Method and arrangement for the controlled actuation of a microscope, in particular of a laser scanning microscope

Abstract

Method for actuation control of a microscope, in particular of a Laser Scanning Microscope, in which, at least one first illumination light, preferably moving at least in one direction, as well as at least one second illumination light moving at least in one direction, illuminate a sample through a beam combination, a detection of the light coming from the sample takes place, whereby, at least one part of the illumination light is generated through the splitting of the light from a common illuminating unit, characterized in that, by means of a common control unit, a controlled splitting into the first and the second illumination light takes place, in which the intensity of the first illuminating light, specified by the user or specified automatically, is assigned a higher priority (is prioritized) compared to the specified value for the second illumination light, and an adjustment for the second illumination light takes place until a maximum value is obtained, which is determined by the value specified for the first illumination light.

1 - 34 . (canceled)  
   
   
       35 . Method for actuation control of a microscope in which, a first illumination light moves at least in a first direction, and a second illumination light moves at least in a second direction, the first and second illumination lights illuminating a sample through a beam combination, the method comprising the steps of: 
 generating at least one part of the first and second illuminating lights by splitting the light from a common illuminating unit, in which the intensity of the first illuminating light, specified by a user or specified automatically, is assigned a higher priority compared to the specified value for the second illumination light, and an adjustment for the second illumination light takes place until a maximum value is obtained, which is determined by the value specified for the first illumination light; and detecting the light coming from the illuminated sample.    
   
   
       36 . The method for actuation control of a microscope according to  claim 35 , further comprising the steps of moving the first and second illumination lights through the sample.  
   
   
       37 . The method for actuation control of a microscope according to  claim 35 , wherein before the adjustment of the second illumination light, a change in the distribution ratio of the light from the illumination unit takes place.  
   
   
       38 . The method for the actuation control of a microscope  claim 35 , wherein, besides the splitting, intensity modulation takes place.  
   
   
       39 . The method for actuation control of a microscope according to  claim 35 , further comprising the steps of providing a first imaging system and a second manipulating system.  
   
   
       40 . The method for actuation control of a microscope according to  claim 39 , whereby the imaging system is chosen from the group consisting of a wide-field microscope, a point scanning, a line scanning microscope, a microscope scanning with point-distribution; and a Nipkow microscope.  
   
   
       41 . The method for actuation control of a microscope according to  claim 35 , wherein the first and second illuminating lights have same wavelengths and are divided.  
   
   
       42 . The method for the actuation control of a microscope according to  claim 35 , wherein common illumination from the illumination lights takes place in the same or different regions of the sample.  
   
   
       43 . A light raster microscope comprising: 
 a beam combiner for bringing together at least one first illumination light moving in a first direction as well as at least one second illumination light moving in a second direction, for the illumination of a sample;    at least one detection unit for the detection of the light coming from the sample;    an illumination unit for the generation of at least one part of the illumination light by means of splitting the light into the first and the second illumination lights;    an actuation control unit for controlling the splitting of the illumination light of the illumination unit by assigning priority to the intensity of the first illumination light specified by a user or automatically compared to the value specified for the second illumination light and making adjustment for the second illumination light until a maximum value is obtained, the maximum value being determined by the value specified for the first illumination light.    
   
   
       44 . The light raster microscope according to  claim 43 , further comprising means for the adjustment of the intensity of at least the first or the second illumination unit.  
   
   
       45 . The light raster microscope according to  claim 43 , further comprising an imaging first system and a manipulating second system.  
   
   
       46 . The light raster microscope according to  claim 45 , wherein the imaging system is selected from the group consisting essentially of a wide-field microscope, a point-scanning, a line-scanning microscope, a microscope scanning with point-distribution, and a Nipkow microscope.  
   
   
       47 . The light raster microscope according to  claim 45 , whereby the manipulating system is a point-scanner.  
   
   
       48 . The light raster microscope according to  claim 43 , wherein a tunable laser is split into at least two channels.  
   
   
       49 . The light raster microscope according to  claim 43 , wherein before the splitting, combining with at least one or more lasers takes place.  
   
   
       50 . The light raster microscope according to  claim 43 , further comprising means for adjusting the intensity and/or the wavelength and/or the polarization of at least one of the first and second illumination lights.  
   
   
       51 . The light raster microscope according to  claim 43 , further comprising means for optically coupling one of the split illumination canals with another light raster microscope and/or an optical manipulation unit.  
   
   
       52 . A light raster microscope system comprising: 
 a first light raster microscope; and    a second light raster microscope and/or an optical manipulation unit, each of the raster microscopes and/or the manipulation unit illuminating a sample simultaneously and/or alternately, wherein the illumination unit from the first and/or the second light raster microscope and/or the manipulation unit is optically split and serves in each case the purpose of illuminating the other light raster microscope and/or the manipulation unit.    
   
   
       53 . The light raster microscope system of  claim 52  wherein at least one of the first and second raster microscopes and the manipulation unit comprises: 
 a beam combiner for bringing together at least one first illumination light moving in a first direction as well as at least one second illumination light moving in a second direction, for the illumination of a sample;    at least one detection unit for the detection of the light coming from the sample;    an illumination unit for the generation of at least one part of the illumination light by means of splitting the light into the first and the second illumination lights; and    an actuation control unit for controlling the splitting of the illumination light of the illumination unit by assigning priority to the intensity of the first illumination light specified by a user or automatically compared to the value specified for the second illumination light and making adjustment for the second illumination light until a maximum value is obtained, the maximum value being determined by the value specified for the first illumination light.    
   
   
       54 . Light raster microscope according to  claim 52 , further comprising optical fibers for optically coupling with the respective second system.