Patent ID: 7869123
Filing Date: 2011-01-11
Classification: G02B,H04L

Abstract:
1. A laser-scanning microscope for viewing a specimen, the microscope comprising: illumination and detector means for providing illumination radiation for illuminating a sample field, for raster scanning different pixels of the sample field with the illumination radiation, for acquiring an image of the raster scanned pixels, and for imaging detection radiation emitted by the sample field as a result of the illumination of the pixels; a control device for activating the laser module, controlling the scanner module, and controlling reading out the detection signals from the detector module in a synchronous manner in relation to the pixel cycle that determines the raster scanning; a data port connected between the control device and the illumination and detector means, the data port communicating with the control device via a parallel, bidirectional data stream and with the illumination and detector means via a serial, bidirectional high-speed data stream in order to perform a data conversion from parallel into serial and vice versa; the high-speed data stream between the illumination and detector means and the data port being made up of data packets with data bits and type bits and without additional header and protocol bits, the data bits containing data from the illumination and detector means and the type bits coding the type of data, and storing means for storing type information in the illumination and detector means, wherein the type information relates to processing functions for data types coded by means of the type bits so that the illumination and detector means and the control device determine the data type using the type bits and process data coded in the data bits.