Patent attributes
A microscope system comprises a light guiding optical system 20 containing an objective lens 21 and a beam splitter 25 for splitting an optical image of a sample S to a first optical path and a second optical path, a photodetector 31 disposed on the first optical path used to acquire an image of the sample S, and a CCD camera 32 disposed on the second optical path for acquiring a two-dimensional image for focus control. The camera 32 is disposed being inclined at an angle of θ with respect to the optical path so that the optical path length in the light guiding optical system 20 varies along the z-axis direction. The image acquired by the camera 32 is analyzed by a focus controller 37, and the focal point for image pickup with respect to the sample S is controlled on the basis of the analysis result. Accordingly, there can be implemented a microscope system in which image acquisition of the sample and focus control for image pickup can be simultaneously performed.
