A spectral imaging device (12) includes an image sensor (28), a tunable light source (14), an optical assembly (17), and a control system (30). The optical assembly (17) includes a first refractive element (24A) and a second refractive element (24B) that are spaced apart from one another by a first separation distance. The refractive elements (24A) (24B) have an element optical thickness and a Fourier space component of the optical frequency dependent transmittance function. Further, the element optical thickness of each refractive element (24A) (24B) and the first separation distance are set such that the Fourier space components of the optical frequency dependent transmittance function of each refractive element (24A) (24B) fall outside a Fourier space measurement passband.

The inventions provide microscopes for imaging samples within wells of multi-well plates. Microscopes of the disclosure include a beam homogenizer system that shapes a beam from a light source into a shape specific to the bottom of a well of a multi-well plate. In particular, microscopes of the disclosure can illuminate wells for imaging by passing light through a prism that is beneath the sample. The light enters the prism from the side and as refracted into the well at a steep angle such that the light only illuminates about a bottom ten microns of the well. The beam homogenizer shapes the light from the light source so that, instead of hitting the prism as a spot with an irregular shape, the light enters the prism in a substantially rectangular pattern with homogeneous optical power level over the pattern.

A differential interference imaging system capable of rapidly changing shear direction and amount includes: a light source (101), a filter (102), a polarizer (103), a sample stage (104), an infinite imaging microobjective (105), a tube lens (106), a shear component, an analyzer (113), and an image sensor (114). After the light intensity and a polarization direction is adjusted, the linearly polarized light passes through a transparent sample, to be collected by the infinite imaging microobjective (105) and to implement imaging through the tube lens (106). An imaging beam is divided into two linearly polarized light fields which are perpendicular to each other in the polarization directions and have tiny shear amount, then they are further combined into an interference light filed by the analyzer (103) to form a differential interference image in the image sensor (114). The system may be flexibly assembled, is simple in structure and easy to implement.

An imaging microscope (12) for generating an image of a sample (10) comprises a beam source (14) that emits a temporally coherent illumination beam (20), the illumination beam (20) including a plurality of rays that are directed at the sample (10); an image sensor (18) that converts an optical image into an array of electronic signals; and an imaging lens assembly (16) that receives rays from the beam source (14) that are transmitted through the sample (10) and forms an image on the image sensor (18). The imaging lens assembly (16) can further receive rays from the beam source (14) that are reflected off of the sample (10) and form a second image on the image sensor (18). The imaging lens assembly (16) receives the rays from the sample (10) and forms the image on the image sensor (18) without splitting and recombining the rays.

Provided are an improved holographic reconstruction apparatus and method. A holographic reconstruction method includes: obtaining an object hologram of a measurement target object; extracting reference light information from the obtained object hologram; calculating a wavenumber vector constant of the extracted reference light information, and generating digital reference light by calculating a compensation term of the reference light information by using the calculated wavenumber vector constant; extracting curvature aberration information from the object hologram, and then generating digital curvature in which a curvature aberration is compensated for; calculating a compensated object hologram by multiplying the compensation term of the reference light information by the obtained object hologram; extracting phase information of the compensated object hologram; and reconstructing 3-dimensional (3D) shape information and quantitative thickness information of the measurement target object by calculating the quantitative thickness information of the measurement target object by using the extracted phase information of the compensated object hologram.

An observation apparatus including: a top plate on which a container in which a specimen is accommodated can be placed, and through which illumination light can pass; a light source that emits the illumination light upward from below the specimen; an objective lens that focuses, below the specimen and the top plate, transmitted light which is the illumination light that has passed through the specimen from thereabove and that has passed through the top plate; and a camera that captures the transmitted light, wherein the light source emits the illumination light toward an area above the specimen from outside the objective lens in a radial direction, and the top plate is provided with a mark that specifies a viewing-field area of the camera.

The invention relates to a light shielding device for a microscope and a microscope including the same. In the microscope, transmitting illumination light from a transmitting illumination light source (1) is irradiated from above a stage (3) to a specimen on the stage and fluorescent illumination light from a fluorescent illumination light source is irradiated from below the stage to the specimen on the stage. The light shielding device (20) may be mounted to a lower end portion of a condenser (2) of the microscope to at least partially block ambient light entering an objective (4) of the microscope. The light shielding device may comprise a light shield (21) and a mounting mechanism configured to mount the light shield below the lower end portion of the condenser in a manually removable manner, and/or the light shield comprises a through hole (23) and a light shielding portion surrounding the through hole. The through hole is configured to allow all or part of the transmitting illumination light to pass through the light shield, and a filter may be provided at the through hole.

A differential interference imaging system capable of rapidly changing shear direction and amount includes: a light source (101), a filter (102), a polarizer (103), a sample stage (104), an infinite imaging microobjective (105), a tube lens (106), a shear component, an analyzer (113), and an image sensor (114). After the light intensity and a polarization direction is adjusted, the linearly polarized light passes through a transparent sample, to be collected by the infinite imaging microobjective (105) and to implement imaging through the tube lens (106). An imaging beam is divided into two linearly polarized light fields which are perpendicular to each other in the polarization directions and have tiny shear amount, then they are further combined into an interference light filed by the analyzer (103) to form a differential interference image in the image sensor (114). The system may be flexibly assembled, is simple in structure and easy to implement.

An IR microscope includes an IR light source/interferometer (1) generating a collimated IR beam (26), an effectively beam-limiting element (8) in a stop plane (27), a sample position (15), a detector (19) having an IR sensor (19a), a detector stop (19b), a first optical device focusing the collimated IR beam onto the sample position, and a second optical device imaging the sample position onto the IR sensor. The effectively beam-limiting element is situated in the collimated IR beam. The first and second optical devices image the detector stop opening into an input beam plane. For the area A1 of the image of the detector stop opening in the input beam plane and the area A2 of the cross section of the collimated IR beam in the input beam plane: 0<A1/A2≤1. Thereby, only collimated IR radiation is picked up, while vignetting and stray radiation are avoided.

Methods, apparatus and systems that relate to a portable chromatic light microscope are described. One example chromatic light microscope includes a light source including light producing elements that produce non-monochromatic output light that can be modulated. The chromatic light microscope further includes an illumination subsection to receive light that is output from the light source. The illumination subsection includes one or more lenses to spatially disperse spectral contents of the light that is received by the illumination subsection and to deliver light having chromatic aberration to a target object. The chromatic light microscope also includes an imaging subsection that includes one or more lenses to receive scattered light from the target object and to deliver the same to a sensor, and a linear variable filter to selectively pass a portion of the light having a particular spectral range of wavelengths to the sensor.