JP2003241109A - Micromanipulator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a micromanipulator which can surely prevent the damage of to be examined and an operating needle. <P>SOLUTION: The micromanipulator for finely operating the object to be examined 19 by using the operating needle 15 receives an instruction signal for instruction for the operation of the operating needle 15 from a controlling element 11, activates the operating needle 15 in accordance with the instruction signal, detects the contact state with the object to be examined 19 by a distortion detecting circuit 22 and controls the fine action and coarse action of the operating needle 15 according to the detection output. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a micromanipulator used as a peripheral device of an optical microscope and for finely manipulating a minute object such as a cell.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a small object under the microscope field of view,
For example, a micromanipulator is known as an apparatus for remotely and finely operating a biological sample such as a cell.

As such a micromanipulator, those disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 6-148529 and 6-342121 are known, and these features include micropets and needles. The cells are used for excision, separation, and suction, as well as stimulation, so that the cell mechanism can be analyzed.

By the way, in such a micromanipulator, a coarse movement for quickly moving the operating needle into and out of the microscope visual field and a precise movement necessary for fine operation of the subject are performed. A fine movement operation to be performed is required, and the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-281404 is known to satisfy such a requirement. That is, the one disclosed in this publication outputs a control signal corresponding to the coarse movement or the fine movement by the operation signal of the push button switch, and drives the ultrasonic actuator based on this control signal to operate the operation needle. Coarse or fine movements are selectively obtained.

[0005]

However, in the case where the coarse or fine movement of the operating needle is selectively obtained in this way, the operator operates the push button switch to move the coarse or fine movement. Since the speed is switched and changed, the operation becomes troublesome and an operation error is liable to occur, which causes a problem that the subject or the operation needle is damaged.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a micromanipulator capable of reliably preventing damage to a subject or an operating needle.

[0007]

The invention according to claim 1 is
In a micromanipulator for finely operating a subject using an operating needle, input means for inputting an instruction signal for instructing the operation of the operating needle, and operating needle driving means for operating the operating needle based on the instruction signal, It is characterized by further comprising: detection means for detecting a contact state with respect to the subject; and control means for controlling a fine movement or a rough movement of the operating needle by the operating needle driving means according to a detection output of the detecting means. There is.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the detecting means includes a force sensor for detecting a force acting on the operating needle, and a vibrating means for applying a predetermined vibration to the operating needle. Further comprising an AC component extracting unit for extracting an AC component of the detection output of the force sensor vibrated by the vibrating unit, wherein the control unit is the AC component extracted by the AC component extracting unit. It is characterized in that the contact state is determined and the rough movement or fine movement of the operating needle drive means is controlled based on the determination result.

The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In the invention described above, the operation needle drive means includes a coarse operation drive means for roughly operating the operation needle and a fine operation drive means for finely operating the operation needle, and the control means is configured to operate in accordance with a detection output of the detection means. It is characterized in that one of the coarse operation drive means and the fine operation drive means is selectively driven.

The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In the invention described above, the control means is characterized in that a gain value can be set for an instruction signal from the input means.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the control means extracts a DC component from the detection output of the force sensor, and the input means according to the force acting on the operating needle. It is characterized in that the gain value is changed in response to the instruction signal from.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, in the second aspect of the invention, the control means determines from the detection output of the force sensor when the operating needle is inserted into the subject,
In order to penetrate the outer skin of the subject, the moving speed of the operating needle is momentarily increased, and when the operating needle breaks through the outer skin, the moving speed of the operating needle is reduced to the speed before insertion.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, in the second aspect of the invention, the DC component is extracted from the detection output of the force sensor, and the elasticity information of the subject is obtained from the insertion force of the operating needle into the subject. It is characterized by seeking.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of a micromanipulator to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, 11 is an operating unit, and this operating unit 11
Is connected to the control circuit 13 via a variable gain amplifier 12. Here, the operation unit 11 is composed of a joystick, a trackball, a keyboard, and the like, and gives an instruction signal (V
xyz) and outputs to the variable gain amplifier 12. The variable gain amplifier 12 changes (switches) the gain of the instruction signal (Vxyz) output from the operation unit 11 according to an instruction from the contact determination circuit 23 described later.

An XYZ stage 14 is connected to the control circuit 13. The XYZ stage 14 includes the operation needle 15,
A holder 18 having a force sensor 16 and a piezoelectric element 17 is attached, and is composed of an actuator that moves the operating needle 15 in the XYZ directions by converting an instruction signal from the control circuit 13 into mechanical kinetic energy. That is, the XYZ stage 14 moves the operating needle 15 in a desired XYZ direction at a desired speed according to the output (gain × Vxyz) of the variable gain amplifier 12 that has passed through the control circuit 13. As the control method in this case, either open loop control or a position sensor for detecting the position of the operating needle 15 and feedback control based on the output of this sensor may be adopted.

The operating needle 15 is composed of a probe having a sharpened tip for applying a fine operation to a subject 19 (for example, a biological sample such as a cell) placed on the sample table 20. The operating needle 15 may be a needle made of a glass electrode, a micro-pepit, or the like. The force sensor 16 is composed of a strain-generating body and a strain gauge whose resistance value changes according to strain provided in the strain-generating body. The force sensor 16 supports the operating needle 15 and acts on the operating needle 15. I try to detect the force. In this case, the force sensor 16
Is preferably configured so that it can detect forces in the directions of two or three axes, not limited to one axis. Also, this force sensor 1
As 6, a force sensor with an operating needle disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-257612 may be used. The piezoelectric element 17 is connected to the excitation signal generator 21,
When a vibration signal (an AC signal whose frequency is the eigenvalue of the system including the operation needle 15, the force sensor 16 and the holder 18) is supplied from the vibration signal generator 21, the operation needle 15 and the force sensor 16 are supplied. The system including the holder 18 is excited (excited).

A strain detection circuit 22 is connected to the force sensor 16, and a contact determination circuit 23 is connected to the strain detection circuit 22.
Are connected. The strain detection circuit 22 uses the force sensor 16
The change in the resistance value due to the distortion is output as an electric signal. The contact determination circuit 23 monitors the output from the distortion detection circuit 22 and determines whether or not the output exceeds a predetermined level. For example, a high pass filter (HPF) 231 as shown in FIG. , An amplitude detection circuit 232, and a comparison circuit 233. The high-pass filter (HPF) 231 is for detecting an alternating current component, and is for detecting only the distortion caused by the vibration of the force sensor 16. The amplitude detection circuit 232 detects the amplitude of the AC component extracted by the high pass filter (HPF) 231. Then, the comparison circuit 233
The amplitude detection circuit 232 determines whether or not the amplitude exceeds a predetermined level. Normally (when the amplitude exceeds the predetermined level), a "U" signal is output,
When the amplitude is below a predetermined level, the "D" signal is output and the gain of the variable gain amplifier 12 is changed (switched) by the "U" signal or the "D" signal. Specifically, if the “U” signal is output from the contact determination circuit 23, the gain of the variable gain amplifier 12 is set to × 1, and if the “D” signal is output, the gain of the variable gain amplifier 12 is set. × 1/100 to × 1/1
000 (gain is fixed in this range). This gain value is an example and can be arbitrarily changed according to the application.

The comparison circuit 233 can set the comparison level, and it is desirable to determine the comparison level based on the characteristics of the subject 19 and the operating needle 15, and the electrical noise and mechanical noise of the entire apparatus. .

Next, the operation of the embodiment thus constructed will be described.

First, the state in which the operating needle 15 is not in contact with the subject 19 is the initial state. In this initial state, the vibration signal of the vibration signal generator 21 is supplied to the piezoelectric element 17, and the piezoelectric element 17 vibrates (excites) the system including the operating needle 15, the force sensor 16, and the holder 18. There is.

In this state, when the force sensor 16 detects the vibration strain, the strain detection circuit 22 outputs an AC signal (operation needle 1).
AC signal of the same frequency as the vibration frequency of 5) is output,
This AC signal is sent to the contact determination circuit 23. In the contact determination circuit 23, the high-pass filter (HPF) 231 detects the AC component of the AC signal from the distortion detection circuit 22, and detects only the distortion caused by the vibration of the force sensor 16 and the amplitude detection circuit 232 extracts the distortion. The amplitude of the generated AC component is detected, and further, by the comparison circuit 233,
It is determined whether the amplitude obtained by the amplitude detection circuit 232 exceeds a predetermined level.

Here, since the operating needle 15 is not in contact with the subject 19, it is judged that the amplitude obtained by the amplitude detecting circuit 232 exceeds the predetermined level, and the variable gain amplifier 12 is supplied with the "U" signal. Is output. Variable gain amplifier 1
At 2, upon receiving the "U" signal, the gain is set to x1.

In this state, when the operating portion 11 is operated to instruct the moving direction and the moving speed of the operating needle 15, the instruction signal Vxyz corresponding to this instruction is sent to the variable gain amplifier 12. Since the gain of the variable gain amplifier 12 is set to x1, the input instruction signal Vxyz is directly input to the control circuit 13. In the control circuit 13,
A control signal is generated based on the instruction signal Vxyz at this time and is supplied to the XYZ stage 14. This allows XY
The Z stage 14 follows the control signal of the control circuit 13
The operating needle 15 is roughly operated in a desired direction at a desired speed.

When the tip of the operating needle 15 comes into contact with the subject 19 from the state where the operating needle 15 is moving in the desired direction at the desired speed in this way, a contact force acts on the operating needle 15, Vibration distortion (vibration amplitude) generated in the force sensor 16 is reduced. As a result, the amplitude of the AC signal output from the distortion detection circuit 22 also decreases, and in the contact determination circuit 23, the amplitude of the AC component extracted by the amplitude detection circuit 232 is determined by the comparison circuit 233 so that the amplitude is below a predetermined level. Determine that

Then, the contact determination circuit 23 outputs a "D" signal to the variable gain amplifier 12, and the gain of the variable gain amplifier 12 is set to, for example, x1 / 100.

As a result, the instruction signal V from the operation unit 11
xyz becomes x1 / 100 and is input to the control circuit 13, and the control circuit 13 outputs an instruction signal (Vxyzx) at this time.
1/100) to generate a control signal and supply it to the XYZ stage 14.
According to the control signal of the control circuit 13, the operating needle 15 is finely moved at a low speed in a desired direction.

Although the case where the gain of the variable gain amplifier 12 is set to x1 / 100 from the "D" signal of the contact determination circuit 23 has been described above, x1 / 100 to x1 / 100.
If the range is set to 0, the tip of the operating needle 15 can be moved at a lower speed.

Therefore, in this way, the vibration signal generator 21 gives a vibration signal to the operating needle 15, and the strain of the force sensor 16 is detected by the strain detection circuit 22 as an electric signal. The contact determination circuit 23 extracts an AC component from the above, determines whether or not the operating needle 15 and the subject 19 are in contact from the change in the amplitude of the AC component, and adjusts the gain of the variable gain amplifier 12 from the determination result. Since the coarse and fine movements of the operating needle 15 are instructed to the XYZ stage 14, the tip of the operating needle 15 is moved in a desired direction in the initial state where the operating needle 15 is not in contact with the subject 19. Coarse motion at the desired speed, operating needle 1
When the tip of 5 comes into contact with the subject 19, the operating needle 1 is automatically
The moving speed of No. 5 can be decelerated to shift to a fine operation, and there is no operation error as compared with the conventional method in which the operator operates the push button switch or the like to switch and change the moving speed of coarse or fine movement. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the subject or the operating needle from being damaged by an operation error.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 3 shows a schematic structure of a second embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In this case, a switch circuit 31 is provided instead of the variable gain amplifier 12. The switch circuit 31 is configured to select the contact “a” by the “U” signal from the contact determination circuit 23 and select the contact “b” by the “D” signal. The contact "a" is connected to the XYZ stage 14 via the control circuit 13, and the contact "b" is newly connected to the fine movement XYZ stage 33 via the fine movement control circuit 32. In this case, XYZ stage 1
The instruction signal Vxyz from the operation unit 11 is directly input to the controller 4 via the control circuit 13, and the operating needle 15 is roughly moved in the XYZ directions. Further, the fine movement XYZ stage 33 is controlled by the fine movement control circuit 32 so as to have a magnification of x1 / 100 to x1 / 1000.
The instruction signal Vxyz whose gain has been adjusted within the range is input, and the operation needle 15 is finely moved at a low speed in a desired direction.

With such a configuration, in the initial state in which the operating needle 15 is not in contact with the subject 19, the contact "a" of the switch circuit 31 is selected by the "U" signal from the contact determination circuit 23, The XYZ stage 14 has the operating needle 15
Is roughly operated in a desired direction at a desired speed. Further, the tip of the operating needle 15 comes into contact with the subject 19, and the contact determination circuit 2
When the "D" signal is output from 3, the contact "b" of the switch circuit 31 is selected this time, so the fine movement control circuit 3
2 control signal (Vxyz × 1/100 to × 1/10
00), the fine movement XYZ stage 33 finely moves the operating needle 15 in a desired direction.

Therefore, even in this case, in the initial state in which the operating needle 15 is not in contact with the subject 19, the operating needle 15 is roughly moved in the desired direction at the desired speed by the XYZ stage 14, and the operating needle is moved. When the tip of 15 touches the subject 19, the fine movement XYZ stage 33 is automatically switched, and the movement speed of the operating needle 15 can be reduced to move at a low speed by a fine movement. Therefore, the same effect as described above is expected. In addition, it is possible to reliably switch between coarse and fine movements of the operating needle.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration of a third embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In this case, the output terminal of the distortion detecting circuit 22 is connected to the low-pass filter (L
PF) 41 is connected. The low-pass filter (LPF) 41 extracts the DC component of the signal output from the distortion detection circuit 22 and detects a static distortion component generated when the operating needle 15 contacts the subject 19. . The static strain component (DC component) in this case indicates a contact force generated when the operation needle 15 is in contact with the subject 19, and by detecting this contact force, the amount of force that is exerted during the operation. Can be obtained. It is also possible to detect the contact of the operating needle 15 with the subject 19 from the displacement point of the output signal of the low-pass filter (LPF) 41, and the movement speed of the operating needle 15 is reduced by the detection signal of this displacement point to perform a fine movement. It is also possible to switch. It is also possible to measure the amount of force applied to the operating needle 15 from the output signal of the low-pass filter (LPF) 41 and stop the movement of the operating needle 15 when the force exceeds a predetermined value.

Therefore, in this way, it is possible to prevent the operation needle 15 and the subject 19 from being subjected to excessive force.
It is possible to prevent the operating needle 15 and the subject 19 from being damaged, and the contact force exerted during the contact makes the subject 19
It is also possible to obtain elasticity information (eg, cell softness).

(Fourth Embodiment) FIG. 5 shows a schematic structure of a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In this case, the variable gain amplifier 51 is further inserted between the variable gain amplifier 12 and the control circuit 13, and the output terminal of the distortion detection circuit 22 together with the contact determination circuit 23 is a low pass filter (LPF). 52 is connected, and the output of the low pass filter (LPF) 52 is connected to the variable gain amplifier 51.

The low pass filter (LPF) 52 has a third
Low-pass filter (LPF) 41 described in the embodiment
This is the same as the above, and detects a static strain component generated when the operating needle 15 comes into contact with the subject 19. The variable gain amplifier 51 is a low-pass filter (LP
F) based on the output of 52, for example, x1 to x1 / 10
0 (This gain setting value is not limited to those listed here,
It is desirable to change according to the application. ) Gives the gain in the range. That is, the variable gain amplifier 51 here is different from the variable gain amplifier 12 described above.
× 1 based on the output of low-pass filter (LPF) 52
The gain can be changed almost continuously in the range of up to × 1/100, and the low pass filter (LPF) 52
The gain of the variable gain amplifier 12 becomes smaller as the output of the above becomes larger.

The relationship between the output of the low-pass filter (LPF) 52 and the gain of the variable gain amplifier 51 may be basically linear as shown in FIG.
5, depending on the type of the subject 19 or the operation content,
It is necessary to establish the relationship as shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. For example, when the operating needle 15 and the subject 19 are relatively scratch-resistant and are made of metal or glass, as shown in FIG. 7, the variable gain amplifier 51 starts when the output of the low-pass filter (LPF) 52 becomes large to some extent. If the subject 19 is a biological sample such as a cell that is easily damaged, as shown in FIG. 8, the output of the low-pass filter (LPF) 52 is small enough from the point where the variable gain amplifier 51 is sufficiently small. The gain of should be reduced.

Therefore, in this way, the contact force is detected by the low-pass filter (LPF) 52, and the gain of the instruction signal (Vxyz) is changed by the variable gain amplifier 51 based on the magnitude of this contact force. Therefore, it is possible to automatically prevent the operation needle 15 and the subject 19 from being subjected to an unreasonable force.
Can prevent damage.

(Fifth Embodiment) FIG. 9 shows a schematic configuration of a fifth embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those in FIG. 5 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In this case, as in the second embodiment, the contact determination circuit 2 is used instead of the variable gain amplifier 12.
A switch circuit 61 for selecting the contact "a" by the "U" signal of No. 3 and the contact "b" by the "D" signal is provided. XY is connected to the contact “a” via the control circuit 13.
The Z stage 14 is connected, a variable gain amplifier 51 is connected to the contact “b”, and a fine movement XYZ stage 63 is connected to the variable gain amplifier 51 via a fine movement control circuit 62.

In this way, the operating needle 15 is attached to the subject 1
In the initial state in which the operation unit 11 is not in contact with the instruction signal Vxyz, the instruction signal Vxyz from the operation unit 11 is directly output to the XYZ stage 14 through the control circuit 13 from the contact “a” of the switch circuit 61, and the operation needle 15 is moved in the XYZ directions. To operate. When the operation needle 15 is brought into contact with the subject 19, the operation unit 1
The instruction signal Vxyz from 1 is sent from the contact “b” of the switch circuit 61 to the variable gain amplifier 51, where x1 to x1 based on the output of the low-pass filter (LPF) 52.
The gain is continuously changed within a range of × 1/100, is output to the fine movement XYZ stage 33 through the fine movement control circuit 32, and the operating needle 15 is finely operated at a low speed based on the gain of the variable gain amplifier 51. .

Even in this case, the same effect as that of the fourth embodiment can be expected.

(Sixth Embodiment) FIG. 10 shows a schematic structure of a sixth embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those in FIG. 5 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In this case, the low pass filter (LPF) 5
An insertion determination circuit 71 is inserted between the variable gain amplifier 51 and the variable gain amplifier 51.

The insertion determination circuit 71 detects that the operating needle 15 is inside the subject 19 based on the output from the low-pass filter (LPF) 52 that detects a static distortion component generated when the operating needle 15 contacts the subject 19. Judge whether it has been inserted,
When the insertion into the subject 19 is determined, the variable gain amplifier 5
The gain of 1 is forcibly changed (lowered).

That is, when the subject 19 is a biological sample, the operating needle 15 needs a certain speed or more for a moment to penetrate the cell membrane (because the cell membrane is soft and has elastic force, it is to some extent). Speed is required.)
Therefore, it is desirable to reduce the speed to the speed before insertion after penetration.

In this case, the output of the low-pass filter (LPF) 52 when the operating needle 15 is inserted into the cell membrane (the operating needle 1
As shown in FIG. 11, the change in the reaction force (5) from the contact start point a of the operating needle 15 to the subject 19 to the penetration start point b of penetrating the cell membrane is low pass filter (LPF) 5
As the output of 2 increases, the reaction force of a certain level or more acts on the operating needle 15, and as soon as it penetrates the cell membrane, the output of the low-pass filter (LPF) 52 rapidly decreases toward the penetration end point c, and the reaction is instantaneously reflected. The power decreases.

The insertion determining circuit 71 monitors such a change in the reaction force, and when the reaction force exceeds a certain level, the standby mode is entered, and the reaction force once exceeding a certain level is If it falls below the level, operating needle 1
5 is determined to have been inserted into the subject 19, and the gain of the variable gain amplifier 51 is forcibly reduced.

In this way, the insertion determination circuit 71 detects that the object 19 such as a cell membrane is inserted, and the gain of the variable gain amplifier 51 can be forcibly changed. FIG. 12 shows a schematic configuration of the seventh embodiment of the present invention, in which damage to the subject can be prevented more accurately and reliably (seventh embodiment). The code is attached.

Also in this case, the low-pass filter (LPF)
Insertion determination circuit 71 between 52 and variable gain amplifier 51
Has been inserted.

Even in this case, the same effect as that of the sixth embodiment can be expected.

[0055]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the moving speed of the operating needle can be automatically adjusted according to the situation, it is possible to provide a micromanipulator capable of reliably preventing damage to the subject or the operating needle.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a contact determination circuit used in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between the output of a low-pass filter (LPF) and the gain of a variable gain amplifier for explaining the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the output of a low-pass filter (LPF) and the gain of a variable gain amplifier for explaining the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the output of a low-pass filter (LPF) and the gain of a variable gain amplifier for explaining the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a change in output of a low-pass filter (LPF) when inserting an operating needle into a cell membrane for explaining the sixth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Operation unit 12 ... Variable gain amplifier 13 ... Control circuit 14 ... XYZ stage 15 ... Operating needle 16 ... Force sensor 17 ... Piezoelectric element 18 ... Holder 19 ... Subject 20 ... Sample stand 21 ... Excitation signal generator 22 ... Distortion detection circuit 23 ... Contact determination circuit 231 ... High-pass filter (HPF) 232 ... Amplitude detection circuit 233 ... Comparison circuit 31 ... Switch circuit 32 ... Fine movement control circuit 33 ... Fine movement XYZ stage 51 ... Variable gain amplifier 61 ... Switch circuit 62 ... Fine control circuit 63 ... Fine movement XYZ stage 71 ... Insertion determination circuit

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A micromanipulator for finely manipulating a subject by using an operating needle, an input means for inputting an instruction signal for instructing an operation of the operating needle, and an operation for operating the operating needle based on the instruction signal. A needle driving unit, a detecting unit that detects a contact state with respect to the subject, and a control unit that controls a fine movement or a rough movement of the operating needle by the operating needle driving unit according to a detection output of the detecting unit. A micromanipulator characterized by the above. 2. The detecting means comprises a force sensor for detecting a force acting on the operating needle and a vibrating means for applying a predetermined vibration to the operating needle, and the force vibrated by the vibrating means. The control means further comprises an AC component extracting means for extracting an AC component of the detection output of the sensor, the control means determines the contact state from the AC component extracted by the AC component extracting means, and performs the operation based on the determination result. The micromanipulator according to claim 1, which controls a coarse operation or a fine operation of the needle driving means. 3. The operation needle drive means includes a coarse operation drive means for coarsely operating the operation needle and a fine operation drive means for finely operating the operation needle, and the control means is responsive to the detection output of the detection means. 3. The micromanipulator according to claim 1, wherein one of the coarse operation drive means and the fine operation drive means is selectively driven. 4. The micromanipulator according to claim 1, wherein the control means can set a gain value with respect to an instruction signal from the input means. 5. The control means extracts a DC component from the detection output of the force sensor, and changes the gain value with respect to the instruction signal from the input means according to the force acting on the operating needle. The micromanipulator according to claim 2, which is characterized in that. 6. The control means determines from the detection output of the force sensor when the operating needle is inserted into the inside of the subject, and the movement speed of the operating needle is momentarily changed to penetrate the outer skin of the subject. 3. The micromanipulator according to claim 2, wherein when the operating needle breaks through the outer skin, the moving speed of the operating needle is reduced to the speed before insertion. 7. The micromanipulator according to claim 2, wherein the DC component is extracted from the detection output of the force sensor, and the elasticity information of the subject is obtained from the insertion force of the operating needle into the subject.