Apparatus and methods for fluorescence imaging using radiofrequency multiplexed excitation. One apparatus splits an excitation laser beam into two arms of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The light in the first beam is frequency shifted by an acousto-optic deflector, which is driven by a phase-engineered radiofrequency comb designed to minimize peak-to-average power ratio. This RF comb generates multiple deflected optical beams possessing a range of output angles and frequency shifts. The second beam is shifted in frequency using an acousto-optic frequency shifter. After combining at a second beam splitter, the two beams are focused to a line on the sample using a conventional laser scanning microscope lens system. The acousto-optic deflectors frequency-encode the simultaneous excitation of an entire row of pixels, which enables detection and de-multiplexing of fluorescence images using a single photomultiplier tube and digital phase-coherent signal recovery techniques.

Examples relate to apparatuses, methods and computer programs for controlling a microscope system, and to a corresponding microscope system. An apparatus for controlling a microscope system comprises an interface for communicating with a camera module. The camera module is suitable for providing camera image data of a head of a user of the microscope system. The apparatus comprises a processing module configured to obtain the camera image data from the camera module via the interface. The processing module is configured to process the camera image data to determine information on an angular orientation of the head of the user relative to a display of the microscope system. The processing module is configured to provide a control signal for a robotic adjustment system of the microscope system based on the information on the angular orientation of the head of the user.

The present invention relates to a fixation and body temperature maintaining apparatus for fixing a small animal in order to generate a high-resolution micro image of a predetermined tissue of the small animal within a biomicroscope with an object lens, which includes: a plate heater with a heat wire installed therein, on which the small animal is enabled to be directly placed; a glass heater holder fixed to a hole of the plate heater; and a glass heater fixed to the glass heater holder, and located above the tissue of the small animal and maintaining flatness of the tissue, and increasing a temperature of the tissue itself, in which a cover glass serving to adjust a refractive index of the object lens and a heat wire heater are integrally formed. In an embodiment of the present invention, a body temperature of a live small animal which is an object to be observed with a biomicroscope is maintained to be constant.

A bond test apparatus includes a test tool, a stage for mounting a bond for testing, and a drive mechanism comprising a voice coil. The voice coil is coupled to either the stage or to the test tool and is configured to provide relative movement between the stage and the test tool such that the bond applies a test force to the test tool. The bond test apparatus can also include a velocity sensor configured to sense an instantaneous relative velocity between the stage and the test tool, and a controller configured to control the drive mechanism in response to a signal from the velocity sensor. The bond test apparatus can also include a retarding mechanism coupled to the stage or the test tool and configured to apply, in response to relative movement between the stage and the test tool, a retarding force opposing the driving force.

A microscope for imaging a sample is disclosed that may include at least one illumination objective arranged to eject an illumination light beam along an illumination path to illuminate the sample; an imaging objective arranged to receive detection light including at least a portion of the light ejected from the sample, wherein the detection light is propagated along a detection axis and the imaging objective has an imaging focal plane; an adjustment arrangement to linearly displace the illumination light beam and the imaging focal plane relative to each other along the detection axis; a sample holder arranged to receive a sample and having a portion which is transparent to the illumination light beam and to the detection light; and a holder support arranged to receive the sample holder and displace the sample holder relative to the imaging objective such that the imaging focal plane is positioned inside the sample holder.

A sample transfer device (100) for receiving a sample inside the sample transfer device (100) and for transferring the sample to a processing or analysing unit includes a connection opening (110) defining a transfer path (114) along which the sample is to be transferred from a loading position (120) of the sample inside the sample transfer device (100) through the connection opening (110), a shutter (130) configured to block the connection opening (110) or to unblock the connection opening (110), and a shielding member (140) configured to be arranged between the connection opening (110) and the loading position (120) to protect the sample from an incoming gas stream when the shutter (130) unblocks the connection opening (110).

A margin assessment method is provided. Under cooperation of harmonic generation microscopy (HGM) and a deep learning method, the margin assessment method can instantaneously and digitally determine whether a 3D image group generated by an HGM imaging system is a malignant tumor or the surrounding normal skin, so as to assist in determining margins of a lesion.

A method for illuminating samples in microscopic imaging methods, wherein a number m of different wavelengths λ.sub.i, with m>I and i=I, . . . , m, is selected for the illumination. For each of the wavelengths λ.sub.i a target phase function Δφ.sub.i(x, y, λ.sub.i) is predefined, wherein x and y denote spatial coordinates in a plane perpendicular to an optical axis z and each target phase function Δφ.sub.i(x, y, λ.sub.i) is effective only for the corresponding wavelength λ.sub.i. The target phase functions Δφ.sub.i are predefined depending on the structure of the sample and/or the beam shape and/or illumination light structure to be impressed on the light used for illumination. A total phase mask is then produced which realises all target phase functions Δφ.sub.i(x, y, λ.sub.i). This total phase mask is then illuminated simultaneously or successively with coherent light of wavelengths λ.sub.i such that the predefined structure of the illumination light is generated in the region of the sample.

Described herein are methods and systems for the optical imaging of a physical specimen of interest that is in contact with, or in close proximity to, the backplane of a high refractive index solid-immersion lens (SIL), wherein the specimen comprises features of interest that act as a local high-refractive index regions. The SIL lens preferably comprises fiducial markers.

The invention discloses a programmable annular LED illumination-based high efficiency quantitative phase microscopy imaging method, the proposed method comprising the following steps: the derivation of system optical transfer function in a partially coherent illumination imaging system; the derivation of phase transfer function with the weak object approximation under the illumination of tilted axially symmetric coherent point illumination source; the extension of illumination from an axially symmetric coherence point source to a discrete annular point source, and the optical transfer function can be treated as an incoherent superposition of each pair of tilted axially symmetric coherent point sources. The acquisition of raw intensity dataset; the implementation of deconvolution for quantitative phase reconstruction. The invention derives the system phase transfer function under the tilted axially symmetric point light source in the case of partially coherent illumination, and promotes the optical phase transfer function of the discrete annular point light source. The programmability characteristic of LED array enables the annular illumination aperture to be flexibly adjustable, being applicable to different microscopic objects with different numerical apertures, and improving the compatibility and flexibility of the system.