A method of spatially measuring a plurality of nano-scale structures in a sample comprises the steps of: marking the individual structures at different locations with fluorescent markers, coupling the individual structures to individual positioning aids whose positions in the sample are known, exciting the fluorescent markers with excitation light for emission of fluorescence light, wherein an intensity distribution of the excitation light has a local minimum, arranging the local minimum at different positions in a close-up range around the position of respective positioning aid whose dimensions are not larger than the diffraction limit at the wavelength of the excitation light, registering the fluorescence light emitted out of the sample separately for the individual fluorescent markers and for the different positions of the minimum, and determining positions of the individual fluorescent markers in the sample from the intensities of the fluorescence light registered.

There are provided a microscope apparatus, an observation method, and a microscope apparatus-control program that can more efficiently perform auto-focus control and can shorten an imaging time in a case where a culture vessel is to be scanned by an image forming optical system and the auto-focus control is to be performed at each observation position. Focus information of a culture vessel is detected by a first displacement sensor and a second displacement sensor while a stage is moved to a scanning measurement position from an initial set position, and an auto-focus control unit performs auto-focus control at every observation position on the basis of the focus information in a case where the stage has been moved to the scanning measurement position.

The present invention concerns a method for generating a pattern of light, this method comprising the following steps: a) emitting an input laser pulse (P1), b) deflecting the input laser pulse (P1) by a first deflector (22) to obtain a first laser pulse, c) deflecting the first laser pulse (P3) by a second deflector (24) to obtain a second laser pulse (P4), and d) focusing the pulse (P4) by an optical element characterized in that: —the first deflector (22) shapes the first laser pulse (P3) according to a first function, —the second deflector (24) shapes the second laser pulse (P4) according to a second function, and —the first function f(x) and the second function g(y) are computed and/or optimized to obtain the desired pattern of light.

Method for determining the characteristics of a system for generating at least one pattern of light, the method comprising: a) providing a desired pattern of light, b) expressing the amplitude and the phase of the output pulse of the system as a function of the input laser pulse and in function of the characteristics of the system to obtain a calculated output pulse, the input laser pulse having a duration below or equal to 1 nanosecond, c) determining at least one characteristic of the system by minimizing a distance between the calculated output pulse and the desired output laser pulse.

A confocal microscope is provided that includes one or more lasers focused by an optical system into a line on the surface of a sample mounted to a stage. The microscope further includes at least one linear array detector that is optically conjugated to the focused line. The stage permits movement of the sample with respect to all other components of the microscope, which remain stationary.

Disclosed herein are systems for imaging of samples using an array of micro optical elements and methods of their use. In some embodiments, an optical chip comprising an array of micro optical elements moves relative to an imaging window and a detector in order to scan over a sample to produce an image. A focal plane can reside within a sample or on its surface during imaging. Detecting optics are used to detect back-emitted light collected by an array of micro optical elements that is generated by an illumination beam impinging on a sample. In some embodiments, an imaging system has a large field of view and a large optical chip such that an entire surface of a sample can be imaged quickly. In some embodiments, a sample is accessible by a user during imaging due to the sample being exposed while disposed on or over an imaging window.

A microscopic examination device includes: a camera that images an observation area of an examination subject observed with a microscope device so as to acquire an image of the observation area; and one or more processors including hardware, the one or more processors being configured to: align the image of the observation area with an area in a reference image, the area corresponding to the image of the observation area; generate a navigation map from the reference image by recording, on the reference image, a position of the image of the observation area in the reference image; calculate a direction of movement to an unobserved area in the navigation map, the unobserved area being an area where the position of the image of the observation area is not recorded; and present an access method to the unobserved area on a basis of the direction of movement.

A mobile phone-based miniature microscopic image acquisition device, and image stitching and recognition methods are provided. The acquisition device comprises a support, wherein a mobile phone fixing table is provided on the support. A microscope head is provided below a camera of a mobile phone. A slide holder is provided below the microscope head, and an lighting source is provided below the slide holder. A scanning movement is performed between the slide holder and the microscope head along X and Y axes, so that images of a slide are acquired into the mobile phone. The slide sample images acquired into the mobile phone can be stitched and recognized, and can be uploaded to the cloud to be processed by cloud AI, thereby significantly improving the accuracy and efficiency of cell recognition, greatly reducing the medical cost, and ensuring more remote medical institutions can apply such technology for diagnosis.

An arrangement for use in illuminating a sample in SPIM microscopy includes an illumination objective configured to receive and focus a light strip or a quasi-light strip. The quasi-light strip is made up of a light bundle continuously moved back and forth in a light-strip plane. A deflection apparatus is configured to deflect the light strip or the quasi-light strip, after the light strip or the quasi-light strip has passed through the illumination objective, in such a way that the light strip or the quasi-light strip propagates at an angle different from zero degrees with respect to an optical axis of the illumination objective. The illumination objective and the deflection apparatus are arranged movably relative to one another.

A microscope including an illumination objective with a first optical axis, embodied to produce a light sheet, and a detection objective with a second optical axis, embodied to detect light coming from the specimen plane. The illumination objective and the detection objective are aligned relative to one another and the specimen plane so that the first and second optical axes intersect in the specimen plane and include a substantially right angle therebetween. The optical axes each include an angle which differs from zero with a reference axis directed orthogonal to the specimen plane. An overview illumination apparatus for wide-field illumination of the specimen plane, includes an illumination optical unit with a third optical axis. The characterizing feature is that the detection objective is provided to detect both light from the light sheet and light from the illumination optical unit. A method is also provided for operating a light sheet microscope.