Microscope Incubation Control for Balanced Temperature and Gas Settings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current microscopic examination systems face challenges in maintaining optimal environmental conditions for samples, particularly in balancing temperatures and gas parameters across the microscope and incubator systems, leading to inefficiencies and complexity in setting and adjusting these conditions.
Innovation Solution
A controlling system that integrates the microscope and incubation environment conditioning unit, allowing for synergistic operation by receiving user-input target setpoints and selecting predefined adjustment setpoints for incubation and microscope parameters through feedback control, ensuring balanced temperatures and gas conditions within the sample chamber, imaging optics chamber, and substage volume.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a cage incubator is used to enclose the microscope, then the sample can be incubated under controlled environmental conditions, but the system occupies significant space and has slow response time when changing incubation parameters
Solution Approach 1:
The incubation environment is segmented into two distinct chambers: a large cage incubator chamber for housing the microscope and providing stable environmental conditions, and a smaller sample chamber for actual sample incubation. This segmentation allows the system to maintain reliable incubation control while reducing the volume of the actively controlled incubation space, thereby improving response time when changing parameters.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a hierarchical spatial arrangement where the sample chamber is positioned within or adjacent to the larger cage incubator. This dimensional organization allows the microscope to benefit from the stable environment of the large chamber while the sample experiences the rapid-response conditions of the smaller chamber, effectively resolving the contradiction between space occupation and response speed.
2Speed
If a stage top incubator is used to enclose only the sample, then the incubation volume is minimized and response time is improved, but access to the sample is limited and the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sample chamber is nested within or integrated with the larger cage incubator structure. This nesting arrangement allows the small sample chamber to provide rapid response times for incubation parameter changes, while the larger outer chamber provides easy access to the microscope and sample manipulation capabilities, effectively combining the advantages of both incubator types.
3Measurement precision
If multiple parameters (temperature, gas flow) are adjusted independently to achieve desired sample temperature, then precise control is possible, but the system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback control where sensors monitor the actual sample temperature and environmental parameters, and this information is fed back to the controller. The controller automatically adjusts temperature and gas flow parameters based on the feedback signal to maintain the desired sample temperature, eliminating the need for manual independent adjustment of multiple parameters and reducing system complexity while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The incubation system is designed to self-regulate by automatically adjusting its own parameters based on sensor feedback. The controller monitors temperature deviations and autonomously modifies heating, cooling, or gas flow parameters to correct the deviation, making the system self-correcting and reducing the operational complexity for the user.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This integrated system enables precise and efficient control of environmental conditions, reducing the complexity and cost associated with existing solutions, while ensuring reproducible and homogeneous temperature settings, thus improving the microscopic examination process.
Implementation Method 1
an incubation environment conditioning unit (110) connected to the microscope (100)... supplying an incubation atmosphere generated by the incubation environment conditioning unit
Data Source
AI summary
A controlling system is provided for operating an examination system configured for microscopic examination of a sample. The examination system includes a microscope, an incubation environment conditioning unit connected to the microscope, and a user interface. The examination system provides an incubation mode in which a sample chamber is incubated by supplying an incubation atmosphere generated by the incubation environment conditioning unit. The controlling system is configured to receive a target setpoint of at least one examination parameter upon user input via the user interface, select, based on the received at least one target setpoint, predefined adjustment setpoints for at least one incubation environment parameter of the incubation mode and for at least one microscope parameter, and operate the incubation environment conditioning unit and the microscope based on the selected adjustment setpoints.