JPH061299B2 - Microscope sample warmer - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sample heat retaining device for a microscope, in which an observation portion of a sample arranged on a stage of the microscope is controlled to a predetermined temperature.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a sample heat-retaining device for this type of microscope, for example, a device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-41774 has been known. Is installed in
The control device keeps the sample at a predetermined temperature by the output signal from the temperature sensor. However, for example, when observing cultured cells with a microscope, the culture observation container that is generally used is considerably larger than the observation field of view, so even if a temperature sensor is arranged in the immediate vicinity of the culture observation container, the observation position is There is a large temperature difference with the detection position, which makes it difficult to perform accurate temperature control, and a temperature sensor is installed in the culture observation container to detect the temperature near the observation position. The thing is
There is a risk that various bacteria will be mixed into the culture observation container by the temperature sensor, and the cleaning and sterilization of the temperature sensor will be required each time the observation is performed.

In view of the above points, the present invention provides a sample heat retaining device for a microscope, which enables the microscope to be accurately controlled to a predetermined temperature without affecting the sample disposed on a stage. The purpose is to do.

Outline This purpose is different from the first temperature at the position near the observation portion of the sample arranged on the stage, that is, the first position and the first position. A controller having prestored correlation data between a second temperature at an affected second position and a first temperature sensor for detecting the second temperature. The control device controls the temperature of the heating means or the cooling means based on the correlation data based on the output signal from the first temperature sensor so as to control the sample, particularly the observation portion thereof, to a predetermined temperature. It is solved by the feature of the sample sample heat retaining device.

Further according to the present invention the microscope sample warming device preferably comprises a second temperature sensor for detecting the ambient temperature of the microscope at a third position different from the first and second positions, The control device is configured to control the temperature of the heating means or the cooling means based on the correlation data in response to the output signal from the second temperature sensor.

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described based on examples shown in the drawings below.
1 and 2 show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an inverted microscope, in which 1 is a stage for an inverted microscope, and 2 is configured as a part of the stage or attached to the stage. A heat generating part, 3 is an objective lens of an inverted microscope, and 4 is a culture observation container placed on the upper surface of the heat generating part 2 of the stage 1. The sample contains culture cells to be observed. . Reference numeral 5 is a reference temperature sensor which is provided in the vicinity of the observation portion of the sample in the culture observation container 4 before the observation, that is, a first position and which detects the temperature at the first position, and 6 is the first position Unlike the above, it is provided at the second position (in the case of this embodiment, the upper surface of the heat generating portion 2) under the influence of the temperature of the observed portion of the sample, that is, the temperature detected by the reference sending sensor 5. And a first temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the second position, 7
Is provided, for example, at a third position (below the stage 1 in the case of this embodiment) that is not affected by the temperature of the observation portion of the sample, that is, the temperature detected by the reference temperature sensor 5. A second temperature sensor for detecting the temperature at the third position, that is, the ambient temperature of the microscope, for example, the temperature near the illumination light source.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example of a control device for controlling the temperature of the heat generating portion 2, and 8 is a switch S _{1 which} can be switched by a control circuit described later and an analog switch AG1 connected to each temperature sensor 5, 6, 7. , AG2, AG3, 9 is a temperature setting circuit, 10 is a comparator, 11 is an amplifier, 12 is a control circuit for controlling the temperature of the heating portion 2, 13 is a memory circuit, and 14 is a temperature sensor. A display device capable of displaying the detected temperature, and 15 is an A / D converter.

Since the embodiment of the present invention is configured as described above, when the temperature control is initially initialized, the sample is placed on the upper surface of the heating portion 2 of the stage 1 as shown in FIG. For example, the culture observation container 4 containing the cultured cells is placed, the reference temperature sensor 5 is installed at a position near the observation portion of the sample in the culture observation container 4, that is, the first position, and the reference temperature sensor 5 is installed at the first position. The recording of the correlation data between the first temperature and the second temperature at the second position is carried out by means of the switch of the selection circuit 8.
Output is set to one so as to be inputted to the input terminal and a predetermined temperature by the switching temperature setting circuit 9 to switch S ₂ of the comparator 10 side to the terminal a of the comparator 10 controls the reference temperature sensor 5 by switching the S ₁ When the temperature of the heat generating portion 2 is controlled by the circuit 12 and the display device 14 confirms that the first temperature detected by the reference temperature sensor 5 has reached the predetermined temperature, this temperature is input to the memory circuit 13. After that, the switch S ₁ of the selection circuit 8 is switched to the first temperature sensor 6 side, and the second temperature detected by the temperature sensor 6 at this time is displayed on the display device 14 and input to the storage circuit 13. , The correlation data between the first temperature and the second temperature at the predetermined temperature is stored in the storage device 13, and the predetermined temperature is changed variously to change the first temperature and the second temperature. Correlation data between the temperature will be stored in the storage device 13. Although the initial setting of the temperature control is completed as described above, when the sample is to be observed next time, the reference temperature sensor 5 is removed from the culture observation container 4, and therefore, the observation is made within the observation field of the microscope. Only the sample to be analyzed is present, and the switch S ₁ of the selection circuit 8 is switched to change the output of the first temperature sensor 6 to one input terminal of the comparator 10 and the A / D converter 15
The temperature setting circuit 9 is set to a position corresponding to a predetermined temperature to be controlled, that is, the first temperature, and the switch S ₂ is switched to the terminal b on the control circuit 12 side.
As a result, the output of the first temperature sensor 6 is converted into a digital value by the A / D converter 15 via the selection circuit 8 and input to the control circuit 12, and the voltage from the temperature setting circuit 9 is input to the control circuit 12. The applied voltage is converted into a digital value by an A / D converter (not shown) in the control circuit 12, and the control circuit 12 reads the second temperature corresponding to the first temperature from the storage device 13 based on the digital value.
The digital value and the digital value input from the A / D converter 15 are compared by a comparison circuit (not shown) in the control circuit 12, and this comparison data is output to the heat generating section 2 so that the upper surface of the heat generating section 2 By controlling the temperature of the second position to the second temperature corresponding to the predetermined temperature, the position in the vicinity of the observed portion of the sample in the culture observation container 4, that is, the first position is controlled to the predetermined temperature. In the case of observing using the same culture observation container and a predetermined amount of sample, proper temperature control is performed by the present embodiment based on the stored customs data without re-installing the reference temperature sensor 5. Can be done.

Further, by using the ambient temperature of the microscope detected by the second temperature sensor 7, the first temperature and the second temperature detected by the reference temperature sensor 5 and the first temperature sensor 6 are referred to as the ambient temperature. If the control is performed as the temperature deviation of, the temperature can be controlled more appropriately without being affected by the ambient temperature.

Figure 4 shows the micro test plate 2 as a culture observation container.
0 is used. In this case, the reference temperature sensor 5 is arranged in the cell 20a at the observation position of the microtest plate 20, and the first temperature sensor 6 is used.
Are arranged in cells (cells next to the cell 20a in FIG. 4) 20b other than the cell 20a, and the control thereof is the same as that of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3.

In the above description, a case where a part of the stage of the microscope is configured as a heat generating part has been described, but in the case of a heat retaining device that forms a greenhouse on the upper surface of the stage and heats the air in the greenhouse. Also, the present invention can be applied to the case where a cooling means is provided instead of the heating means as described above, and the sample is not limited to cultured cells, but may be bacteria or a metal sample. Good. Further, the temperature sensors may be arranged at different positions, respectively. Further, a large number of temperature sensors may be arranged and the heat generating portion may be dividedly controlled to arbitrarily control the temperature distribution in the observation visual field. . Furthermore, the control device shown in FIG. 2 is an example, and a control device having another configuration may be used.
Especially when a microcomputer is incorporated, it is possible to execute a complicated program control function.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, according to the present invention, the first temperature and the first position in the vicinity of the observation portion of the sample arranged on the stage, that is, the first position are different from each other. Since the customs data with the second temperature at the second position under the influence of the temperature of the observation portion of the sample is stored in advance, the temperature sensor is used as a microscope stage during observation. This is extremely effective because the sample can be accurately controlled to a predetermined temperature without affecting the sample disposed above.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an inverted microscope to which the present invention is applied, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view showing an embodiment of a sample heat retaining device of a microscope according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a control device for the embodiment of FIG. 1, and FIG. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the Example of this invention at the time of using. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Inverted microscope stage, 2 ... Heating part, 3 ... Objective lens, 4 ... Culture observation container, 5 ... Reference temperature sensor, 6, 7
... Temperature sensor, 8 ... Selection circuit, 9 ... Temperature setting circuit, 1
0 ... Comparator, 11 ... Amplifier, 12 ... Control circuit, 1
3 ... Memory circuit, 14 ... Display device, 15 ... A / D converter, 20 ... Micro test plate.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor To Toru Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, 43-2 2 Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshihiro Shimada 2-4, Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A first temperature at a position in the vicinity of an observation portion of a sample arranged on a stage, that is, at a first position and a temperature of the observation portion of the sample different from the first position. A controller having prestored correlation data between a second temperature at an affected second position and a first temperature sensor for detecting the second temperature. The control device controls the temperature of the heating means or the cooling means based on the correlation data based on the output signal from the first temperature sensor so as to control the sample, particularly the observation portion thereof, to a predetermined temperature. Characteristic, sample sample heat retention device. 2. A second temperature sensor for detecting ambient temperature of a microscope at a third position different from the first and second positions, the outputs from the first and second temperature sensors. The sample sample heat retaining device according to claim (1), wherein the control device controls the temperature of the heating means or the cooling means based on the correlation data in response to the signal.