Method for operating a microscopy system, microscopy system, and calibration method for a microscopy system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024111143-A1
Application number	US-202318532818-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 7, 2023
Priority date	Jun 7, 2021
Publication date	Apr 4, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method for operating a microscopy system includes irradiating a region segment of a first region by a light source with light at a first wavelength λ 1 and a first luminous intensity L 1 , determining a substance-specific parameter within the region segment as a response to being irradiated by the light source, and repeating the steps for all region segments within the first region. In addition, the disclosure relates to a microscopy system, and a calibration method for a microscopy system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for operating a microscopy system, the method comprising:
(1) irradiating a region segment of a first region by a light source with light at a first wavelength λ 1 and a first luminous intensity; (2) determining a substance-specific parameter within the region segment as a response to being irradiated by the light source; and (3) repeating steps (1) and (2) for all region segments within the first region.

2 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each region segment is assigned to a first class or to a second class based on the substance-specific parameter, and
wherein the first and second classes are assigned to the respective region segments and stored in a data memory.

3 . The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the substance-specific parameter is determined with an observation light filter having a substance-specific transmission characteristic.

4 . The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the substance-specific transmission characteristic of the observation light filter is embodied such that at least 95%, or at least 98%, of a component of the light transmitted through the observation light filter is in a wavelength range from approximately 615 nm to approximately 740 nm, or in a wavelength range from approximately 620 nm to approximately 660 nm.

5 . The method as claimed in claim 4 , further comprising:
performing spectroscopic measurements, with results of determining the substance-specific parameters of the region segments being taken into consideration.

6 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
creating a second image of the first region based on the substance-specific parameters of individual region segments; creating a third image of a second region with a recording apparatus, wherein the first region and the second region are at least partly identical; and displaying the second image and the third image in superimposed fashion on a display apparatus.

7 . The method as claimed in claim 6 , wherein a resolution of the second image is lower than the resolution of the third image.

8 . The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the second image and/or the third image are updated by repeating respective steps required to create the respective image, and
wherein a frequency of repetitions defines an update rate corresponding to the respective image.

9 . The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the update rate of the second image is lower than the update rate of the third image.

10 . The method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the second image is only updated when there is a spatial displacement and/or a change in the first region and/or in one of the region segments.

11 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the substance-specific parameter is determined with a detector or with a photoelectron multiplier.

12 . The method as claimed in claim 11 , further comprising:
calibrating the detector and/or a recording apparatus.

13 . The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the substance-specific parameter is a fluorescence lifetime and/or a substance concentration of a fluorophore.

14 . The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the substance-specific parameter for a region segment assigned to the first class is larger than the substance-specific parameter for a region segment assigned to the second class.

15 . The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the assignment to the first class and/or to the second class is performed based on a comparison of the substance-specific parameter with a specified threshold value and/or a classification determined by a computer-implemented method.

16 . The method as claimed in claim 6 , further comprising:
displaying the second image and/or the third image on the display apparatus.

17 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
selectively setting a focal depth of a surgical microscope.

18 . The method as claimed in claim 6 , wherein a superimposition of the second image and the third image on and/or the superimposition of the second image and the third image with topography data is calculated by a data processing unit or is realized with color blending.

19 . A microscopy system, comprising:
a surgical microscope; at least one light source configured to irradiate a region to be examined; a beam guiding unit configured to guide, input couple, and collimate a beam from the light source, the light source including a plurality of optical elements; a control device configured to control the optical elements in the beam guiding unit; a detector and/or a recording apparatus configured to detect the light emitted by the irradiated region to be examined; a data memory; and a data processing unit, wherein the beam guiding unit is configured to steer the beam from the light source in raster-like fashion over the region to be examined and to steer the light emitted by the irradiated region to be examined to the detector and/or the recording apparatus, and wherein, based on the beam from the light source, the data processing unit is configured to: (a) irradiate a region segment of a first region using a light source with light at a first wavelength and a first luminous intensity, (b) determine a substance-specific parameter within the region segment as a response to being irradiated by the light source, and (c) repeat steps (a) and (b) for all region segments within the first region.

20 . The microscopy system as claimed in claim 19 , further comprising:
a modulator configured to modulate a frequency of the luminous intensity of the light source.

21 . The microscopy system as claimed in claim 20 , wherein the light source is a pulsed laser or a fiber-coupled laser.

22 . The microscopy system as claimed in claim 21 , wherein a focal depth of the surgical microscope is settable.

23 . The microscopy system as claimed in claim 22 , further comprising:
a control unit configured to set the focal depth of the surgical microscope.

24 . The microscopy system as claimed in claim 23 , further comprising:
a display apparatus configured to display selected contents.

25 . The microscopy system as claimed in claim 24 , further comprising:
an input apparatus configured such that a user can control the apparatus with the microscopy system.

26 . The microscopy system as claimed in claim 19 , further comprising:
at least one sensor selected from a group consisting of an areal sensor, a handheld sensor, a topography sensor, and an oxygen content sensor.

27 . The microscopy system as claimed in claim 26 , further comprising:
an evaluation unit configured to evaluate the at least one sensor selected from the group consisting of the areal sensor, the handheld sensor, the topography sensor, and the oxygen content sensor.

28 . The microscopy system as claimed in claim 26 , wherein at least one of the detector, the recording apparatus, and the at least one sensor is integrated in the surgical microscope or attached to the surgical microscope.

29 . The microscopy system as claimed in claim 25 , further comprising:
an observation light filter configured to transmit light at a specific wavelength, and wherein the observation light filter is a bandpass filter.

30 . The microscopy system as claimed in claim 29 , wherein the bandpas

Assignees

• Zeiss Carl Meditec Ag

Inventors

• Reichert David
• Wilzbach Marco
• Saur Stefan
• Hauger Christoph
• Hoegele Artur
• Erkkilä Mikael Timo
• Matz Holger
• Leitgeb Rainer
• Unterhuber Angelika
• Andreana Marco

Classifications

• G02B21/367 Primary

  providing an output produced by processing a plurality of individual source images, e.g. image tiling, montage, composite images, depth sectioning, image comparison · CPC title

• G02B21/0012

  Surgical microscopes (counterbalanced structures for surgical microscopes G02B7/001) · CPC title

• G02B21/06

  Means for illuminating specimens · CPC title

• G02B21/16

  adapted for ultraviolet illumination {; Fluorescence microscopes (G02B21/0076 takes precedence)} · CPC title