Laser-scanning microscope system
View Patent ↗Repeatability of control items is ensured by improving the precision of time control, and control details for the control items can be changed even when observation is underway. Provided is a laser-scanning microscope system including a microscope apparatus that scans a specimen surface with laser light from a laser light source by using a scanner; a hardware sequencer that controls the microscope apparatus so as to execute a control item that is set in an application program in correspondence with a time axis; and a software sequencer that manages control details for the control item that is set in the application program.
1. A laser-scanning microscope system comprising:
a microscope apparatus that scans a specimen surface with laser light from a laser light source by using a scanner;
a software sequencer that (i) reads out, from a memory, a control item set in an application program in correspondence with a time axis, and (ii) computes control data which controls the microscope apparatus, wherein the software sequencer does not execute the application program; and
a hardware sequencer including a start timer, a synchronizing signal generator, an interval timer, and a loop controller, wherein the hardware sequencer outputs a synchronizing signal for controlling the microscope apparatus so as to execute the control item that is set in the application program in correspondence with the time axis.
2. A laser-scanning microscope system according to claim 1 , wherein:
the hardware sequencer controls an execution time of the control item and a scanning mode of the scanner, and
the software sequencer manages a condition and a sequence of the control item.
3. A laser-scanning microscope system according to claim 1 , wherein:
the hardware sequencer generates an interrupt to the software sequencer just before a starting time of the control item, and
the software sequencer is capable of changing the control item until the starting time.
4. A laser-scanning microscope system according to claim 3 , wherein:
the interval timer of the hardware sequencer manages the starting time of the control item, and the hardware sequencer outputs the interrupt to the software sequencer at a predetermined period of time before the starting time, and
the software sequencer sends a next task to be executed by the microscope apparatus to the hardware sequencer after receiving the interrupt from the hardware sequencer.