JP2002258162A - Image acquisition apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image acquisition apparatus with which an image of a resolution required by an observer can easily be acquired. SOLUTION: The image acquisition apparatus having a plurality of object lenses 3 is used for a microscope which has a revolver 2 which selectively switches the object lenses 3 to an observation optical path, and acquires an observed image as an image. When the resolution of an acquisition image is specified, an object lens 3 which has the optimum optical resolution to the resolution for the specified acquisition image is determined from the optical resolution determined by the object lenses 3, respectively. The revolver 2 is driven so that the determined object lens 3 is switched to the observation optical path.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image acquisition device for acquiring an image observed by a microscope as an image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Microscopes capable of magnifying and observing a fine sample and recording the magnified image in a photograph or a video are widely used for research and inspection in the industrial field as well as the biological field.

A microscope used in such a field generally has a rotary revolver for holding a plurality of objective lenses having different magnifications. By rotating the revolver, an objective lens inserted into an observation optical path is rotated. By switching, the observation magnification is changed.

On the other hand, recently, an image input device such as an electronic still camera has been connected to a microscope, and a digital image has been acquired from an observation image of the microscope. In some cases, digital images are stored in place of silver halide photographs, and images are analyzed by computer image processing techniques.

[0005] Recently, high resolution digital images have made it possible to acquire images having a resolution exceeding the optical resolution of a microscope, so that an observer can hardly be aware of the optical resolution of the microscope. In some cases, a digital image with a resolution exceeding the resolution is obtained.

However, even if a digital image having a resolution exceeding the optical resolution is obtained, the resolution of the image is determined by the optical resolution. Therefore, only a useless resolution is obtained. In addition to taking time, the image size becomes large and the handleability deteriorates. Further, when performing image analysis, only the processing time becomes long, and there is no improvement in analysis accuracy.

Therefore, conventionally, as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 11-260423 proposed by the present applicant, by automatically selecting a resolution of an image which is most suitable for the optical resolution, the optical resolution is improved. There has been proposed a device that acquires a digital image with a matching resolution.

[0008]

However, although a digital image suitable for the optical resolution can be obtained only by such a concept, the digital image at this time is automatically selected according to the optical resolution. In some cases, an image having a resolution not intended by the observer is obtained.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide an image acquisition apparatus capable of easily acquiring an image having a resolution required by an observer.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
An image acquisition apparatus for use in a microscope having a plurality of objective lenses and having a magnification changing means for selectively switching these objective lenses to an observation optical path, wherein the image acquisition apparatus acquires an observation image as an image via the magnification change means. Resolution specifying means for specifying the resolution of an image, and for the resolution of the acquired image specified by the resolution specifying means, an objective lens having an optimal optical resolution among the optical resolutions determined by the plurality of objective lenses, respectively. It is characterized by comprising objective lens determining means for determining, and driving means for driving the variable power means so as to switch the objective lens determined by the objective lens determining means to the observation optical path.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the objective lens determining means has a calculating means for calculating an optical resolution determined by the objective lens.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the zooming means comprises a rotary revolver to which a plurality of objective lenses are attached, and is driven to rotate by the driving means to determine the objective lens. The objective lens determined by the means is switched to the observation optical path.

As a result, according to the present invention, the optical resolution of the microscope can be automatically changed so as to be compatible with the image resolution required by the observer, and wasteful resolution exceeding the optical resolution can be obtained. An image having the resolution required by the observer can be acquired without acquiring an image.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a microscope to which the present invention is applied. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes a microscope main body, which has a body 1a formed upright, and has an objective arm 1b at the tip of the body 1a.

The objective arm 1b is provided with a rotary revolver 2 as a magnification changing means. The revolver 2 is provided with a plurality of objective lenses 3 having different magnifications. By rotating the revolver 2, these objective lenses 3 are selectively switched to the observation optical path.

A stage 5 on which a sample 4 is placed is provided on a body 1a of the microscope body 1 via a guide (not shown). The stage 5 is movable in the direction of the observation optical path and in the XY directions orthogonal to each other in a plane orthogonal to the observation optical path in order to adjust the focus of the specimen 4 and the observation site.

A lens barrel 6 is provided above the objective arm 1b. The lens barrel 6 is provided with an eyepiece 7 and a CCD camera 8 as image input means. The eyepiece 7 is for visually observing an observation image of the specimen 4 projected through the objective lens 3. The CCD camera 8 captures an observation image of the sample 4 and outputs a signal of an image obtained by the capturing.

A control device 9 is connected to the CCD camera 8. The revolver 2, the revolver hole position detector 10, the data input unit 11, the monitor 12, and the mouse 13 are connected to the control device 9.

The control unit 9 is a means for indicating the resolution of the image acquired from the CCD camera 8. The control unit 9 selects the optimum optical resolution from the optical resolutions determined by the plurality of objective lenses 3 for the indicated resolution of the acquired image. It has means for determining the objective lens 3 having a resolution and driving means for driving the revolver 2 so that the objective lens determined by the means is inserted into the observation optical path. As shown in FIG. Revo-hole position data from the container 10, key input data from the data input unit 11, mouse 1
Input circuit 9a, CC for receiving coordinate data from
An image input circuit 9b for receiving an image signal output from the D camera 8, these input circuits 9a and an image input circuit 9b
A control circuit 9c for controlling data from the control circuit 9c, a calculation circuit 9d for performing required calculations from the control circuit 9c, a storage circuit 9e for storing data relating to the objective lens 3, various data necessary for calculations in the calculation circuit 9d, and the like. It has a drive circuit 9f for driving the rotary revolver 2 according to a command from the circuit 9c, and an image output circuit 9g for outputting an image or graphics created by the control circuit 9c to the monitor 12.

When the input circuit 9a receives, for example, key input data from the data input section 11, the control device 9 notifies the control circuit 9c of key information, and
In c, after interpreting the key information, a character corresponding to the key is displayed on the monitor 12 via the image output circuit 9g. The position where the key data is displayed on the monitor 12 is controlled by the control circuit 9c. The display position and format on the monitor 12 vary depending on the operation content. However, regarding the data input operation, the position where the observer last pressed (clicked and selected) the mouse button on the window pointed to by the cursor of the mouse 13. Is displayed. Further, the storage circuit 9e stores data such as the magnification and NA of each objective lens 3 in association with the revolving hole of the revolver 2 as data relating to the objective lens 3.

The revolver hole position detector 10 detects the position of the revolver hole of the revolver 2 located on the observation optical path.

The data input unit 11 is for inputting the magnification of the objective lens 3 with respect to the position of the revolving hole, and has a ten key 11a and an Enter key 11b as shown in FIG.

The monitor 12 is connected to a control circuit 9c of the control device 9.
From the image data and control circuit 9 via the image output circuit 9g.
The window which is a rectangular graphic created by c is synthesized and displayed. The display coordinates and the display state of each window (including the button display) are managed by the control circuit 9c. Specifically, a moving image display window 12b for displaying a moving image 12a obtained from the CCD camera 8 shown in FIG. 4A and a CCD camera 8 shown in FIG.
It has a still image display window 12d for displaying the still image 12c obtained from the above. In this case, the moving image 12a
In order to maintain the real-time property, a small image having a small data amount is used. The observer refers to the moving image 12a displayed in the moving image display window 12b while
Positioning and focusing by the stage 5 are performed. When it is determined that these are appropriate, a high-resolution still image 12c is acquired, displayed in the still image display window 12d, and stored in the storage circuit 9e. The monitor 12 has a control window 12e shown in FIG. 3C in addition to the moving image display window 12b and the still image display window 12d. The control window 12e displays a resolution selection radio button 12f for specifying an image resolution, an image capture button 12g for instructing acquisition of a still image, and an objective lens data input window 12h for inputting data relating to the objective lens 3. Have been. In this case, the objective lens data input window 12h includes FIG.
, An item 12i in which numbers 1, 2, 3,... Assigned to a plurality of revolver holes of the revolver 2 are described,
Items 12j for writing the respective data of the magnification and NA of the objective lens 3 corresponding to these numbers 1, 2, 3,.
12k are provided.

The mouse 13 is used to move a mouse cursor 13a displayed on the monitor 12 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, a mouse button 13b is provided.

When the mouse 13 notifies the control circuit 9c of coordinate data associated with the operation via the input circuit 9a of the control device 9, the mouse 13 transmits the coordinate data on the monitor 12 corresponding to the mouse coordinates via the image output circuit 9g. Mouse cursor 1
3a is displayed. Further, for example, when the mouse button 13b is pressed while the mouse cursor 13a is positioned on the resolution selection radio button 12f of the control window 12e of the monitor 12, a pressing signal is sent to the control circuit 9c via the input circuit 9a. And
When it is determined from the comparison result of the coordinates of the resolution selection radio button 12f and the coordinates of the mouse cursor 13a that the resolution selection radio button 12f indicated by the mouse cursor 13a has been pressed, the processing assigned to the resolution selection radio button 12f is performed. It has become.

Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described.

First, the power of the apparatus is turned on, and among the plurality of objective lenses 3, the objective lens 3 located on the observation optical path is confirmed. This checking operation is performed by the revolver hole position detector 10.
To detect the position of the revo-hole located on the observation optical path,
This detection data is input to the control circuit 9c via the input circuit 9a of the control device 9. When the control circuit 9c receives the data corresponding to the revolving hole position, it reads out data such as magnification and NA from the storage circuit 9e as data of the objective lens 3 corresponding to the revolving hole position.

Here, when the data of the objective lens 3 does not exist in the storage circuit 9e, the magnification and the N of the objective lens 3 are referred to with reference to the objective lens data input window 12h displayed on the control window 12e of the monitor 12.
Input data such as A.

In this case, it is assumed that the revolving hole located on the observation optical path is the third one, and the magnification is set in the columns of the items 12j and 12k corresponding to the item 3 of the item 12i of the objective lens data input window 12h shown in FIG. First, the control circuit 9c reversely displays the corresponding column of the item 12j.

From this state, the magnification data of the objective lens 3 is input using the numeric keypad 11a of the data input section 11. Then, the input magnification data is displayed in the corresponding column of the item 12j which is highlighted by the control circuit 9c of the control device 9 via the image output circuit 9g. Then, when the input of the magnification data is completed and the Enter key 11b is inputted, the control circuit 9c determines that the input of the magnification data is completed, and then reversely displays the corresponding column of the item 12k. Here, the NA data is input in the same manner as the input of the magnification data. The input data of the magnification and NA of the objective lens 3 is stored in the storage circuit 9.
is written to e.

The above operation is performed for all the objective lenses 3 whose data is not stored in the storage circuit 9e of the objective lens 3 attached to the revolving hole of the revolver 2. Thereby, the magnification and NA data of all the objective lenses 3 corresponding to the revolving hole positions are stored in the storage circuit 9e as a data table as shown in FIG.

Next, an observation image of the sample 4 obtained by the CCD camera 8 is displayed as a moving image 12a on a moving image display window 12b on the monitor 12. In this case, the image data obtained by the CCD camera 8 is reduced by the image input circuit 9b and sent to the control circuit 9c.
The image output circuit 9 together with the display position data set in
g to the monitor 12 and the moving image display window 1
2b. The moving image 12a is a small, low-resolution image having a small data amount in order to maintain real-time performance. The observer performs positioning and focusing by the stage 5 while referring to the moving image 12a on the moving image display window 12b.

In the above description, the image is reduced by the image input circuit 9b. However, the number of pixels of the image data to be transferred by the CCD camera 8 is thinned out and the reduced image data is input to the image input circuit 9b. You may do so.

Thereafter, when it is determined that the positioning and focusing by the stage 5 are appropriate, a high-resolution still image 12c is acquired by the CCD camera 8 and displayed on the still image display window 12d of the monitor 12. In this case, monitor 1
2 image capture button 12g with mouse cursor 1
When the user selects and clicks on 3a, the control circuit 9c notifies the image input circuit 9b of the acquisition of the still image, and
A still image is acquired by the D camera 8. This still image acquisition is equivalent to taking a picture in a silver halide photograph, and the still image 12c is stored in the storage circuit 9e or used for image analysis, and therefore has a higher resolution than the moving image 12a. Is required.

Such a still image 12c enables selection of resolution. The selection of the resolution is performed on the control window 12e of the monitor 12. That is,
In the control window 12e, resolution selection radio buttons 12f capable of selecting a plurality of (three in the illustrated example) resolutions are displayed. The observer selects the required resolution (image size 2776 × 2080 in the illustrated example) from the resolution selection radio buttons 12f with the mouse cursor 13a.
Select and click. Then, the selected resolution is sent to the control circuit 9c. In this case, the resolution selection radio button 12f displays the selected item in black,
The control circuit 9c controls so that the other items are exclusively selected. The image resolution of the resolution selected by the observer is calculated by the arithmetic circuit 9d via the control circuit 9c, and is recorded in the storage circuit 9e.

In this case, the CCD camera 8 determines the image size by the number of CCD elements and the resolution by the CCD element interval.
Assuming that the resolution at 6 × 2080 is 10 μm, the resolution at half the image size 1388 × 1040 is 20 μm.
The resolution at 694 × 520 of m, 1/4 image size is 40 μm.

Next, the objective lens 3 having an optical resolution most suitable for the image resolution calculated from the resolution selected by the observer is selected. In this case, the optical resolution of the objective lens 3 is obtained by the following equation.

Resolution = λ / (2 × NA) × β (1) where λ: wavelength of light used in a bright field, β: magnification, N
A: The aperture of the objective lens and the optical resolution obtained by the equation (1) are compared with the image resolution described above. If the optical resolution is less than the image resolution, the optical resolution is inferior to that of the CCD camera 8. That is, an image is acquired at a resolution higher than necessary.

Therefore, the objective lens 3 having the optical resolution closest to the image resolution obtained from the resolution selected by the observer.
Select In this case, as described above, the magnification and NA data of the objective lens 3 attached to each revolving hole of the revolver 2 are stored in the storage circuit 9e in advance.
These data are read out, the optical resolution of each objective lens 3 is obtained by the equation (1), and the optimal objective lens 3 is determined.

Such an operation will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The variables used in the processing are stored in the storage circuit 9e, and are calculated by the calculation circuit 9d via the control circuit 9c.

In the figure, in step S1, data used for the subsequent processing is initialized. Here, 1 is substituted for a variable N indicating the revolving hole position of the revolver 2, and a very large value is substituted for a variable MinDiff for storing the difference between the optical resolution and the image resolution. Next, in step S2, it is determined whether or not the variable N is larger than the number of revolving holes. Where the variable N
Is larger than the number of revolving holes (N> the number of revolving holes), it is determined that the objective lenses 3 for all revolving holes have been referred to, and the process proceeds to step S8 to end the selection of the objective lenses 3. On the other hand, if the variable N is equal to or smaller than the number of revolving holes (N ≦ the number of revolving holes), the process proceeds to step S3. In step S3, the magnification and NA data of the objective lens 3 of the revolving hole number corresponding to the variable N are read from the data table (see FIG. 5) of the storage circuit 9e, the optical resolution is calculated from the equation (1), and the OptReso is calculated.
Substitute for Then, in step S4, OptReso
Is subtracted from the target image resolution, and the result is expressed as Tmp
Assign to Diff.

Incidentally, in order to make full use of the optical resolution, it is necessary that the image resolution is at least higher than the optical resolution. That is, it is necessary to select an objective lens 3 having an optical resolution higher than the image resolution required by the observer and having an optical resolution closest to the image resolution.

Therefore, in step S5, it is determined whether the value TmpDiff calculated in step S3 is a positive value and whether TmpDiff is smaller than MinDiff (TmpDiff <MinDiff). If these conditions are satisfied, in step S6,
While substituting TmpDiff for MinDiff,
The variable N corresponding to the number of the revolving hole is stored in MinRevo.

In step S7, 1 is added to the variable N and the count is incremented.
Repeat until the number of revolver holes is reached. When the loop is completed, the number of the revolving hole of the objective lens 3 having the optical resolution most suitable for the image resolution specified by the observer is substituted for the variable MinRevo.

After the objective lens 3 having the optimum optical resolution for the image resolution selected by the observer is determined in this way, the revolver 2 is driven by the drive circuit 9f based on this determination.
Is rotated to position the optimal objective lens 3 on the observation optical path. When the objective lens 3 is replaced by driving the revolver 2, the control circuit 9c refers to the data table shown in FIG. 5 and newly replaces the number of the revo hole position searched from the magnification of the objective lens 3 before replacement. The number of movements of the revolver 2 is determined and controlled based on the number of the revolving hole retrieved from the magnification of the objective lens 3. For example, if the magnification of the objective lens 3 is 4
When changing the magnification from 20 times to 20 times, since the number of the revolving hole of the 4 times objective lens 3 is No. 2 and the number of the revolving hole of the 20 times objective lens 3 is No. 5, the revolver 2 is moved three times. become.

Thereafter, as described above, the observer performs positioning and focusing with reference to the moving image 12a on the monitor 12, and then obtains a still image. Again,
As described above, the image capture button 1 on the monitor 12
2g is selected and clicked with the mouse cursor 13a, and the control circuit 9c notifies the image input circuit 9b of the acquisition of the still image, whereby the still image is acquired from the CCD camera 8. The image data from the CCD camera 8 is reduced by the image input circuit 9b if necessary by the designated resolution, and sent to the control circuit 9c. Here,
The image is reduced by the image input circuit 9b.
The reduction process may be performed by thinning out the number of pixels of the image data transferred from the CD camera 8.

The still image obtained by the control circuit 9c is stored in the storage circuit 9e and transferred to the image output circuit 9g together with the display position data, and is displayed in the still image display window 12d of the monitor 12. Will be displayed as

Therefore, in this way, the objective lens 3 having the optimum optical resolution for the image resolution can be selected from the objective lenses 3 attached to the revolver 2 simply by specifying the image resolution required by the observer. The revolver 2 is driven to rotate based on the determination, and the optimal objective lens 3 is inserted into the observation optical path, so that a still image is obtained. By simply performing the act of designating, the optimal state of the optical resolution of the microscope is automatically determined, so there is no longer the need to acquire images with a resolution exceeding the optical resolution as in the past, A still image with the resolution intended by the observer can be obtained.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified and implemented without changing the gist.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention, the optical resolution of the microscope can be automatically changed to match the image resolution required by the observer. It is not necessary to obtain a useless image with a high resolution, and it is possible to easily obtain a stopped image with a resolution required by the observer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control device used in one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a data input unit used in the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a monitor used in one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an objective lens data input window used in one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a mouse used in one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of one embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Microscope main body 1a ... Body 1b ... Objective arm 2 ... Revolver 3 ... Objective lens 4 ... Sample 5 ... Stage 6 ... Barrel 7 ... Eyepiece 8 ... CCD camera 9 ... Control device 9a ... Input circuit 9b ... Image input circuit 9c control circuit 9d arithmetic circuit 9e storage circuit 9f drive circuit 9g image output circuit 10 revolver hole position detector 11 data input unit 11a numeric keypad 11b Enter key 12 monitor 12a moving image 12b moving image Display window 12c Still image 12d Still image display window 12e Control window 12f Resolution selection radio button 12g Image capture button 12h Objective lens data input window 13 Mouse 13a Mouse cursor 13b Mouse button

Claims (3)

[The claims] 1. An image acquisition apparatus for use in a microscope having a plurality of objective lenses and a magnification unit for selectively switching these objective lenses to an observation optical path, wherein an observation image is acquired as an image via the magnification unit. In the apparatus, resolution specifying means for specifying the resolution of the acquired image; and for the resolution of the acquired image specified by the resolution specifying means, the optimal optical from among the optical resolutions respectively determined by the plurality of objective lenses. Object lens determining means for determining an objective lens having a resolution, and driving means for driving the variable power means so as to switch the objective lens determined by the objective lens determining means to the observation optical path. Image acquisition device. 2. The image acquisition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the objective lens determining unit includes an arithmetic unit that calculates an optical resolution determined by the objective lens. 3. The magnification changing means comprises a rotary revolver on which a plurality of objective lenses are mounted, is driven to rotate by the driving means, and switches the objective lens determined by the objective lens determination means to the observation optical path. The image acquisition device according to claim 1, wherein: