Confocal Microscope Apparatus

• US 20090010504A1
• Filed: 06/20/2006
• Published: 01/08/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Nikon Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nikon Corporation
• Inventors: Okugawa, Hisashi, Fukumoto, Kensaku
• Application Number:
  US11/817,405
• Publication Number:
  US 20090010504A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/128
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 21/008 Details of detection or image processing, including general computer control

Abstract

A confocal microscope apparatus capable of increasing a degree of freedom in varying sectioning resolution while keeping a configuration of a confocal microscope simple. The confocal microscope apparatus includes a confocal microscope capable of detecting two or more microscopic appearances with different sectioning and an arithmetic unit that performs arithmetic operations on data of the two or more microscopic appearances detected by the confocal microscope to create data of a microscopic appearance at sectioning resolution different from that of those microscopic appearances. Even if the number of actually measured microscopic appearances is two, it is possible to vary the diameter of a virtual-confocal diaphragm by performing arithmetic operations thereon, and therefore, an arbitrary sectioning resolution can be realized.

Claims

1. A confocal microscope apparatus comprising:

a confocal microscope capable of detecting two or more microscopic appearances with different sectioning; and

an arithmetical unit that performs arithmetic operations on data of the two or more microscopic appearances detected by said confocal microscope to create data of a microscopic appearance at sectioning resolution different from that of those microscopic appearances.

2. The confocal microscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

said confocal microscope detects a first microscopic appearance formed by light incident to a vicinity of a center of a confocal diaphragm and a second microscopic appearance formed by light incident to a periphery thereof, individually.

3. The confocal microscope apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

a storage unit that stores said first microscopic appearance data and said second microscopic appearance data, individually.

4. The confocal microscope apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:

said arithmetic operations include an arithmetic operation of weighted sum of said first microscopic appearance data and said second microscopic appearance data.

5. The confocal microscope apparatus according to claim 4, wherein:

when a weighting coefficient of said first microscopic appearance data is one, a weighting coefficient α

of said second microscopic appearance data is set in the range of 1≧

α

.

6. The confocal microscope apparatus according claim 2, wherein:

said arithmetic operations include an arithmetic operation of dividing said first microscopic appearance data by said second microscopic appearance data.