JP2010169892A - Microscope system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a microscope system that improves operability for observation alignment. <P>SOLUTION: The microscope system includes: a stage 102 on which a sample 103 is placed and is movable within a plane; a driving means for driving the stage 102; a control means 112 for controlling the drive of the driving means; an objective lens 106 disposed oppositely to the sample 103 and configured to selectively vary magnification; and an observing means 113 capable of observing the optical image of the sample 103 via the objective lens 106. The control means 112 controls the drive of the driving means, while having the movable range of the stage 102 as a range including at least part of a field of view currently observed by the observing means 113 or a range adjacent to the boundary of the field of view currently observed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a microscope system including an electric stage on which a sample is placed.

  Conventionally, microscopes have been widely used for biological research and industrial inspection processes. Usually, when a microscope is used, the XY stage on which the sample is placed is moved in the XY direction by manually operating the stage handle, and the observation position alignment operation for the sample is performed. On the other hand, some XY stages of a microscope can be operated electrically, and are generally operated by an operation input means such as a joystick or a GUI.

  By the way, a high-magnification objective lens used in a microscope optically expands a narrow range of a sample. In order to quickly align the observation position with a high-magnification objective lens attached, the XY stage must be moved minutely, requiring considerable skill. In this case, if the operability of the stage is poor, the time required for the observation position alignment becomes long, which has an adverse effect that the efficiency of inspection and production decreases. In particular, in routine work such as an inspection process, it is very important to perform observation position alignment quickly to shorten the inspection time. Various microscopes equipped with an electric stage that can easily perform an alignment operation for observation have been proposed.

  For example, the microscope disclosed in Patent Document 1 changes the operation mode of the joystick depending on the magnification of the objective lens. When screening the entire sample with a low-magnification objective lens, the XY stage is driven into a rectangular wave pattern so that there is no screening error, and when the user finds a detailed observation point and switches the objective lens to a high magnification, XY The stage is switched to a low-speed operation mode in accordance with a user operation instruction. Thus, when the user switches the observation magnification, the moving operation in the XY directions suitable for screening can be efficiently performed. Furthermore, by switching the objective lens at a high magnification and simultaneously limiting the movement range of the XY stage, it is possible to move the XY stage suitable for the observation situation.

  The microscope disclosed in Patent Document 2 sets the movable range of the XY stage in the inspection range corresponding to the size of the inspection object, and stops driving the XY stage when an operation instruction exceeding the movable range is given. It is supposed to be.

  The microscopes disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 as described above have been improved so as to eliminate the trouble and troublesomeness related to the driving operation of the XY stage when performing observation position alignment.

JP 2005-221790 A JP 2000-75215 A

  By the way, in the conventional microscopes of Patent Documents 1 and 2, the movement range of the XY stage is usually set while observing at a magnification lower than the magnification currently observed. Therefore, to set the movement range of the XY stage when observing at a high magnification, the user has to switch to an objective lens having a magnification lower than the current observation magnification and then set the movement range of the stage. Needed. In addition, when observing at a high magnification, if the joystick is operated incorrectly, the stage may move to a position far from the desired observation position within the limited movable range. The operability was not always good.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a microscope system that can improve operability at the time of observation position alignment.

  In order to achieve the above object, a microscope system according to the present invention includes a stage on which a sample is placed and movable in a plane, a driving unit that drives the stage, and a control that controls driving of the driving unit. A microscope system comprising: means; an objective lens disposed opposite to the sample and configured to selectively change magnification; and an observation means capable of observing an optical image of the sample via the objective lens. The control means sets the movable range of the stage as a range including at least a part of the visual field currently observed by the observation means or a range adjacent to the boundary of the visual field currently observed. The drive is controlled.

  The microscope system according to the present invention may further include an operation input unit that instructs to input the movement of the stage by an operator's operation and a magnification recognizing unit that recognizes the magnification of the objective lens. The control means sets the movable range of the stage according to the magnification information of the objective lens acquired by the magnification recognition unit.

  The microscope system according to the present invention further includes a switching unit for switching a driving mode of the driving unit in the above-described invention, and the control unit includes the magnification information of the objective lens acquired by the magnification recognition unit and The movable range of the stage is set according to the drive mode.

  According to the present invention, a stage on which a sample is placed and movable in a plane, a driving means for driving the stage, a control means for controlling the driving of the driving means, and the sample are arranged facing the sample. A microscope system comprising: an objective lens configured to selectively change magnification; and an observation unit capable of observing an optical image of the sample via the objective lens, wherein the control unit includes: Since the movable range is set as a range including at least a part of the field of view currently observed by the observation unit or a range adjacent to the boundary of the field of view currently observed, the drive of the driving unit is controlled, so that the user moves the stage. When aligning the observation position, the range of movement of the stage is limited to the range including the field of view currently being observed or the range adjacent to the field of view. It is possible to improve the operability.

  Exemplary embodiments (Embodiments 1 to 3) of a microscope system according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1-1 is a block diagram of a microscope system according to the present invention. FIG. 1-2 is a schematic perspective view of a microscope system according to the present invention.

  As shown in FIGS. 1-1 and 1-2, a microscope system according to the present invention includes a light source unit 104 that irradiates light to a sample 103 placed on a stage 102 of an electric XY stage unit 101, and an observation unit 105. An electric revolver unit 108 for switching between the 10 × objective lens 106 and the 20 × objective lens 107, an objective lens magnification recognizing unit 109, a CCD camera 110 whose image pickup device size is 1/3 inch, and a joystick 111. And an XY stage control unit 112 as a control unit configured integrally with the monitor, and a monitor 113 as an observation unit for displaying an optically magnified image of the sample 103 obtained by the CCD camera 110.

  The observation unit 105 incorporates an observation optical system and an illumination optical system (not shown), and a light source unit 104, a revolver unit 108, and a CCD camera 110 are attached thereto. The light source unit 104 has a light source (not shown) such as a halogen lamp, a xenon lamp, or an LED. The microscope system of the present invention further includes a focusing mechanism (not shown) that adjusts the relative distance by moving at least one of the stage 102 and the observation unit 105 in the optical axis direction of the objective lens.

<Configuration of electric XY stage unit>
FIG. 2-1 is a schematic bottom view of the electric XY stage unit, and FIG. 2-2 is a schematic side view of the electric XY stage unit.

  As shown in FIGS. 2-1 and 2-2, the electric XY stage unit 101 holds the stage 102 and moves it in the X-axis direction, and holds the stage 102 and moves it in the Y-axis direction. Frame 211 for driving, an X-axis stepping motor 202 as a drive means for driving the stage and the frame in the X-axis direction, a Y-axis stepping motor 203 for driving in the Y-axis direction, An X-axis shaft 204 and a Y-axis shaft 205 are configured as a stage drive mechanism that moves the stage 102 with the drive.

  Here, the stage 102 is set by a gear mechanism (not shown) of the X-axis shaft 204 and the Y-axis shaft 205 so as to move 1 μm by driving one pulse of the stepping motor. The stepping motors 202 and 203 are connected to the XY stage control unit 112 and driven by the excitation pattern current output from the XY stage control unit 112.

  The stage 102 moves to the right when the stepping motor 202 is driven to CW, and moves to the left when it is driven to CCW. Further, when the stepping motor 203 is driven to CW, it moves upward, and when it is driven to CCW, it moves downward.

  The stage 102 includes an X-axis origin sensor 207 such as a photo interrupter and a Y-axis origin sensor 208 as detection means for detecting the movement position of the stage 102 in the XY direction. An X-axis origin sensor light-shielding unit 209 and a Y-axis origin sensor light-shielding unit 210 that shield the detection light from the X-axis origin sensor 207 and the Y-axis origin sensor 208 are fixed to the lower surface of the stage 102, respectively. The state (ON / OFF) of the sensors 207 and 208 is switched. The fixed positions of the X-axis origin sensor light-shielding part 209 and the Y-axis origin sensor light-shielding part 210 are such that the state (ON / OFF) of the sensors 207 and 208 is switched when the stage 102 is located at the center in the XY direction, which is the reference position. It is in position. The XY stage control unit 112 reads the origin sensors 207 and 208 and acquires the state of the sensor, thereby determining which direction the current position of the stage is from the reference position.

<Configuration of XY stage controller>
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the XY stage control unit.
As shown in FIG. 3, the XY stage control unit 112 includes a joystick 111, A / D converters 301 and 302 for A / D converting an analog signal from the joystick 111 in 8 bits, an A / D converter 301, The CPU 303 analyzes the digital signal obtained from 302 and sends a pulse amount and a driving direction for driving the stage 102, a RAM 304 that temporarily stores data used for control, and a ROM 305 that stores a program used for control. With. The CPU 303 acquires the current observation magnification from the objective lens magnification recognition unit 109 in the observation unit 105.

  Further, the XY stage control unit 112 stores the current position of the stage 102, and after receiving the pulse amount and the driving direction from the CPU 303, sends the pulse and the rotation direction to the X-axis driver 306 and the Y-axis driver 307, It further includes an X-axis I / O 308 and a Y-axis I / O 309 for transmitting completion of driving of the X-axis stepping motor 202 and the Y-axis stepping motor 203 to the CPU 303.

  With the above configuration, the XY stage control unit 112 drives the X-axis stepping motor 202 and the Y-axis stepping motor 203 in accordance with the user's operation of the joystick 111 to move the stage 102 in the XY direction. As described above, since the stepping motor is used as the actuator for moving the stage, the XY stage control unit 112 can perform stage control in an open loop.

<Composition of joystick>
As shown in FIG. 3, the joystick 111 includes an X-axis variable resistor Rx310 and a Y-axis variable resistor Ry311. The variable resistor Rx310 and the variable resistor Ry311 change their resistance values according to the tilt angle in the XY direction of one lever standing vertically, and an analog signal between Vj and GND is centered on Vj / 2. Output is possible on the X and Y axes.

  The joystick 111 is an automatic return type, and has a mechanism in which the lever always returns to a vertical position when the user releases his / her hand from the joystick 111. Since the joystick 111 can change the resistance values of both the variable resistor Rx310 and the variable resistor Ry311 by tilting the lever in an oblique direction, it can simultaneously output X-axis and Y-axis analog signals.

  4A, 4B, and 4C are diagrams for explaining the operation of the CPU when the analog signal obtained from the variable resistor Rx is A / D converted. The resolution of the A / D converters 301 and 302 is 8 bits, and analog signals output from the variable resistor Rx310 and the variable resistor Ry311 are A / D converted in 256 gradations.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the variable resistor Rx310 when the joystick 111 is standing vertically outputs Vj / 2 on the left vertical axis as an analog signal, so the digital signal after A / D conversion is the right The vertical axis is 128. In the first embodiment, the dead zone E is within ± 16 gradations (112 to 144) with reference to the median value 128 of the digital signal, and the CPU 303 does not drive the stage 102 in the range of the dead zone E. Is set.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, when the user tilts the joystick 111 to the right and exceeds the upper limit range (144) of the dead zone E of the digital signal, the CPU 303 detects that the joystick 111 is tilted to the right, Is determined to be CW. While detecting that the joystick 111 has been tilted, the CPU 303 continues to output a drive instruction to the X-axis I / O 308. When the lever of the joystick 111 returns to the vertical position and the digital signal returns to the dead zone E, Stop outputting drive instructions.

  Similarly, as shown in FIG. 4C, when the user tilts the joystick 111 to the left and falls below the lower limit range (112) of the dead zone E of the digital signal, the CPU 303 detects that the joystick 111 is tilted to the left. The drive direction of the X axis is determined to be CCW. Note that the same determination is made for the Y-axis variable resistor Ry as in the case of the X-axis variable resistor Rx.

<Real field of view calculation method>
The XY stage control unit 112 determines the number of pulses and a moving range for driving the stage 102 based on a real field of view (Field of View; hereinafter referred to as “FOV”) calculated from the magnification of the objective lens.

The real field of view FOV at the time of TV observation is calculated by the following formula.
FOV = imaging device size / (m (ob) × m (TV)) (1) where m (ob): magnification of the objective lens
m (TV): Projection magnification of TV adapter
Imaging device size of 1/3 inch CCD: X = 4.8 mm, Y = 3.6 mm

For example, assuming that the size of the imaging device is 1/3 inch CCD and the projection magnification of the TV adapter is 1, the actual field of the 20 × objective lens is X-axis actual field FOV _X = 240 μm according to the above equation (1). , Y axis real field of view FOV _Y = 180 μm.

<Setting stage movement range>
The XY stage control unit 112 performs control to move the stage 102 in a state where the center of the current observation visual field exists within the observation visual field in order to limit the range in which the stage 102 can move from the current position. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, when the field of view P0 before moving the stage with the center of the current observation field of view as C is moved to a range P1 that can be moved to the upper right (a range in which the stage can be moved to the lower left). The center of the visual field after movement is A. On the other hand, the center of the visual field after the movement when the visual field P0 is moved to a range P2 that can be moved to the lower left (a range in which the stage can be moved to the upper right) is B.

In order to maintain a state where the center of the current observation visual field exists on the monitor 113, it is necessary to limit the movement range of the visual field to less than 1/2 of the FOV. In this case, the moving range of the visual field when the magnification of the objective lens is 20 times is FOV _X / 2 = 120 μm and FOV _Y / 2 = 90 μm. Therefore, the range in which the field of view can be moved from the current position in the state where the center of the field of view exists is such that the X axis is −120 μm <X <120 μm, the Y axis is −90 μm <Y <90 μm, and the stage 102 is currently The X-axis range that can be driven from the position is 120 pulses in the CW direction, 120 pulses in the CCW direction, the Y-axis range is 90 pulses in the CW direction, and 90 pulses in the CCW direction.

  FIGS. 6A and 6B show visual fields before and after the stage is moved when the stage 102 is driven under such conditions. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, it can be seen that the visual field P1 after the stage movement indicated by the dotted line includes the center C of the visual field P0 before the stage movement. In FIG. 6A, the stage movement amount X is a CCW120 pulse, and the visual field movement amount LX is 120 μm. In FIG. 6B, the stage movement amount Y is CCW 90 pulses, and the visual field movement amount LY is 90 μm.

  Further, the CPU 303 detects the driving direction from the joystick 111, and the pulse amount N sent to the X-axis I / O 308 and the Y-axis I / O 307 at a time is set to a value smaller than the value of FOV / 2. In the first embodiment, the pulse amount N sent at a time is set to 10 pulses.

The operation and action of the first embodiment configured as described above will be described.
The light introduced from the light source unit 104 to the observation unit 105 is condensed on the sample 102 by the objective lens through an illumination optical system (not shown). The reflected light from the sample 102 is imaged again on the light receiving element of the CCD camera 110 via the objective lens and the observation unit 105, and the user can observe the optical image of the sample 103 displayed on the monitor 113. it can.

<Stage initialization>
When the power of the microscope system is turned on, the initialization operation of the electric XY stage unit 101 is first performed. FIG. 7 is a side view showing the position of the stage 102 before and after the electric XY stage unit 101 is initialized. In the figure, the stage 102 and the X-axis origin sensor light-shielding unit 209 before initialization are indicated by solid lines, and after initialization are indicated by dotted lines.

  First, the CPU 303 acquires the state of the X-axis origin sensor 207. Next, if the X-axis origin sensor 207 is not shielded from light, the CPU 303 determines that the stage 102 is located on the right side of the initialization position, drives the stepping motor 202 in the CCW direction, drives the stage 102 in the left direction, The X-axis origin sensor light shielding unit 209 is detected by the X-axis origin sensor 207. Initialization is completed simultaneously with this detection. If the X-axis origin sensor 207 is shielded from light when the microscope system is turned on, the CPU 303 determines that the stage 102 is on the left side of the initialization position, drives the X-axis stepping motor 202 in the CW direction, The initialization operation is performed by driving the stage 102 to the right. Also in the Y-axis direction, the initialization operation is performed in the same manner as the X-axis. The revolver unit 108 is initialized simultaneously with the initialization operation of the electric XY stage, and the 10 × objective lens 106 is selected as the objective lens.

  When the user views the image on the monitor 113 and decides to move the field of view, the user can control the movement of the stage 102 by operating the joystick 111 and move the field of view to an appropriate position for observation.

When the user operates the joystick 111, the CPU 303 executes a process of driving the stage 102 using the X-axis drive direction (CW / CCW) and the Y-axis drive direction (CW / CCW) as arguments as follows.
Argument “X drive direction (CW / CCW)” “Y drive direction (CW / CCW)”

  The operation of the CPU 303 when the joystick 111 is operated will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. This operation controls the stage in a state where the center of the current observation field is present in the observation field. FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart showing a stage control sequence according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 9 is a detailed flowchart showing a stage control sequence according to the first embodiment.

  At the same time when the user finds the detailed observation section and switches the objective lens from 10 times to 20 times, the CPU 303 initializes the stage movement amount X and the stage movement amount Y to zero. Then, as shown in the schematic flowchart of FIG. 8, stage drive instruction processing is performed (step S1), and it is determined whether or not the current position is a limit position (step S2), and then the XY stage is driven (step S3). Thereafter, the processing is performed in the procedure of switching the drive shaft to be processed (step S4).

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, the CPU 303 sets the drive axis A to the X axis (step S101). Next, the CPU 303 obtains the drive direction D (CW / CCW) of the drive axis A (step S102). If the drive direction D is CW (step S103 is Y), the CPU sets N to 10 (step S104). ), If the drive direction D is not CW (N in step S103), −10 is set to N (step S105).

  Next, if the drive axis A is the X axis (Y in step S106), the value of N set in step S104 or step S105 is added to the stage movement amount X to update the value of the stage movement amount X (step S107). ). If the stage movement amount X is within the range of −120 <X <120 (Y in step S108), the CPU 303 selects the X-axis motor driver, sets the driving direction D, and applies 10 pulses to the X-axis I / O 308. (Step S109). Thereafter, the process waits until an X-axis drive completion signal is received from the X-axis I / O 308. If received, the process proceeds to step S111. In step S108, if the stage movement amount X is not −120 <X <120 (N in step S108), the CPU 303 does not perform the driving processes in steps S109 and S110.

  If there is no stage drive request (N in step S111), the CPU 303 ends this sequence process. If there is a stage drive request (Y in step S111), the CPU 303 proceeds to step S112. If the drive axis A is the X axis (step S112 is Y), the drive axis A is set to the Y axis (step S113), the control axis is switched from the X axis to the Y axis, and the process returns to step S102 to return to the Y axis. The driving process is started.

  In step S106, if the drive axis A is the Y axis (step S106 is N), the CPU adds the value of N set in step S104 or step S105 to the stage movement amount Y, and updates the value of the stage movement amount Y. (Step S115). If the stage movement amount Y is within the range of −90 <Y <90 (Y in step S116), the CPU 303 selects the Y-axis motor driver, sets the driving direction D, and sets 10 pulses to the Y-axis I / O 309. Output (step S117). After that, it waits until it receives the Y-axis drive completion signal from the Y-axis I / O 309, and if it is received (step S118 is Y), it proceeds to step S111. In step S116, if the stage movement amount X is not in the range of −90 <Y <90 (N in step S116), the CPU does not perform the driving process in steps S117 and S118.

  The CPU 303 does not process the drive axes X and Y at the same time, but it can drive the X axis and the Y axis almost simultaneously by repeating the sequence at a high speed.

  According to the first embodiment, by moving the stage 102 in a state where the center position of the current observation visual field exists on the monitor 113, the user mistakenly operates the joystick 111 and the visual field deviates greatly from the desired observation position. It can be prevented from moving to a different position. For this reason, the operativity at the time of observation position alignment can be improved.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 10 is a block diagram of the XY stage control unit of the microscope system according to the second embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 10, the microscope system according to the second embodiment is obtained by adding a switch as switching means for switching the drive mode of the stage in the configuration of the joystick of the microscope system of the first embodiment. . When the switch is turned off and operated, the operation mode is the same as the operation in the first embodiment, while when the switch is turned on and operated, the drive mode moves to the field of view adjacent to the current field of view. Is intended.

<Configuration of XY stage controller>
As shown in FIG. 10, the XY stage control unit 112 includes a joystick 111, A / D converters 301 and 302 for A / D converting an analog signal from the joystick 111 in 8 bits, an A / D converter 301, The CPU 303 analyzes the digital signal obtained from 302 and sends a pulse amount and a driving direction for driving the stage 102, a RAM 304 that temporarily stores data used for control, and a ROM 305 that stores a program used for control. With. The CPU 303 acquires the current observation magnification from the objective lens magnification recognition unit 109 in the observation unit 105.

  Further, the XY stage control unit 112 stores the current position of the stage 102, and after receiving the pulse amount and the driving direction from the CPU 303, sends the pulse and the rotation direction to the X-axis driver 306 and the Y-axis driver 307, It further includes an X-axis I / O 308 and a Y-axis I / O 309 for transmitting completion of driving of the X-axis stepping motor 202 and the Y-axis stepping motor 203 to the CPU 303.

  With the above configuration, the XY stage control unit 112 drives the X-axis stepping motor 202 and the Y-axis stepping motor 203 in accordance with the user's operation of the joystick 111 to move the stage 102 in the XY direction. As described above, since the stepping motor is used as the actuator for moving the stage, the XY stage control unit 112 can perform stage control in an open loop.

<Composition of joystick>
The joystick 111 includes a variable resistor Rx310 for X axis, a variable resistor Ry311 for Y axis, and a switch 312 as switching means for switching the stage drive mode. The switch 312 is connected to the CPU 303, and the CPU 303 acquires the switch ON while the user presses the switch 312. While the switch is not pressed, the CPU 303 acquires the switch OFF.

  When the user does not press the switch 312 of the joystick 111, the XY stage control unit 112 limits the range in which the stage 102 can move from the current position, and when the joystick 111 is operated, The stage is moved in the state where the center of the observation visual field exists. Here, when the user decides to move to the field of view adjacent to the current field of view, the user presses the switch 312, that is, presses the joystick 111 in the Z-axis direction and moves the lever of the joystick 111 to the X-axis. And operate in the Y-axis direction.

In order to move to a visual field adjacent to the current observation visual field, the movement amount is obtained by the FOV described in the first embodiment. Since the X-axis FOV _X is 240 μm and the Y-axis FOV _Y is 180 μm, the movement amount for moving from the current observation visual field to the adjacent visual field is 240 μm for the X-axis and 180 μm for the Y-axis. At this time, the number of pulses that the stage 102 drives in the X-axis direction from the current position is 240 pulses in the CW direction, 240 pulses in the CCW direction, and the Y-axis range is 180 pulses in the CW direction and 180 pulses in the CCW direction.

  FIGS. 11A and 11B show visual fields before and after the stage is moved when the stage 102 is driven under such conditions. As shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, it can be seen that the visual field P1 after the stage movement indicated by the dotted line is adjacent to the visual field P0 before the stage movement. In FIG. 11A, the stage movement amount X is a CCW 240 pulse, and the visual field movement amount LX is 240 μm. In FIG. 11B, the stage movement amount Y is a CCW 180 pulse, and the visual field movement amount LY is 180 μm.

The operation and action of the second embodiment configured as described above will be described.
When the user does not press the switch 312 of the joystick 111, the CPU 303 controls the stage in a state where the center of the current observation visual field is present in the monitor 113 within the observation visual field. When the user operates the joystick 111 while pressing the switch 312, the CPU 303 moves to a region of the visual field adjacent to the current observation visual field.

  When the user views the image on the monitor 113 and decides to move the field of view, the user can control the movement of the stage 102 by operating the joystick 111 and move the field of view to an appropriate position for observation.

When the user operates the joystick 111, the CPU 303 drives the stage using the X-axis drive direction (CW / CCW), the Y-axis drive direction (CW / CCW), and the switch (ON / OFF) as arguments as follows. Execute the process.
Argument “X drive direction (CW / CCW)” “Y drive direction (CW / CCW)” “Switch (ON / OFF)”

  The operation of the CPU 303 when the joystick 111 is operated will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 12-1 and 12-2. 12A and 12B are detailed flowcharts showing the stage control sequence according to the second embodiment.

At the same time when the user finds the detailed observation section and switches the objective lens from 10 times to 20 times, the CPU 303 initializes the stage movement amount X and the stage movement amount Y to zero.
As shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the CPU 303 sets the drive axis A to the X axis (step S201). The CPU 303 sets 240 in Ncoarse (step S202). Next, the CPU 303 obtains the drive direction D (CW / CCW) of the drive axis A (step S203). If the drive direction D is CW (step S204 is Y), the CPU 303 proceeds to step S205, and the drive direction If D is not CW (N in step S204), the process proceeds to step S208. Next, if the switch 312 is not ON, the CPU 303 sets +10 to N (step S206), and if the switch 312 is ON (Y in step S205), the CPU 303 drives the stage to the adjacent field of view to N. The number of pulses Ncoarse for setting is set (step S207). In step S204, if the driving direction D is not CW (N in step S204) and the switch 312 is not ON (N in step S208), the CPU sets N to -10 (step S209), and the switch 312 is ON. If so (step S208 is Y), the CPU 303 sets Ncoarse to N (step S208).

  Next, if the drive axis A is the X axis (Y in step S211), the value of N set in step S205, step S206, step S208, step S209, and step S210 is added to the stage movement amount X to obtain the stage movement amount. The value of X is updated (step S212). If the stage movement amount X is within the range of −120 <X <120 (Y in step S213), the CPU 303 selects the X-axis motor driver, sets the driving direction D, and applies the N pulse to the X-axis I / O. (Step S214). After that, it waits until it receives an X-axis drive completion signal from the X-axis I / O. In step S213, if the stage movement amount X is not −120 <X <120 (N in step S212), the CPU 303 checks the switch 312. If the switch 312 is ON (step S215 is Y), the stage movement amount. X is initialized to zero (step S216), and the driving process of step S214 is performed. If the switch 312 in step S214 is not ON, the CPU does not perform the drive processing in steps S214 and S217.

  If there is no stage drive request (N in step S218), the CPU 303 ends this sequence process. If there is a stage drive request (Y in step S218), the CPU 303 proceeds to step S219. If the drive axis A is the X axis (step S219 is Y), the drive axis A is set to the Y axis (step S220), the control axis is switched from the X axis to the Y axis, and Ncoarse is set to 180 ( Step S221). Returning to step S203, the CPU 303 starts the Y-axis drive process.

  In step S211, if the drive axis A is the Y axis (N in step S211), the CPU 303 adds the value of N set in step S205, step S206, step S208, step S209, and step S210 to the stage movement amount Y. The value of the stage movement amount Y is updated (step S222). If the stage movement amount Y is in the range of −90 <Y <90 (Y in step S223), the CPU 303 selects the Y-axis motor driver, sets the driving direction D, and sets the N pulse to the Y-axis I / O 309. Output (step S224). Thereafter, the process waits until a Y-axis drive completion signal is received from the Y-axis I / O 309. When the Y-axis drive completion signal is received (Y in step S227), the process proceeds to step S218. If the stage movement amount Y is not within the range of −90 <Y <90 in step S223 (step S223 is N), the CPU 303 confirms the state of the switch 312 and if the switch 312 is ON (step S225 is Y). ), The stage moving amount Y is initialized to zero (step S226), and the driving process of steps S224 and S227 is performed. If the switch is not ON in step S225, the CPU does not perform the drive processing in steps S223 and S227.

  According to the second embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, the stage can be driven so as to move the visual field to a region adjacent to the current observation visual field. As a result, the observation field of view can be switched smoothly, so that the operability at the time of observation position alignment can be improved.

  In the second embodiment, the switch 312 is configured to be turned on when the joystick 111 is pressed. Instead of this, for example, a switch is arranged on the base of the joystick 111 so that the joystick 111 is turned on. Of course, the switch may be turned on with a finger different from the finger operating the button.

(Embodiment 3)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the microscope system according to the third embodiment, the XY stage control unit of the microscope system according to the second embodiment controls the visual field after moving the stage to include a part of the visual field currently being observed. Is intended.

  When the user does not press the switch 312 of the joystick 111, the CPU 303 controls the stage 102 while maintaining the state where the center of the current observation visual field exists in the observation visual field. When the user operates the joystick 111 while pressing the switch 312, the CPU 303 performs drive control of the stage 102 to move the visual field so as to include a part of the current observation visual field.

The drive amount for moving the stage so that a part of the field of view currently observed remains in the field of view after the movement needs to be set to be less than the FOV described in the first embodiment. In order to leave 1/10 of the currently observed visual field on the monitor 113 and move to an adjacent visual field region, a value obtained by multiplying the FOV by 1/10 is subtracted from the FOV value.
Ncoarse = FOV− (FOV / 10) (2) Formula Since the FOV of the 20 × objective lens is FOV _X = 240 μm and FOV _Y = 180 μm, the amount of visual field movement to the adjacent region in the X-axis direction is 216 μm. The amount of movement to a region adjacent in the Y-axis direction is obtained as 162 μm.

  At this time, the number of pulses that the stage 102 drives in the X-axis direction from the current position is 216 pulses in the CW direction, 216 pulses in the CCW direction, and the Y-axis range is 162 pulses in the CW direction and 162 pulses in the CCW direction.

  FIGS. 13-1 and 13-2 show visual fields before and after the stage is moved when the stage 102 is driven under such conditions. As shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, it can be seen that the visual field P1 after the stage movement indicated by the dotted line remains a part P3 of the visual field P0 before the stage movement. In FIG. 13A, the stage movement amount X is a CCW216 pulse, and the visual field movement amount LX is 216 μm. In FIG. 13-2, the stage movement amount Y is a CCW 162 pulse, and the visual field movement amount LY is 162 μm.

The operation and action of the third embodiment configured as described above will be described.
When the user views the image on the image display unit of the monitor 113 and decides to move the field of view, the user controls the movement of the stage 102 by operating the joystick 111 and moves the field of view to an appropriate position for observation. Can do.

When the user operates the joystick 111, the CPU 303 uses the X-axis drive direction (CW / CCW), the Y-axis drive direction (CW / CCW), and the switch 312 (ON / OFF) as arguments as follows. The process which drives is executed.
Argument “X drive direction (CW / CCW)” “Y drive direction (CW / CCW)” “Switch (ON / OFF)”

  The operation of the CPU 303 when the joystick 111 is operated will be described using the flowcharts of FIGS. 14-1 and 14-2. FIGS. 14A and 14B are detailed flowcharts showing the stage control sequence according to the third embodiment.

At the same time when the user finds the detailed observation section and switches the objective lens from 10 times to 20 times, the CPU 303 initializes the stage movement amount X and the stage movement amount Y to zero.
As illustrated in FIGS. 14A and 14B, the CPU 303 sets the drive axis A to the X axis (step S301). The CPU 303 sets 216 to Ncoarse (step S302). Next, the CPU 303 acquires the drive direction D (CW / CCW) of the drive axis A (step S303). If the drive direction D is CW (step S304 is Y), the CPU 303 proceeds to step S305, and the drive direction If D is not CW (N in step S304), the process proceeds to step S308. Next, if the switch 312 is not ON, the CPU 303 sets +10 to N (step S306), and if the switch 312 is ON (Y in step S305), the CPU drives the stage in the field of view adjacent to N. The number of pulses Ncoarse for setting is set (step S307). In step S304, if the driving direction D is not CW (N in step S303) and the switch 312 is not ON (N in step S308), the CPU sets N to -10 (step S309), and the switch 312 is ON. If so (step S307 is Y), the CPU 303 sets Ncoarse to N (step S308).

  Next, if the drive axis A is the X axis (Y in step S311), the value of the stage movement amount X is added to the stage movement amount X by adding the value N set in steps S306, S307, S309, and S310. Is updated (step S312). If the stage movement amount X is within the range of −120 <X <120 (Y in step S313), the CPU 303 selects the X-axis motor driver, sets the driving direction D, and applies the N pulse to the X-axis I / O. (Step S314). Thereafter, the process waits until an X-axis drive completion signal is received from the X-axis I / O. If received (step S317 is Y), the process proceeds to step S318. In step S313, if the stage movement amount X is not within the range of −120 <X <120 (N in step S313), the CPU 303 confirms the switch 312 and if the switch 312 is ON (step S315 is Y). The stage movement amount X is initialized to zero (step S316), and the driving process of step S314 is performed. If the switch 312 in step S314 is not ON, the CPU does not perform the drive processing in steps S314 and S317.

  If there is no stage drive request (N in step S318), the CPU 303 ends this sequence process. If there is a stage drive request (Y in step S318), the CPU 303 proceeds to step S319. If the drive axis A is the X axis (Y in step S319), the drive axis A is set to the Y axis (step S320), the control axis is switched from the X axis to the Y axis, and Ncoarse is set to 162 ( Step S321). Returning to step S303, the CPU 303 starts the Y-axis drive process.

  In step S311, if the drive axis A is the Y axis (N in step S311), the CPU 303 adds the value of N set in steps S306, S307, S309, and S310 to the stage movement amount Y, and the stage movement amount. The value of Y is updated (step S322). If the stage movement amount Y is within the range of −90 <Y <90 (Y in step S323), the CPU 303 selects the Y-axis motor driver, sets the driving direction D, and sets the N pulse to the Y-axis I / O 309. Output (step S324). After that, it waits until a Y-axis drive completion signal is received from the Y-axis I / O 309, and when it is received (step S327 is Y), the process proceeds to step S318. If the stage movement amount Y is not within the range of −90 <Y <90 in step S323 (step S323 is N), the CPU 303 confirms the state of the switch 312 and if the switch 312 is ON (step S325 is Y). ), The stage moving amount Y is initialized to zero (step S326), and the driving process of steps S324 and S327 is performed. If the switch is not ON in step S325, the CPU does not perform the drive processing in steps S323 and S327.

  According to the third embodiment, in addition to the effect of the second embodiment described above, the stage is driven so that a part of the current observation visual field remains in the visual field after movement, so that The visual field after movement can be observed in a state where the positional relationship is known. Further, since the visual field does not move greatly when the stage is operated with a joystick, the troublesomeness of the operation is eliminated, and the operability at the time of observation position alignment can be improved.

1 is a block diagram of a microscope system according to a first embodiment. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a microscope system according to a first embodiment. It is a schematic bottom view of an electric XY stage unit. It is a schematic side view of an electric XY stage unit. 3 is a block diagram of an XY stage control unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the operation | movement which A / D-converts the analog signal of a variable resistor. It is a figure explaining A / D conversion at the time of joystick operation. It is a figure explaining A / D conversion at the time of joystick operation. It is explanatory drawing of the stage movement range and observation visual field of Embodiment 1. FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the visual field before and behind the stage movement of Embodiment 1. It is explanatory drawing of the visual field before and behind the stage movement of Embodiment 1. It is a side view which shows the position of the stage before and behind initialization. FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of Embodiments 1, 2, and 3. FIG. 3 is a detailed flowchart of the first embodiment. 5 is a block diagram of an XY stage control unit according to Embodiments 2 and 3. It is explanatory drawing of the visual field before and behind the stage movement of Embodiment 2. It is explanatory drawing of the visual field before and behind the stage movement of Embodiment 2. FIG. 6 is a detailed flowchart of the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a detailed flowchart of the second embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of the visual field before and behind the stage movement of Embodiment 3. It is explanatory drawing of the visual field before and behind the stage movement of Embodiment 3. FIG. 10 is a detailed flowchart of the third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a detailed flowchart of the third embodiment.

101 Electric XY stage unit 102 Stage 103 Sample 104 Light source unit 105 Observation unit 106 Objective lens (10x)
107 Objective lens (20x)
108 Electric revolver unit 109 Objective lens magnification recognition unit (magnification recognition unit)
110 CCD camera 111 Joystick (operation input means)
112 XY stage controller (control means)
113 Monitor (observation means)
201, 211 Frame 202 X-axis stepping motor (drive means)
203 Y-axis stepping motor (drive means)
204 X-axis shaft 205 Y-axis shaft 207 X-axis origin sensor 208 Y-axis origin sensor 209 X-axis origin sensor light-shielding part 210 Y-axis origin sensor light-shielding part 301, 302 A / D converter 303 CPU
304 RAM
305 ROM
306 X-axis driver 307 Y-axis driver 308 X-axis I / O
309 Y-axis I / O
310 Variable resistor Rx
311 Variable resistor Ry
312 switch (switching means)

Claims (3)

A stage on which a sample is placed and movable in a plane, a driving means for driving the stage, a control means for controlling the driving of the driving means, and arranged to face the sample, and selectively a magnification. A microscope system comprising: an objective lens configured to be changeable; and an observation unit capable of observing an optical image of the sample through the objective lens,
The control means controls the drive of the driving means so that the movable range of the stage is a range including at least a part of the field of view currently observed by the observation unit or a range adjacent to the boundary of the field of view currently observed. A microscope system characterized by: An operation input means for instructing the movement of the stage by an operator's operation;
A magnification recognition unit for recognizing the magnification of the objective lens;
The microscope system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit sets a movable range of the stage according to magnification information of the objective lens acquired by the magnification recognition unit. Further comprising switching means for switching the driving mode of the driving means,
3. The microscope system according to claim 2, wherein the control unit sets a movable range of the stage according to magnification information of the objective lens acquired by the magnification recognizing unit and the drive mode. .

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