JP5464773B2 - Stage unit - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a stage unit mounted on a microscope stage.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a Z-axis fine movement mechanism that uses a microscope slide glass to quickly and accurately finely move in the Z-axis direction to easily perform focusing is known (for example, see Patent Document 1). .
In this Z-axis fine movement mechanism, a plurality of piezo elements are arranged on the surface of a microscope stage, and the placement surface of the slide glass is defined by the upper surface. By controlling the voltage applied to the piezo element, the slide glass can be finely moved in the Z-axis direction directly by the piezo element.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-2325

However, the Z-axis fine movement mechanism of Patent Document 1 has various inconveniences because the upper surfaces of a plurality of piezo elements mounted on the microscope stage are used as the slide glass mounting surface.
That is, first of all, since the piezo element is only placed on the upper surface of the microscope stage, the surface accuracy of the microscope stage placement surface and the contact surface of the piezo element greatly affects the operation accuracy of the slide glass. become. For this reason, there is a disadvantage that the piezo element must be manufactured with extremely high accuracy.

  Secondly, when the slide glass is directly supported by a plurality of piezo elements, the piezo elements need to be arranged directly under the slide glass. For this reason, each time the size of the slide glass or dish to be mounted changes, it is necessary to adjust the position of the piezo element each time in order to stably support them, which takes time for the observer. At the same time, there may be a disadvantage that the above-described problem of movement accuracy occurs.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and is a stage unit capable of finely moving a sample in the Z direction with high accuracy without adjusting the position of the piezoelectric element regardless of the size of the sample to be mounted. The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following means.
The present invention includes an adapter that is fitted in a stepped portion formed on a sample mounting surface side of a microscope stage and mounted in a positioning state, a sample table on which a sample is mounted, and a space between the sample table and the adapter. And a piezo element that can be expanded and contracted with respect to the adapter so that the sample stage approaches or separates in the observation optical axis direction of the microscope, and both ends of the piezo element in the expansion and contraction direction are bonded to the adapter and the sample stage. And a stage unit detachable from the microscope stage.

  According to the present invention, the adapter is mounted on the microscope stage, the sample is placed on the sample stage, and a voltage is applied to the piezo element, whereby the sample stage is finely moved in the direction in which the sample stage approaches or separates from the adapter. Since the piezo element is bonded to the adapter and the sample stage, the position is uniquely determined by the voltage regardless of the surface accuracy at both ends of the piezo element and regardless of how the sample is placed on the sample stage. In addition, the sample stage can be accurately moved with respect to the adapter. In addition, since the sample is not placed directly on the piezo element, but placed on the sample stage bonded to the piezo element, it is possible to observe a sample smaller than the distance between the piezo elements. Depending on how the sample is placed, it is possible to prevent the inconvenience that the sample may or may not tilt.

In the said invention, it is preferable that the said piezoelectric element is adhere | attached with the adhesive agent.
Moreover, in the said invention, it is preferable that the said piezo element is coated with the waterproof adhesive.

In this way, when a petri dish or the like in which the sample is immersed in the liquid is mounted on the sample stage, even if the liquid spills from the petri dish, the bonded portion between the piezo element and the sample stage or adapter is protected. Alternatively, durability can be improved by protecting the piezo element itself.
In addition, the piezo element can be electrically insulated from the user.

In the invention described above, the sample stage may be formed in a substantially disk shape, and three or more piezoelectric elements may be arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the sample stage.
By doing in this way, a sample stand can be stably supported to an adapter.

Moreover, in the said invention, the center hole which can insert an objective lens is provided in the said adapter, and it is good also as the said sample stand being provided so that the light from a sample can be permeate | transmitted.
By comprising in this way, an objective lens is inserted in the center hole provided in the adapter, and it can apply to an inverted microscope by allowing the light from a sample to permeate | transmit a sample stand and to condense with an objective lens. It is suitable for observing cells that grow by adhering to the bottom of a petri dish. In order to allow the sample stage to transmit light, a through hole may be provided in the sample stage, or the sample stage itself may be made of a transparent material.

Furthermore, in the said invention, the said center hole is good also as having a taper inner surface which becomes thin gradually toward a sample stand.
When applied to an inverted microscope as described above, interference between the objective lens and the central hole into which the objective lens is inserted may be a problem. In particular, it is desirable to reduce the weight of the sample stage on which the sample is mounted, and it is necessary to reduce the center hole of the adapter in order to shorten the interval between the piezoelectric elements. According to the present invention, since the central hole has a tapered inner surface, interference with the objective lens is mitigated, and a relative movement range in a direction intersecting the optical axis of the objective lens with respect to the adapter can be ensured. In addition, in this way, the sample stage can be reduced in size and weight while ensuring the relative movement range between the adapter and the objective lens, so that the piezo element can be reduced in size or the operating speed of the sample stage can be improved. it can.

In the above invention, the adapter is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape to be inserted into a through hole provided in the microscope stage, and an outer flange-shaped flange portion placed on the upper surface of the microscope stage; An inner flange-shaped mounting portion on which the piezo element is mounted, and the sample stage is accommodated in the adapter so that the upper surface of the sample stage is arranged at substantially the same position as the upper surface of the microscope stage. It is good.
By doing so, the position of the sample when the stage unit is not mounted and the position of the sample when the stage unit is mounted can be set at substantially the same position.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that the sample can be finely moved in the Z direction with high accuracy without adjusting the position of the piezo element regardless of the size of the sample to be mounted.

Hereinafter, a stage unit 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
The stage unit 1 according to this embodiment is used in the microscope 2 shown in FIG. The microscope 2 is, for example, an inverted laser confocal microscope, which includes a laser light source 3a that emits laser light, a scan unit 3 that scans the laser light and introduces it into the microscope, and irradiates the emitted laser light. The objective lens 4 that condenses the fluorescence from the sample A and the XY stage 5 on which the sample A is mounted are provided. The scan unit 3 has a function of detecting fluorescence condensed by the objective lens 4. The XY stage 5 is used for the purpose of aligning the sample A at a position to be observed. When acquiring an image, the scan unit 3 scans the laser beam with the XY stage 5 fixed, thereby obtaining the sample. Fluorescence images are acquired.

  The XY stage 5 is provided with a through hole 7 penetrating in the vertical direction, and the stage unit 1 according to this embodiment is attached to the through hole 7 in a positioning state. The inner surface of the through hole 7 is formed in a tapered inner surface shape that tapers upward. A tapered surface is also provided at the tip of the objective lens 4 arranged upward. Thereby, even if the XY stage 5 is operated with the objective lens 4 being close to the sample, interference between the XY stage 5 and the objective lens 4 is avoided, and the XY stage 5 is operated over a relatively wide range. Can be done.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the stage unit 1 according to the present embodiment is inserted into the through hole 7 of the XY stage 5 and is placed in a positioning state in the XY direction, and a sample stage on which the sample A is placed. 9 and a plurality of piezo elements 10 bonded between the sample stage 9 and the adapter 8. A piezo driver 11 is connected to each piezo element 10 so that the same voltage signal is supplied from the piezo driver 11.

  The adapter 8 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape having a central hole 12. The adapter 13 protrudes over the entire circumference of the adapter 8 and is placed on the upper surface of the XY stage 5. And a bowl-shaped mounting portion 14. The outer surface of the flange portion 13 is fitted to the inner surface of a circular step portion 15 provided on the XY stage 5 so that the adapter 8 is positioned so as not to move relative to the movement of the XY stage 5.

The inner collar-shaped mounting portion 14 is provided at the lower portion of the central hole 12 and has a tapered inner surface 14a that gradually tapers upward on the inner surface thereof, and is configured to avoid interference with the tip of the objective lens 4 as much as possible. Has been.
A plurality of the piezoelectric elements 10 are arranged on the upper surface of the mounting portion 14 at intervals in the circumferential direction, for example, in three places in the example shown in FIG. Further, a ring plate-shaped sample table 9 is disposed at the upper end of the piezo element 10. The sample stage 9 is provided with a through hole 17 penetrating in the thickness direction at the center, and the inner surface of the through hole 17 is also formed in a tapered inner surface shape that tapers upward.

  All the piezo elements 10 are arranged so as to expand and contract in the vertical direction when a voltage is applied. The lower end of the piezo element 10 is firmly bonded to the mounting portion 14 of the adapter 8 and the upper end is firmly bonded to the sample table 9 by, for example, an epoxy adhesive. The entire piezo element 10 is covered with a waterproof adhesive 16 such as a silicone adhesive.

  As the piezo element 10, an element that achieves the same amount of displacement by applying the same voltage is selected. The piezo element 10 is bonded to the adapter 8 and the sample stage 9 at both ends in a state in which the expansion and contraction directions thereof are adjusted to be parallel to each other. Therefore, the sample stage 9 is displaced in the vertical direction while maintaining a parallel state with respect to the adapter 8 by being adhesively fixed to the adapter 8 and the sample stage 9 with the expansion and contraction directions of the piezoelectric elements 10 being aligned. It can be made to.

In the present embodiment, the piezo element 10 and the sample stage 9 are disposed in the central hole 12 of the adapter 8 formed in a cylindrical shape. As shown in FIG. 2, the lower surface position of the sample stage 9 is arranged at a height position substantially equal to the surface on which the adapter 8 of the XY stage 5 is placed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, when the sample stage 9 'having the same thickness is directly placed on the XY stage 5, the placement surface height of the sample A is substantially equivalent. Can be done.
The sample A is, for example, an adhesive cell that grows while adhering to the bottom surface of the dish 18 in the medium B stored in the dish-shaped dish 18.

The operation of the stage unit 1 according to this embodiment configured as described above will be described below.
When observing the sample A using the stage unit 1 according to the present embodiment, the stage unit 1 is first mounted on the XY stage 5 of the microscope 2. The adapter 8 of the stage unit 1 is fitted into the step portion 15 of the XY stage 5 and is maintained in the positioning state in the XY direction. Further, by configuring the adapter 8 to be relatively heavy, the adapter 8 is maintained in a positioning state so as not to move in the Z direction with respect to the XY stage 5.

  Next, the dish 18 containing the cells as the sample A is mounted on the sample stage 9. Then, the XY stage 5 is operated to align the region of the sample A to be observed with the objective lens 4, and then the laser light is emitted from the laser light source 3 to perform fluorescence observation.

  When the laser beam is irradiated without operating the piezo element 10, it is selectively detected by the light detection unit of the fluorescence scan unit 3 generated at the focal position of the objective lens 4. Thereby, the fluorescence image of the cross section of the sample A cut | disconnected by one horizontal surface containing the focus position of the objective lens 4 is acquirable.

  Next, by applying a predetermined voltage to the piezo element 10 by the operation of the piezo driver 11, the sample stage 9 can be moved stepwise to a predetermined position in the vertical direction with respect to the adapter 8. Thereby, the sample A mounted on the sample stage 9 can be moved stepwise, and the focal position of the objective lens 4 can be arranged at other Z-direction positions in the sample A, and the sample A is cut at different horizontal planes. A fluorescent image of the cross section obtained can be acquired.

Further, by applying different voltages to the piezo element 10 stepwise, the sample stage 9 is moved stepwise in the vertical direction with respect to the adapter 8, whereby the fluorescence of the cross section of the sample A cut along a plurality of different horizontal planes. Images can be acquired.
In particular, since the observation cross section of the sample A can be switched by finely moving with the piezo element 10, the movable mass is small compared with the case where the focal position is adjusted on the microscope 2 side, so the observation cross section is switched at high speed. be able to. Therefore, there is an advantage that observation can be performed without missing the state of the sample A changing at high speed.

  In this case, according to the stage unit 1 according to the present embodiment, the sample A is not arranged so as to directly span the plurality of piezo elements 10, but on the sample stage 9 fixed to the piezo elements 10 in an adhesive state. Since the sample A is placed on the sample stage 9, the sample A can always be moved with the same displacement amount while maintaining the horizontal state regardless of the manner of placing the sample A on the sample stage 9.

  Further, the sample A is not placed so as to be directly passed over the plurality of piezo elements 10, but is placed on the sample stage 9 spanned over the piezo elements 10, so that regardless of the interval of the piezo elements 10. Samples A of various sizes can be placed on the sample stage 9.

  Further, since the piezo element 10 is firmly fixed to the sample stage 9 and the adapter 8 with an adhesive such as an epoxy adhesive, for example, the sample stage 9 is not displaced even by high-speed operation of the piezo element 10. . Further, by covering the entire piezo element 10 with the silicone adhesive 16, the piezo element 10 itself can be protected from water immersion and humidity. In addition, the user can be electrically insulated from the piezo element 10.

Further, by reducing the center hole 12 of the adapter 8 to the minimum necessary and reducing the size of the sample table 9, the adapter 8 can be made relatively heavy and the sample table 9 can be reduced in weight. Thereby, the movable part driven by the piezo element 10 can be reduced in weight, and the sample A mounted on the sample stage 9 can be driven at high speed. Therefore, it is possible to observe the state of the sample changing at high speed.
Even if the center hole 12 of the adapter 8 is made small, the inner surface 14a is formed into a tapered inner surface, so that interference with the objective lens 4 is reduced, and the operation range of the XY stage 5 relative to the objective lens 4 is relatively reduced. It becomes possible to ensure widely.

  Further, according to the stage unit 1 according to the present embodiment, the placement unit 14 provided in the central hole 12 is disposed below, and the installation space for the piezo element 10 is disposed at a relatively low position. 9 is arranged almost equal to the position of the placement surface of the XY stage 5, so that the sample stage 9 can be directly placed on the XY stage 5 and observed without using the stage unit 1. There is an advantage that it is not necessary to change the position of the sample A so much. In this case, it is not necessary to adjust the height position of the objective lens 4 between the case where the stage unit 1 is used and the case where the stage unit 1 is not used.

  In the present embodiment, the stage unit 1 used in the inverted laser confocal microscope 2 has been described. However, instead of this, an upright microscope, a multiphoton excitation fluorescence microscope, or a transmission type microscope is used. You may decide to apply to a microscope. In consideration of the hysteresis of the piezo element 10, it is preferable to improve the positional accuracy by one-way driving. However, when correction can be performed by an arbitrary method, the speed may be further improved as two-way driving.

In addition, the dish 18 is placed on the sample table 9, but by applying a petroleum-based wax between the dish 18 and the sample table 9, the dish 18 can be easily attached and detached from the double-sided tape and firmly fixed. It is good as well.
Further, by providing the through hole 17 in the sample stage 9, it is possible to irradiate laser light from below the dish 18 and observe fluorescence, but instead, it is transparent that can transmit laser light and fluorescence. The sample table 9 may be made of any material.

  In addition, although three piezoelectric elements are provided at equal intervals, two or four or more piezoelectric elements may be used instead. In order to stably support the sample stage 9 with respect to the adapter 8, it is preferable that there are three or more places.

It is a whole lineblock diagram showing an example of a microscope to which a stage unit concerning one embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the stage unit which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the example of arrangement | positioning of the sample stand and piezoelectric element of the stage unit of FIG. It is a figure explaining the position of the sample at the time of mounting a sample stand directly on an XY stage, without using the stage unit of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

A Sample 1 Stage unit 5 XY stage (microscope stage)
8 Adapter 9 Sample stage 10 Piezo element 12 Central hole 13 Flange part 14 Placement part 14a Tapered inner surface 16 Adhesive (waterproof adhesive)

Claims (7)

An adapter that is fitted to a step formed on the sample mounting surface side of the microscope stage and mounted in a positioning state;
A sample stage on which the sample is placed;
A piezoelectric element that is disposed between the sample stage and the adapter, and is capable of extending or contracting the sample stage with respect to the adapter so as to approach or separate in the direction of the observation optical axis of the microscope;
A stage unit that is attachable to and detachable from the microscope stage, wherein both ends of the piezoelectric element in the expansion and contraction direction are bonded to the adapter and the sample stage.   The stage unit according to claim 1, wherein the piezo element is bonded by an adhesive.   The stage unit according to claim 2, wherein the piezo element is coated with a waterproof adhesive. The sample stage is formed in a substantially disc shape,
The stage unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein three or more piezoelectric elements are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the sample stage. The adapter is provided with a central hole into which an objective lens can be inserted,
The stage unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the sample stage is provided so as to be able to transmit light from the sample.   The stage unit according to claim 5, wherein the central hole has a tapered inner surface that gradually decreases toward the sample stage. The adapter is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape to be inserted into a through hole provided in the microscope stage, and has an outer flange-like flange portion placed on the upper surface of the microscope stage, and an inner casing on which the piezoelectric element is mounted. A mounting portion in the shape of
The stage unit according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the sample stage is accommodated in an adapter so that the upper surface of the sample stage is disposed at substantially the same position as the upper surface of the microscope stage.

Images