Olympus Corporation

Yoshihisa Tanikawa

Yoshihiro Kawano

Tadashi Hirata

Atsuhiro Tsuchiya

Ryoji Hyodo

Tomoaki Sato

Nobuyuki Nagasawa

Chika Nakajima

Isao Ishibe

Akihiro Horii

Tatsuo Nakata

Kazuhiko Osa

Hiroya Fukuyama

Yasuaki Natori

Yoshiharu Saito

Yujin Arai

Masahiro Oba

Kazunari Tokuda

Mitsuhiro Hara

Hiroshi Tosaka

Ikuko Sakai

Seiya Takahashi

Kayuri Muraki

Tetsuya Koike

Nagasawa Nobuyuki

Dynamic movement of a specimen in a pressing direction and in directions intersecting the pressing direction is effectively suppressed, while maintaining the viability of the specimen. A stabilizer for in vivo examination that is placed in contact with a biological specimen during examination of the specimen to suppress movement thereof includes a contact-area increasing portion that is provided on a contact surface with the biological specimen and that is configured to increase the contact area with the biological specimen by virtue of a pressure applied during the contact.

Stabilizer for in vivo examination

An examination apparatus that observes a specimen in a stationary state while suppressing the blurring caused by a control delay. The apparatus includes a first optical system and a second optical system for imaging light produced in a specimen, a first image-acquisition unit with a plurality of first image-acquisition devices for detecting an image formed by the first optical system, a second image-acquisition unit with a second image-acquisition device for acquiring an image formed by the second optical system, and a driving unit that causes the images to be formed at the same position in the second image-acquisition unit. The value obtained by dividing the pixel size Y of the first image-acquisition devices by the magnification X of the first optical system is smaller than the value obtained by dividing the pixel size Y' of the second image-acquisition device by the magnification X&#x2032; of the second optical system.

Examination apparatus with multiple image acquisition devices

A clear image having suppressed blurring due to pulsing is obtained by in-vivo examination of biological tissue or various internal organs of mammals, including small laboratory animals. The invention provides an optical-scanning microscope examination apparatus including a light source; a light-transmitting member for transmitting light from the light source; a collimator optical system for converting the transmitted light to a collimated beam; a beam-scanning unit for scanning the collimated beam on a subject; a focusing optical system for focusing the scanned beam onto the subject; a pupil-projection optical system; a light detector for detecting return light returning from the subject via the focusing optical system, the pupil-projection optical system, the beam-scanning unit, the collimator optical system, and the light-transmitting member; an actuator for moving the collimator optical system in an optical-axis direction; a control apparatus for controlling driving thereof; and a deflecting mechanism for deflecting the light issuing from the light-transmitting member in a direction intersecting the optical axis thereof, wherein the actuator is disposed in a space parallel to a plane including optical axes before and after deflection by the deflecting mechanism.

Optical-scanning microscope examination apparatus

A scanning examination apparatusis provided, the apparatus including a detachable objective lensor, a scannerfor two-dimensionally scanning light F from a specimenfocused by the objective lensor, a scanner control devicefor controlling the operation of the scanner, and an optical detectorfor detecting light scanned by the scanner, wherein the scanner control devicechanges the scanning direction of the light F depending on an image formation mode of the light F at the objective lensorwhich is attached.

Scanning examination apparatus

An object is to easily and reliably reach an examination site. The present invention provides an examination method of carrying out in-vivo examination using an in-vivo examination apparatus capable of fluorescence examination and reflected-light examination and includes the steps of setting a reference position so as to set an examination site by carrying out reflected-light examination, switching from reflected-light examination to fluorescence examination, and moving from the reference position to the examination site.

In-vivo examination method and in-vivo examination apparatus

A microscope examination apparatus including a light source; an illumination optical system configured to guide light from the light source to a specimen; an objective lens configured to collimate return light from the specimen, the objective lens being provided in such a manner as to be displaceable at least in a direction intersecting an optical axis of the objective lens; an image-forming lens configured to image the return light from the specimen, which is collimated by the objective lens; an optical detector configured to detect the return light imaged by the image-forming lens; a microscope main body including the image-forming lens and the optical detector; and an objective-lens driving mechanism configured to drive the objective lens in a direction correcting image blur due to a displacement of the specimen.

Microscope examination apparatus

An in vivo examination apparatus including an objective unit capable of being readily replaced during examination is provided. The in vivo examination apparatus includes a main body, a vibration suppressor configured to suppress vibrations in an examination region of an object under examination, and an objective optical system configured to observe the examination region where the vibrations are suppressed. The objective optical system and the vibration suppressor are attached to the main body. The objective optical system is attachable to and detachable from the main body in a direction crossing an optical-axis direction of the objective optical system.

In vivo examination apparatus

When carrying out in vivo examination of a living organism, the behavior in the interior thereof is continuously observed with clear images. Provided is an in-vivo examination apparatuscomprising an optical unitincluding a light sourceand an image acquisition device; and an observation head, which is disposed with a gap with respect to the optical unitand which is fixed to a living organism A, wherein the optical unitincludes a first collimator optical systemfor converting light from the light sourceinto collimated light Land introducing it into the observation headand an image-forming optical systemfor focusing return light from the observation headto form an image at the image-acquisition device, and wherein the observation optical headincludes a second collimator optical systemfor focusing the collimated light Lincident from the optical unitto irradiate an examination target site B in the living organism A, as well as for converting return light from the living organism into collimated light Land introducing it into the optical unit

In-vivo examination apparatus

A focusing method for an examination apparatus that can quickly and easily perform focusing for fluoroscopy is provided. The focusing method, for an examination apparatus that can observe fluorescence emitted from a specimen, includes a first step of irradiating the specimen with light via an objective lens to generate reflected light and fluorescence; a second step of performing focusing with respect to the surface of the specimen using the reflected light from the specimen; and a third step of performing focusing for the fluorescence based on the focal position of the specimen surface in the second step.

Examination apparatus and focusing method of examination apparatus

It is possible to easily and accurately confirm the position of an optical axis of an objective lens relative to an examination site on a specimen, and positioning of the objective relative to the specimen can be carried out rapidly in a preparation stage. The invention provides scanning examination apparatus comprising a first light source; a light scanning unit configured to scan light from the first light source on a specimen; an objective lens configured to form an image of the light scanned in the light scanning unit at the specimen; a light-detecting unit configured to detect return light emitted from the specimen; a second light source configured to emit visible light; a deflecting optical element, disposed between the light scanning unit and the objective lens, for making visible light emitted from the second light source enter the objective lens along an optical axis of the objective lens; and a beam-shaping unit configured to form the visible light from the second light source, which is irradiated onto a surface of the specimen via the objective lens using the deflecting optical element, into a pattern that enables the optical axis of the objective lens to be indicated.

Scanning examination apparatus, lens unit, and objective-lens adaptor

The invention reduces the loss of fluorescence intensity obtained from a specimen to acquire clear fluorescence images when irradiating the specimen with ultrashort-pulse laser light produced by a laser light source. The invention provides a laser-scanning examination apparatus including a laser light source for producing ultrashort-pulse laser light; a laser light source for producing continuous-wave laser light; a measurement head including an optical scanning unit for scanning the laser light on a specimen and an objective optical system; an imaging unit for detecting return light from the specimen in response to the ultrashort-pulse laser light; and an imaging unit for detecting return light from the specimen in response to the continuous-wave laser light. The laser light sources and one imaging unit are connected to the measurement head by an optical fiber, and the other imaging unit is connected to the measurement head by another optical fiber with a larger core diameter.

Laser-scanning examination apparatus

When examining a living organism exhibiting dynamic behavior such as pulsing, the dynamic behavior is suppressed and clear images are acquired. The invention provides an objective lens unit including a lens barrel for supporting optical components, wherein an end surface of the lens barrel is disposed farther towards the distal side than an optical component at the extreme distal end, and channel-shaped indented portions extending in the diametrical direction are formed in the end surface of the lens barrel.

Objective lens unit, in-vivo examination apparatus and adaptor

The invention provides an optical-scanning examination apparatus with a simple configuration, in which the resolution of acquired images can be freely changed and in which the fluorescence image intensity and examination depth can be adjusted to suit the purpose of examination. The optical-scanning examination apparatus includes a light source unit; a focusing lens for forming a first intermediate image of excitation light; an imaging lens; a first objective lens; an optical fiber bundle; a second objective lens; and an imaging unit for imaging return light that returns via the second objective lens, the optical fiber bundle, the first objective lens, and the imaging lens. In addition, a scanning mirror device, which is disposed at the first intermediate image position, is formed of a plurality of mirrors that simultaneously receive the first intermediate image and that can be selectively turned on and off.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Yoshihisa Tanikawa