Slide photograph data creation system, and slide photograph data

• US 20060228107A1
• Filed: 10/04/2005
• Published: 10/12/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Claro Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Direct Communications, Inc.
• Inventors: Sato, Tatsusuke, Takamatsu, Terumasa, Yasuike, Hidekatsu, Nozaka, Hiroyuki, Miura, Tomisato, Miura, Hiromi, Zhongxi, Zheng
• Granted Patent: US 7,426,345 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 396/432
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 1/312 for samples mounted on planar substrates
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 21/367 providing an output produced by processing a plurality of individual source images, e.g. image tiling, montage, composite images, depth sectioning, image comparison

Abstract

A slide photograph data creation system includes a digital camera for making high-magnification photographs of samples, a sample transporter for holding and transporting samples, a controller for controlling the camera and the sample transporter so as to provide overlapping photographs, a pasting information generator for recognizing the margin by which the photographs overlap and for generating pasting-together information, and a photograph file generator for storing in a single file a plurality of high-magnification photographs and the pasting-together information. The system facilitates the examination and photography of large numbers of samples, and enables discrimination of the three-dimensional structure of a sample. Since the photographic data is managed with a database, virtual slide photographs and their attributes information can be browsed over a network or the Internet.

Claims

1. A slide photograph data creation system, comprising:

digital photography means provided in a microscope, for photographing high-magnification photographs of samples;

sample transport means capable of moving three-dimensionally, for holding and transporting said samples;

photography control means for controlling said digital photography means to photograph a plurality of said high-magnification photographs, and for controlling said sample transport means to successively move said samples perpendicularly to an optical axis of said microscope to provide a margin for pasting photographs, said margin being located where one of said photographs partly overlaps with another of said photographs;

pasting information generation means for recognizing said margin by photograph processing from said plurality of high-magnification photographs, and for generating pasting information of said plurality of high-magnification photographs; and

photograph file generation means for storing in one file said plurality of high-magnification photographs and said pasting-together information.

2. The slide photograph data creation system according to claim 1, wherein said sample transport means moves said sample such that said plurality of photographs are photographed at a prescribed interval while moving said sample minutely in a direction parallel to an optical axis of said microscope.

3. The slide photograph data creation system according to claim 1, further comprising focal position detection means for detecting a position where focus of said microscope is matched in a direction parallel to an optical axis of said microscope.

4. The slide photograph data creation system according to claim 1, further comprising thumbnail photograph generation means for generating reduced-size photographs of an entire photograph by pasting together said high-magnification photographs.

5. The slide photograph data creation system according to claim 1, further comprising external digital camera means for photographing said samples.

6. The slide photograph data creation system according to claim 5, wherein said photographs made by said external digital camera, and said plurality of high-magnification photographs, and said pasting information are stored by being combined in a single motion picture file.

7. The slide photograph data creation system according to claim 5, further comprising photographic area automatic recognition means for automatically determining, from a photograph made by said external digital camera, an area to photograph said high-magnification photograph.

8. The slide photograph data creation system according to claim 7, further comprising photographic area semi-automatic recognition means for list-displaying said external digital camera photographs of plural samples together with a photographic area recognized by said photographic area automatic recognition means, to enable a user to correct said photographic area.

9. The slide photograph data creation system according to claim 1, further comprising photograph publishing means for registering files of said photographs in a database, and for enabling searching and referencing of said photographs over a network.

10. The slide photograph data creation system according to claim 1, wherein said sample transport means comprises:

a first guide member in a fixed position on a stand;

a first movable body, supported to be guided on said first guide member, and capable of horizontal movement in a front-back direction of said stand;

a second guide member on said first movable body;

a second movable body, supported to be guided on said second guide member, and capable of horizontal movement in a left-right direction of said stand;

a preparate holding hand, capable of ascending and descending movement on said second movable body, comprising a pair of finger parts for respectively supporting two ends of a sample horizontally from beneath, and a suction hole, provided on an upper side of at least one of said finger parts, communicating with a negative pressure source for suction-holding said sample;

a third guide member in a fixed position on said stand; and

a third movable body, supported to be guided on said third guide member and capable of ascending and descending movement on said stand.

11. The slide photograph data creation system according to claim 10, further comprising a sample storage magazine, supported on said third movable body and comprising a pair of side wall plates having plural sample holding slots arranged in parallel vertically for holding each end of said sample, and capable of receiving plural preparates arranged vertically in a shelf-like manner at a vertical spacing such that said finger parts can be inserted and removed.

12. The slide photograph data creation system according to claim 11, wherein said sample storage magazine is capable of being attached to and detached from said third movable body.

13. The slide photograph data creation system according to claim 11, wherein said sample storage magazine comprises:

an attachment/detachment lever capable of being manually switched for displacement between a locked position for fixing said magazine to said third movable body, and an unlocked position for releasing said magazine from said third movable body; and

a movable stopper operationally linked to said displacement of the attachment/detachment lever for preventing release of said samples from the magazine when said attachment/detachment lever is in the unlocked position, and for enabling insertion and removal of said samples when said attachment/detachment lever is in the locked position.

14. The slide photograph data creation system according to claim 1, wherein slide photograph data comprising said plurality of high-magnification photographs and said pasting information are collected and stored in a motion picture file.