A method of ranking embryos to indicate their development potential. The method comprises: obtaining values for a plurality of characteristics relating to the morphological development of the embryos during an observation period; determining for respective ones of the embryos whether or not the embryo has undergone a direct cleavage event, and ranking the embryos determined to have undergone a direct cleavage event with a ranking that indicates a lower development potential than for the embryos not determined to have undergone a direct cleavage event; and for the embryos not determined to have undergone a direct cleavage event, determining whether or not a duration of a predefined developmental stage for the embryo exceeds a predefined threshold duration, and ranking embryos for which the duration of the predefined developmental stage is determined to exceed the predefined threshold duration with a ranking that indicates a lower development potential than for the embryos for which the duration of the predefined developmental stage is not determined to exceed the predefined threshold duration; and for the embryos for which the duration of the predefined developmental stage is not determined to exceed the predefined threshold duration, determining whether or not the relative durations of two predefined developmental stages for the embryo is outside a predefined range, and ranking embryos for which the relative durations of two predefined developmental stages for the embryo is outside a predefined range with a ranking that indicates a lower development potential than for the embryos for which the relative durations of two predefined developmental stages for the embryo is not outside the predefined range.

In order to generate rasterized images of a sample, a pixel size of image points of a rasterized image is set and photons emitted out of the sample which were detected, and for each of which a position of an effective local excitation of the sample for emitting the respective detected photon has been recorded are assigned to that image point of the rasterized image into which the position of the effective local excitation recorded for the respective detected photon falls. To set the pixel size of the image points to an optimized pixel size, the positions of the effective local excitation of the sample for emitting the detected photons are evaluated.

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.

In the scanning molecule counting method using optical measurement with a confocal or multiphoton microscope, there is provided a technique of computing a light-emitting particle concentration which changes with time and detecting a concentration change velocity or a reaction velocity. The inventive optical analysis technique of detecting light of light-emitting particles in a sample solution generates time series light intensity data of light from a light detection region detected with moving the position of the light detection region of the microscope in the sample solution; measures successively an interval of generation times of signals of the light-emitting particles detected in the time series light intensity data; and determines the concentration or concentration change velocity of the light-emitting particles, using the successively measured signal generation time intervals.

A noise reduction device capable of reducing noise over a wide frequency range and a detection apparatus including the same are provided. The noise reduction device includes a splitting unit configured to split pulsed light generated in a first period into three or more pulsed light beams, a delaying unit configured to provide the three or more pulsed light beams with different delay times, and a combining unit configured to combine the three or more pulsed light beams. Among the three or more pulsed light beams, two pulsed light beams whose delay times provided by the delaying unit are closest to each other are configured such that a difference between their delay times is equal to the first period.

A variable focal length (VFL) lens system is utilized to determine surface Z-height measurements of imaged surfaces. A controller of the system is configured to control a VFL lens (e.g., a tunable acoustic gradient index of refraction lens) to periodically modulate its optical power and thereby periodically modulate a focus position at a first operating frequency, wherein the periodically modulated VFL lens optical power defines a first periodic modulation phase. A phase timing signal is synchronized with a periodic signal in the controller that has the first operating frequency and that has a second periodic modulation phase that has a phase offset relative to the first periodic modulation phase. A phase offset compensating portion is configured to perform a phase offset compensating process that provides Z-height measurements, wherein at least one of Z-height errors or Z-height variations that are related to a phase offset contribution are at least partially eliminated.

An optical measurement device includes: an optical sensor that detects pulsed signal light and that outputs a detection signal formed of an exponential-function response; an A/D converter that samples the detection signal output from the optical sensor and that converts the detection signal into a digital signal; and a processor comprising hardware, the processor being configured to subject the digital signal output from the A/D converter to inverse transformation by using a multiple diagonal matrix, thus calculating an estimated pulse of the signal light.

An image reproducing device includes one or more processors. The processor acquires image group data including a plurality of images and tag information on at least one tag. The images relate to a biological sample along time series. The tag information relates to an operation on the biological sample and is associated with at least part of the images. The processor selects from the plurality of images using the tag information, images to be reproduced along the time series as reproduction selected images. The processor outputs to a display, data relating to the images for the reproduction selected images to be reproduced along time series.

Method for increasing the optical resolution of a stimulated emission depletion microscope, or STED microscope (Stimulated Emission Depletion), based on the modulation of the intensity of a STED beam on an arbitrary time scale during the acquisition of an image and the analysis of the induced dynamics, without increasing the intensity of the STED beam and in a simple and economic manner.

A fluorescence microscope includes excitation and de-excitation light sources designed to generate excitation and de-excitation light distributions, which excite and de-excite fluorophores present in a sample, respectively. An illumination unit is designed to combine the light distributions such that an intensity maximum of the excitation light distribution and an intensity minimum of the de-excitation light distribution are spatially superimposed on one another in an illumination target point. A detector is designed to detect the fluorescence photons as a function of their arrival times. The processor is designed to evaluate the detected fluorescence photons with respect to their arrival times and, based thereon, to control a delay which a light pulse or a light modulation of the de-excitation light distribution has at a position of the illumination target point in relation to a light pulse or a light modulation of the excitation light distribution.