Olympus Corporation

Katashi Ishihara

Hiroyuki Kimura

Kenichi Kusaka

Hitoshi Hatano

An improved laser scanning microscope and method of use are disclosed that enable polarization anisotropy measurements to be made with greater sensitivity and accuracy. A controllable optical element is provided in a light path between a laser source and a sample, and is controlled so that the sample is alternately irradiated with light beams that are orthogonally polarized. This enables the signal strength to be higher than with previous laser scanning microscopes. Moreover, because the orthogonally polarized light beams that are alternately incident onto a sample may be switched at a high rate, a reduction may be achieved in the influence of molecular motion within a sample in which high speed biological reactions are observed.

Laser scanning microscope that includes a scanning device and at least one controllable optical element that controls the polarization plane of light incident onto a sample, and method of use

Provided is a scanning laser microscope including a first laser light source for emitting ultrashort pulsed laser light; a scanning unit for two-dimensionally scanning the ultrashort pulsed laser light on a specimen; a second laser light source for emitting continuous laser light; an irradiation-position adjusting unit for performing two-dimensional adjustment of an irradiation position of the continuous laser light on the specimen; an objective lens for focusing the ultrashort pulsed laser light and the continuous laser light onto the specimen and for collecting fluorescence generated in the specimen; a light-detecting unit for detecting the fluorescence, which is split off from a light path between the objective lens and the scanning unit; and a continuous-laser-light switching unit for permitting radiation of the continuous laser light when the light-detecting unit is not detecting required fluorescence from the specimen on the basis of the ultrashort pulsed laser light.

Growing community of inventors

Center Valley, PA, United States of America

Katashi Ishihara