KR20220157558A - Slide and apparatus for cleaning optics - Google Patents

Abstract

According to an embodiment of the present invention, foreign substances including residual oil or dust on the optical system, particularly the objective lens, can be easily cleaned without attaching or detaching the cover of the imaging device or removing the objective lens from the device. To this end, in particular, in one embodiment of the present invention, in the cleaning means of the optical system provided in the imaging device for capturing the image of the slide specimen coated with the biomaterial, comprising: an optical system cleaning slide mounted on a slide cassette provided in an imaging device, taken out of the slide cassette, transferred to an optical system of the imaging device, cleaned based on relative motion with the optical system, and transferred to the slide cassette.

Description

Cleaning slide and cleaning device for optical system {SLIDE AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING OPTICS}

The present invention relates to a cleaning means for an optical system.

In an image analyzer that captures and analyzes slide images, in high-magnification imaging, immersion oil is filled on the objective lens and the slide to remove obstacles to imaging due to optical phenomena, rich brightness and deep depth of field It is possible to obtain high-quality images.

If such immersion oil is continuously attached to the lens, etc., problems such as AF (Auto Focusing) failure, low IQ (Image Quality), and dark field (defect) generation may cause problems such as occlusion of target cells. Cleaning with a cleaning solution is necessary.

However, in the case of cleaning an optical system such as a lens using a cleaning solution, troubles such as removing a cover of an image capture device of an image analyzer or releasing a lens from an optical system follow. Nonetheless, in the prior art, a worker performed such a cumbersome cleaning task, and even the residual oil was left unattended, resulting in aggravated contamination of the lens or frequent cases in which oil accumulated inside the image analyzer.

Therefore, there is a need for research on a new type of cleaning means or device for an optical system that can solve the above-described problems of the image analyzer and the inconvenience of manual work by workers.

The present invention was derived based on the above necessity, and the present invention is to provide a cleaning slide for an optical system capable of cleaning foreign substances including remaining oil or dust on an optical system, in particular, an objective lens.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning slide for an optical system that can easily clean an optical system, particularly an objective lens, without attaching or detaching a cover of an imaging device or removing an objective lens from a device.

In addition, the present invention is intended to provide a cleaning slide for an optical system that can save a user the effort of cleaning using a tool and reduce cleaning time through high-speed cleaning.

Meanwhile, an object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning slide for an optical system that can clean an optical system without using a cleaning liquid or that can be easily dipped in a cleaning liquid to clean an optical system even when a cleaning liquid is used.

An object of the present invention as described above is, in an optical system cleaning means provided in an imaging device for imaging an image of a slide specimen smeared with a biological material, mounted on a slide cassette provided in the imaging device, and taken out from the slide cassette to take an image This can be achieved by providing a cleaning slide for the optical system that is transported to the optical system of the device, cleans the optical system based on relative motion with the optical system, and is transported to a slide cassette.

The optical system may include an objective lens.

The cleaning slide for an optical system may be formed of a hard material or a soft material.

The cleaning slide for the optical system may include a nonwoven fabric for cleaning the optical system.

An object of the present invention may be achieved by providing an optical system cleaning device including the aforementioned cleaning slide for an optical system and further including a focusing controller that performs auto focusing on the cleaning slide.

Another object of the present invention is an automatic cleaning controller that includes the aforementioned cleaning slide for an optical system and automatically performs cleaning based on the number of times the optical system is used or the lapse of cleaning time of the optical system or based on an ON/OFF signal of an imaging device. It can be achieved by providing a cleaning device for an optical system further comprising a.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to include the aforementioned cleaning slide for an optical system, and to improve image quality based on at least one of color distribution, brightness, and focus measurement. This may be achieved by providing a cleaning device for an optical system further including a cleaning monitoring unit that evaluates the image quality, determines whether cleaning is to be terminated when the image quality is equal to or greater than the reference value, and determines whether to re-perform cleaning when the image quality is equal to or less than the reference value.

Meanwhile, another object of the present invention is to clean the optical system by a cleaning slide (S10); Evaluating the image quality by the cleaning monitoring unit (S20); and terminating cleaning when the image quality evaluated by the cleaning monitoring unit is equal to or greater than the reference value and determining to re-perform the cleaning when the evaluated image quality is equal to or less than the reference value (S30). have.

According to one embodiment of the present invention as described above, it is possible to clean foreign substances including remaining oil or dust on the optical system, in particular, the objective lens.

Moreover, the optical system, especially the objective lens, can be easily cleaned without attaching or detaching the cover of the imaging device or removing the objective lens from the device.

In addition, the user's effort to clean using tools directly can be reduced, and cleaning time can be reduced through high-speed cleaning.

In addition, the optical system can be cleaned without using a cleaning liquid, or even if a cleaning liquid is used, the optical system can be cleaned by simply applying the cleaning liquid.

1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a cleaning slide for an optical system according to the present invention;
2 is a diagram schematically showing a state in which an optical system is cleaned using an embodiment of an optical system cleaning slide according to the present invention;
3 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of a first embodiment of a cleaning device for an optical system according to the present invention;
4 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of a second embodiment of a cleaning device for an optical system according to the present invention;
5 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of a third embodiment of a cleaning device for an optical system according to the present invention;
6 is a flow chart showing a process of cleaning an optical system in order using a third embodiment of an optical system cleaning device according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and the contents described in the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited or limited by the embodiments.

Various changes may be made to the embodiments described below. The embodiments described below are not intended to be limiting on the embodiments, and should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents or substitutes thereto.

Meanwhile, in describing the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted. In addition, the terminology used in this specification is a term used to appropriately express the embodiment of the present invention, which may vary according to the intention of a user or operator or customs in the field to which the present invention belongs. Therefore, definitions of these terms will have to be made based on the content throughout this specification.

Cleaning slides for optics

The present invention relates to a cleaning slide for an optical system, and can be used for cleaning an imaging device that captures low- or high-magnification images on a sample slide made by smearing a biological material on glass or the like. In particular, it is preferable that such an imaging device is provided in an image analyzer that processes and analyzes captured images.

The optical system provided in the image analyzer can acquire high-quality images by capturing images using immersion oil. adheres and contaminates the optics. Such contamination causes deterioration in image quality in imaging through an objective lens.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning slide 10, which is an embodiment of the present invention, is manufactured in a size similar to that of the specimen slide. The cleaning slide 10 is a means for cleaning the optical system, and cleaning can be performed by performing a relative motion between the cleaning slide 10 and the optical system, in particular, the objective lens 70 .

For cleaning, the cleaning slide 10 may have a nonwoven fabric 12 attached to one surface. Such a non-woven fabric may be designed to be soft enough not to cause scratches on the objective lens 70 or to have high absorbency so that the cleaning liquid is sufficiently wetted when a cleaning liquid is used.

In addition, in order to distinguish the cleaning slide 10 from the specimen slide, a recognition code such as a QR code may be engraved on a portion gripped by the gripper 80, and other information such as the material of the corresponding cleaning slide 10 may be engraved in the QR code. may also be included.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the cleaning slide 10 may be mounted on the slide cassette 90 . The cleaning slide 10 taken out from the slide cassette 90 is transferred to an optical system including a camera 50, a relay tube 60, and an objective lens 70, and the transferred cleaning slide 10 is transferred to the optical system, particularly the objective lens 70. The optical system is cleaned based on the relative motion with the lens 70 . When the cleaning is completed, the cleaning slide 10 is transferred to the slide cassette 90 . This allows one-time cleaning of the optical system to be performed.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2 , the gripper 80 preferably grips the cleaning slide 10 and is involved in the transfer and conveyance of the cleaning slide 10 . However, it is not limited to the gripper 80 that grips the transfer and transport means up and down. That is, unlike shown in FIG. 2, the transport and transport means may also include a slide carrier in the form of fixing and housing the cleaning slide 10, and the form of the transport and transport means is not limited. not.

In addition, the transfer and transport means may include precision control components such as a multi-axis drive module (not shown), an encoder (not shown), and an optical sensor (not shown) in addition to the gripper 80 and the slide carrier.

The cleaning slide 10 may be preferably made of a synthetic resin material, but may be made of various materials such as metal or non-metal as long as it can be molded to an appropriate thickness and size.

In addition, the cleaning slide 10, on the other hand, may be made of a hard or soft material. It is preferable to set a distance between the hard cleaning slide 10 and the objective lens 70, and an appropriate focal length may be formed through focusing measurement. This will be described later in the cleaning device. On the other hand, the soft cleaning slide 10 does not need to obtain an appropriate distance by such a focusing measurement. This is because, due to the nature of the soft material, cleaning can be performed due to elasticity and bendability acting between the optical system and the optical system.

Optical system cleaning device and cleaning method

As shown in FIG. 3 , the first embodiment of the cleaning device 1 for an optical system includes the aforementioned cleaning slide 10 and includes a focusing controller 20 that performs auto focusing on the cleaning slide 10. It may be further included. The hard cleaning slide 10 is positioned at a focusing distance measured through the objective lens 70, and then relative movement with the objective lens 70 for cleaning can be performed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the second embodiment of the cleaning device 2 for an optical system includes the cleaning slide 10 described above, and based on the number of times the optical system is used or the elapsed cleaning time of the optical system, or the image pickup device It may further include an automatic cleaning controller 30 that automatically performs cleaning based on an ON/OFF signal.

Since the amount of immersion oil is increased when the number of times the optical system is used is large, it is advantageous to automatically perform cleaning based on this. In addition, when the cleaning time of the optical system elapses, that is, if a long time elapses after the last optical system cleaning, the remaining immersion oil on the objective lens 70 is easily contaminated with dust and the like attached to the immersion oil, so it is advantageous to automatically perform the cleaning.

Meanwhile, for regular cleaning, automatic cleaning may be performed according to an ON signal of the imaging device or an OFF signal.

As shown in FIG. 5 , the third embodiment of the cleaning device 3 for an optical system includes the cleaning slide 10 described above and may further include a cleaning monitoring unit 40 . The cleaning monitoring unit 40 evaluates image quality based on at least one of color distribution, brightness, and focus measurement, and if the image quality is greater than or equal to a reference value It plays a role in determining the end of cleaning and re-performing cleaning if the image quality is below the standard value.

In addition, the cleaning monitoring unit 40 may calculate the degree of improvement in image quality through cleaning for each number of cleanings, and may use it to determine whether to re-perform cleaning.

The aforementioned focusing controller 20, automatic cleaning controller 30, and cleaning monitoring unit 40 may be implemented through a CPU capable of performing calculations and a memory in which a conditional execution program or conditional execution application is loaded. These CPUs and memories may be provided together with or separately from a device constituting an image analyzer, and may be implemented as a local or remote server.

Meanwhile, the present invention is another category, and as shown in FIG. 6, the cleaning slide 10 cleans the optical system (S10), the cleaning monitoring unit 40 evaluates the image quality (S20), and the cleaning monitoring unit (40) may also be implemented as an optical system cleaning method using a cleaning slide that terminates cleaning when the evaluated image quality is higher than the standard value and determines to re-perform cleaning when the evaluated image quality is lower than the standard value (S30).

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, the technical configuration of the present invention described above is another specific form without changing the technical spirit or essential features of the present invention by those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs. It will be understood that it can be implemented as. Therefore, the embodiments described above should be understood as illustrative in all respects and not limiting. In addition, the scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims to be described later rather than the detailed description above. In addition, all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalent concepts should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention.

1, 2, 3: cleaning device for optical system
10: cleaning slide
12: non-woven fabric
20: focusing controller
30: automatic cleaning controller
40: cleaning monitoring unit
50: camera
60: relay tube
70: objective lens
80: gripper
90: cassette

Claims (7)

In the cleaning means of the optical system provided in the imaging device for taking an image of the slide specimen smeared with the biomaterial,
Mounted on a slide cassette provided in the imaging device, taken out of the slide cassette, transferred to the optical system of the imaging device, cleaned based on relative motion with the optical system, and transferred to the slide cassette Cleaning for an optical system slide.
According to claim 1,
The optical system cleaning slide for an optical system comprising an objective lens.
According to claim 1,
A cleaning slide for an optical system made of a hard or soft material.
According to claim 1,
A cleaning slide for an optical system comprising a nonwoven fabric for cleaning the optical system.
Including the cleaning slide of any one of claims 1 to 4,
The cleaning device for an optical system further includes a focusing controller that performs auto focusing on the cleaning slide.
Including the cleaning slide of any one of claims 1 to 4,
The cleaning device for an optical system further includes an automatic cleaning controller that automatically performs cleaning based on the number of times the optical system is used or the elapsed cleaning time of the optical system or based on an ON/OFF signal of the imaging device.
Including the cleaning slide of any one of claims 1 to 4,
Evaluate image quality based on at least one of color distribution, brightness, and focus measurement, determine cleaning termination when the image quality is equal to or greater than a reference value, and A cleaning device for an optical system further comprising a cleaning monitoring unit that determines re-performation of cleaning when image quality is below a standard value.

Images