumination apparatus.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a microscope apparatus having the microscope illumination apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, wherein (a) is a schematic configuration diagram of the microscope apparatus, and (b) is used for the microscope illumination apparatus. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a light source. FIG. 2 shows spectral characteristics, (a) shows an example of spectral characteristics of an infrared cut filter, (b) shows an example of spectral characteristics of a white LED having a relatively large blue component, and (c) starts from green. An example of spectral characteristics of a white LED with a relatively large red component is shown.

  In FIG. 1, light from an LED array light source 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as a light source) configured by arranging a plurality of LEDs 2 and 3 to be described later in a two-dimensional manner is collected by a collector lens 4 and the optical path is substantially omitted. The optical path is deflected by the mirror 5 for bending 90 degrees, and enters the fly-eye lens 6 disposed in the vicinity of the rear focal position of the collector lens 4. The light emitted from the fly-eye lens 6 is made uniform illumination light by the light diffusion plate 7, passes through the aperture of the aperture stop 8, enters the condenser lens 20, and is placed on the XY stage 9 by the collector lens 20. The sample 10 is condensed. In this way, the microscope illumination device 22 is configured. In this microscope illumination device 22, it is possible to make the light from the light source 1 uniform with the fly-eye lens 7 without arranging the light diffusing plate 7, but by arranging the light diffusing plate 7, the light source The uniformity of the light from 1 can be improved. Further, the light source 1 and the collector lens 4 are arranged on the extension of the optical axis from the condenser lens 20 (vertical direction on the paper surface of FIG. 1) without arranging the mirror 5 for deflecting the optical path by approximately 90 degrees. It is also possible. By deflecting the optical path by approximately 90 degrees with the mirror 5, the microscope illuminator 22 having a reduced height from the light source 1 to the condenser lens 20 (vertical direction on the paper surface of FIG. 1) can be obtained.

  The light transmitted through the specimen 10 is collected by the objective lens 11 and the image sensor (for example, CCD, CMOS, etc.) of the camera 15 via the relay lens optical system 12 having a mirror 12a for deflecting the optical path by approximately 90 degrees. The image of the sample 10 is imaged by the image pickup device 14, picked up by the image pickup device 14, and observed by the monitor 17 through the image processing device 16. The camera 15 is provided with an infrared cut filter 13 that cuts infrared light that is greater than or equal to visible light on the incident side of the image sensor 14. In this way, the microscope apparatus 100 including the microscope illumination device 22 is configured.

  Here, a problem when the LED is used as an illumination light source will be briefly described.

  Conventionally, a white LED (see FIG. 2B) that has a relatively large blue component, which is a high-intensity white LED, is used to illuminate the specimen for power saving, space saving, cost reduction, and the like.

  In addition, an infrared cut filter 13 is attached to the camera 15 in front of the image sensor 14, and the spectral characteristics of the infrared cut filter 13 are not limited to blocking infrared light, as shown in FIG. The transmittance of light having a wavelength near 650 nm close to infrared is low and is about 10%.

  When an image of the specimen 10 is captured by the camera 15 in such a state, the specimen 10 is illuminated with light having a relatively large amount of blue component light, and is captured through the infrared cut filter 13 having a high blue light transmittance. Therefore, the image obtained by the camera 15 is an image having a relatively large blue component. The white balance adjustment of the camera 15 based on this image needs to electrically increase the signal intensity of the smallest red component. For this reason, the image data from the camera 15 has a problem that the noise of the red component signal increases, causing a problem in color reproducibility, and gradation and vividness are not reproduced. In particular, it becomes a problem in a sample in which red information such as a red HE-stained sample is important.

  Therefore, in the microscope illuminating device 100 according to the first embodiment, the light source 1 is mixed with the white LED 2 having a large blue component and the white LED 3 having a large amount of green to red components (see FIG. 2C) and arranged in a two-dimensional manner. By doing so, it is possible to relatively increase the light of the green to red component. Thus, by mixing the light of the white LEDs 2 and 3, illumination light closer to natural light can be realized.

  In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1B, the light source 1 arranges white LEDs 2 having a large blue component symmetrically with respect to the optical axis, and further emits white LEDs 3 having a large amount of green to red components. They are arranged symmetrically with respect to the axis I. Specifically, the white LED 2a having a large blue component is disposed at a position symmetrical to the optical axis I with respect to the white LED 2b having a large blue component, and similarly, 2c is symmetrical to the optical axis I, and 2f is symmetrical to the optical axis I. It is arranged at each position. Similarly, the white LEDs 3 having a large amount of green to red components are also arranged at positions symmetrical with respect to the optical axis I, 3a being 3b, and 3c being 3d. Each white LED is controlled to be turned on in accordance with predetermined wavelength distribution characteristics and luminance by the control device 24 that controls the lighting of the LEDs. When the light is turned on or off, the control device 24 controls turning on and off so as to preserve the symmetry of each white LED. Needless to say, the number of white LEDs 2 and 3 is not limited to the illustrated number. Needless to say, the ratio of the number of white LEDs 2 and white LEDs 3 is not limited to the above 6 to 4. The number of white LEDs 2 and 3 and the ratio of the numbers can be appropriately changed.

  In this way, by using the light source 1 having the white LED 2 having a large blue component and the white LED 3 having a green to red component, it is possible to irradiate the sample 10 with light having desired luminance and wavelength distribution characteristics. As a result, the wavelength of the green to red component can be significantly increased, and in the observation of HE-stained specimens where red information is important, the red color development can be greatly improved, and the red gradation and vividness can be improved. Can be obtained. Further, when white balance is achieved, it is not necessary to increase the gain of the red component signal of the camera 15 as in the conventional case, and the signal noise of the red component can be reduced, and a good image is obtained. It becomes possible. In addition, since a white balance can be satisfactorily obtained for a dyed sample of a blue color system, it is possible to acquire an image that reproduces blue gradation and vividness.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a microscope apparatus having a microscope illumination apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is a microscope apparatus, and (b) is an arrangement of white LEDs having a large blue component. (C) shows the arrangement of white LEDs with many green to red components. The same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. Further, the spectral characteristic of the infrared cut filter 13 of the camera 15 is the same as that of FIG. 2A, and the spectral characteristic of the white LED having a large blue component is the same as that of FIG. The spectral characteristics of the white LED are the same as in FIG.

  The microscope illumination device 122 according to the second embodiment is a two-dimensional array of a light source unit 51 including a light source 1a and a collector lens 4a in which white LEDs 2 having a large blue component are two-dimensionally arrayed, and a white LED 3 having a large amount of green to red components. The light source 1b and the light source unit 52 including the collector lens 4b are configured separately, and both light beams are synthesized by the half mirror 5b disposed on the optical axis of the microscope illumination device 122 and irradiated onto the specimen 10. The fly-eye lens 6 is disposed in the vicinity of the rear focal position of both the collector lens 4a and the collector lens 4b. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. The number of white LEDs 2 and 3 can be changed as appropriate according to the design. In this way, the microscope apparatus 200 including the microscope illumination apparatus 122 is configured.

  In the microscope illumination device 122 according to the second embodiment, the light source 1a is configured by two-dimensionally arranging white LEDs 2 having a large blue component, and the light source 1b is configured by two-dimensionally arranging white LEDs 3 having a large amount of green to red components. Is configured. Further, the control device 24 controls the turning on and off of the individual LEDs 2 and 3. By configuring the light sources 1a and 1b in this way, it is possible to irradiate the specimen 10 with light having a wavelength component balanced with desired luminance, and the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained. It becomes possible.

  Further, the arrays of the LEDs 2 and 3 are arranged so as to be arranged at symmetrical positions with respect to the optical axis I. The lighting and extinguishing of the LEDs 2 and 3 are also controlled by the control device 24 so as not to impair the symmetry. Thereby, it becomes possible to irradiate the sample 10 with uniform synthetic light.

  As described above, according to the present invention, since the microscope illumination devices 22 and 122 can sufficiently obtain the red component from green, the red component signal is electrically converted to the extreme by adjusting the white balance of the camera 15 of the microscope devices 100 and 200. Because there is no need to increase the gain, the red component signal does not contain noise, and the color reproducibility of the stained specimen image, especially the red color development such as the HE stained specimen, is remarkably improved, and the red gradation and vividness are improved. It becomes possible to obtain an improved image. In addition, it contributes to faithful reproduction of each color of blue and green, and it is possible to realize a clear color reproduction without fading the overall image color. Further, by using a white LED, it is possible to simultaneously achieve cost reduction and environmental considerations such as space saving, low power, and low heat generation. In the above-described embodiment, the case where two types of white LEDs having different spectral characteristics are used has been described, but it is also possible to configure using three or more types of white LEDs having different spectral characteristics.

  The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and is not limited to the above-described configuration and shape, and can be appropriately modified and changed within the scope of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a schematic block diagram of the microscope apparatus which has the microscope illuminating device concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention, (a) is a schematic block diagram of a microscope apparatus, (b) is a schematic structure of the light source used for a microscope illuminating device. Indicates. (A) is an example of the spectral characteristic of the infrared cut filter, (b) is an example of the spectral characteristic of a white LED having a relatively large blue component, and (c) is a relative component from green to red. One example of spectral characteristics of white LEDs is shown. It is a schematic block diagram of the microscope apparatus which has the microscope illuminating device concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention, (a) is a microscope apparatus, (b) is arrangement | positioning of white LED with many blue components, (c) ) Shows the arrangement of white LEDs with a large amount of green to red components.

Explanation of symbols

1, 1a, 1b LED light source 2 White LED with many blue components
3 White LED with many green to red components
4 collector lens 5 mirror 6 fly eye lens 7 light diffusion plate 8 aperture stop 9 XY stage 10 specimen 11 objective lens 12 relay lens optical system 13 infrared cut filter 14 image sensor 15 camera 16 image processing device 17 monitor 20 condenser lens 22 122 Microscope illumination device 24 Control device 51, 52 Light source unit 100, 200 Microscope device I Optical axis

Claims (6)

A light source;
A collector lens that collects light from the light source;
A condenser lens that irradiates the sample with light from the collector lens;
2. The microscope illumination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light source includes two or more types of white LEDs having different wavelength distributions arranged two-dimensionally and includes a control unit that controls lighting of the white LEDs.   The microscope illumination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the white LEDs are arranged symmetrically with respect to the optical axis on the same plane. The white LED has a first light source composed of a first white LED and a second light source composed of a second white LED,
The microscope illumination apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a combining unit that combines light from the first light source and light from the second light source.   The microscope illumination apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a fly-eye lens is disposed in the vicinity of a rear focal position of the collector lens.   5. The microscope illumination apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a light diffusion plate between a rear focal position of the collector lens and the condenser lens. 6.   A microscope apparatus comprising the microscope illumination apparatus according to claim 1.

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