MULTIMODAL MICROSCOPIC SYSTEMS

Abstract

Disclosed are multimodal microscopic systems (1). In a first aspect, the system (1) comprises at least a first base unit (2) comprising at least one electrical and/or optical base component (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19), at least one scan unit (4) comprising at least one scan component (20, 21, 22) and at least one detection unit (5) comprising at least one detection component (7, 8, 9, 10, 11). The at least one base component (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19), the at least one scan component (20, 21, 22) and the at least one detection component (7, 8, 9, 10, 11) are operatively coupled to each other such that at least one base components (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) and/or at least one scan components (20, 21, 22) and/or at least one detection components (7, 8, 9, 10, 11) is jointly useable for more than one modality. In further aspects, the system (1) comprises a beam combiner (26) which is arranged to superimpose the electromagnetic waves emitted by the electromagnetic wave sources (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) and/or a beam splitter (27) which is arranged to split the electromagnetic waves emitted by a probe (50) into a plurality of partial electromagnetic waves.

Claims

1-16. (canceled)

17. A multimodal microscopic system comprising: at least one first base unit comprising at least one electrical and/or optical base component; at least one scan unit comprising at least one scan component; and wherein at least one detection unit comprising at least one detection component, the scan unit and/or the detection unit is connected to the first base unit, wherein the at least one base component, the at least one scan component and the at least one detection component are operatively coupled to each other such that at least one base component and/or at least one scan component and/or at least one detection component is jointly useable for more than one modality.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the at least one first base unit comprises at least two electrical and/or optical base components.

19. The system according to claim 17, wherein the at least one scan unit comprises at least two scan components.

20. The system according to claim 17, wherein the at least one detection unit comprises at least two detection components.

21. The system according to claim 17, wherein the scan unit and/or the detection unit is freely movable.

22. The system according to claim 17, wherein the scan unit and/or the detection unit is connected to the first base unit via at least one flexible connecting line.

23. The system according to claim 17, wherein the first base unit comprises at least two base components which are electromagnetic wave sources and usable for different modalities.

24. The system according to claim 23, wherein the first base unit comprises at least one electromagnetic wave source which is used for at least two modalities.

25. The system according to claim 23, wherein at least a portion of the at least one electromagnetic wave source is contained in the scan unit.

26. The system according to claim 17, wherein a laser amplifier and/or a frequency converter is contained in the scan unit.

27. The system according to claim 17, wherein the detection unit has at least one detection component selected from the group consisting of a photodetector, a single photon counter, an optical spectrometer, an optical power meter and a camera.

28. The system according to claim 17, wherein the detection unit is arranged in said first base unit or arranged in a second base unit different from the first base unit or associated with a respective scan unit.

29. The system according to claim 17, wherein the scan unit includes optical scan components such as an objective or an optical fiber coupling for directing analysis light to a probe.

30. The system according to claim 29, whereby the optical scan component is arranged in the scan unit in such a way that a signal emitted from the probe is transmitted back to the detection unit.

31. The system according to claim 17, wherein at least one of said scan units comprises an excitation emission filter which is arranged such that a signal emitted from a probe is filtered by means of said filter.

32. The system according to claim 17, further comprising a switching unit to selectively transmit a signal emitted from a probe to one of the detection units depending on the chosen modality.

33. The system according to claim 17, wherein the first base unit comprises at least one of electronics, software and power supplies.

34. A multimodal microscopic system comprising: at least a first base unit comprising a plurality of electromagnetic wave sources; and at least one scan unit which is freely movable, wherein said scan unit is connected to the first base unit via a flexible connecting line, wherein the system further comprises a beam combiner which is arranged to superimpose the electromagnetic waves emitted by the electromagnetic wave sources to provide a superimposed electromagnetic wave which is transmittable to the scan unit.

35. A multimodal microscopic system comprising: at least a first base unit comprising a plurality of electromagnetic wave sources; at least two detection units; and a beam splitter which is arranged to split the electromagnetic waves emitted by a probe into a plurality of partial electromagnetic waves and to transmit the partial electromagnetic waves to respective detection units.

36. The system as in claim 35, wherein at least two of the detection units are adapted for the detection of different modalities.

Description

[0051] The invention and its advantages will be explained in more detail below with reference to two embodiments, which are illustrated in the following schematic drawings. In the drawings,

[0052] FIG. 1: shows a first embodiment of a multimodal microscopic system according to the invention;

[0053] FIG. 2: shows a second embodiment of a multimodal microscopic system according to the invention.

[0054] The multimodal microscopic system 1 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a first base unit 2 (hereafter referred to as base unit 2), a scan unit 4 and a detection unit 5.

[0055] The base unit 2 contains several light sources for different modalities: a laser source 14, a light source 15 for fluorescence imaging, a laser 16 for Raman scattering, a light source 17 for Optical Coherent Tomography (OCT), an amplifier pump laser 18 and a white light source 19. The base unit 2 additionally comprises electronics 23, software 24 and power supplies 25.

[0056] The scan unit 4 contains several scan components: a light amplifier (in particular a laser amplifier) and/or frequency converter 20, transfer/scan optics 21 and an excitation emission filter 22. Each light source 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 is connected to the scan unit 4 via a separate flexible connecting line 6, for example a fiber optic cable. Thus, each of the light sources 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 is operatively connected to one and the same set of scan components 20, 21, 22 so that the different modalities associated with the light sources 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 can be provided with this single set of scan components 20, 21, 22. Providing the laser amplifier and/or the frequency converter in the scan unit 4 has the advantage that mirror arms as disclosed for example in US 2013/0088709 A1 can be dispensed with.

[0057] The scan unit 4 further includes an objective 12 for directing analysis light to a probe 50. In more detail, the objective 12 is arranged in the scan unit 4 in such a way that a signal emitted from the probe is transmitted back through the objective 12. In an alternative embodiment, the objective 12 may be replaced by fiber optics. The filter 22 is arranged such that the signal emitted from the probe 50 is filtered by means of said filter 22. The scan unit 4 is also connected to the base unit 2 via electrical cables 29 which supply the scan unit 4 with power and which control the scan unit 4.

[0058] The detection unit 5 is operatively connected with the scan unit 4 and contains several detection components: a photodetector 7, a single photon counter 8, an optical spectrometer 9, an optical power meter 10 and a fluorescence camera 11. Both the scan unit 4 and the detection unit 5 are freely movable in six degrees of freedom. Each detection component 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 is connected to the scan unit 4 via a separate flexible connecting line 28, for example a fiber optic cable. Thus, each detection component 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 is operatively connected to one and the same set of scan components 20, 21, 22 so that the different modalities associated with the detection components 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 can be provided with this single set of scan components 20, 21, 22. Alternatively, the light emitted from light source 17 may be emitted directly onto the probe 50. The detection unit 5 is also connected to the base unit 2 via electrical cables 30 which supply the detection unit 5 with power and which control the detection unit 5. Alternatively, the detection unit 5 may by supplied with power from a different source and/or controlled in a wireless manner, for example by an app.

[0059] The system 1 further comprises a switching unit 3 allowing to selectively transmit the signal emitted from the probe 50 to the detection unit 5 depending on the chosen modality. FIG. 1 shows several positions in which the switching unit 3 may be arranged: inside the excitation emission filter 22, inside the scan unit 4 between the excitation emission filter 22, inside the scan unit 4 between the excitation emission filter 22 and the detection unit 5, between the scan unit 4 and the detection unit 5, or inside the detection unit 5 between the scan unit 4 and the detection components 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.

[0060] The second multimodal microscopic system 1 shown in FIG. 2 comprises a beam combiner 26 which is arranged to superimpose the electromagnetic waves emitted by the electromagnetic wave sources 14, 15, 16 to provide a superimposed electromagnetic wave which is transmittable to the scan unit 4 via a common optical fiber 6.

[0061] The system 1 shown in FIG. 2 further comprises a beam splitter 27 which is arranged to split the electromagnetic waves emitted by the probe 50 into a plurality of partial electromagnetic waves and to transmit the partial electromagnetic waves to respective detection units 4. In addition to a spatial splitting, the partial electromagnetic waves may also be split according to their wavelengths. At least two of the detections units 4 are adapted for the detection of different modalities.