Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A laser scanning microscope, which enables observation of a specimen, which is marked by a plurality of fluorescent probes, by emitting a laser beam onto the specimen and receiving fluorescent light, corresponding to the emission of the laser beam, back from the specimen, the laser scanning microscope comprising:at least one laser source for generating the laser beam in at least one excitation wavelength corresponding to the plurality of fluorescent probes;deflector means for scanning the generated laser beam over an observation plane of the specimen;dispersion means for dispersing the fluorescent light from the specimen to extract the dispersed fluorescent light by an arbitrary wavelength section;spectral data acquisition condition setting means for setting a spectral data acquisition condition for the dispersion means for acquiring spectral data based on spectrum characteristics of the plurality of fluorescent probes;dispersion control means for controlling the dispersion means based on the set spectral data acquisition condition; andphotoelectric conversion means for receiving the extracted fluorescent light and converting the received light into an electrical signal;wherein the dispersion means comprises a diffraction mirror for dispersing the fluorescent light from the specimen and selecting a wavelength of the fluorescent light, and a slit which selects the arbitrary wavelength section of the dispersed fluorescent light to be received by the photoelectric conversion means in accordance with the selected wavelength; andwherein the spectral data acquisition condition setting means sets a wavelength incrementing amount corresponding to a rotation angle of the diffraction mirror and a spectral resolution corresponding to a width of the slit, which are applicable to carrying out a wavelength scanning for the specimen based on the spectrum characteristics of the plurality of fluorescent probes. 2. A laser scanning microscope, which enables observation of a specimen, which is marked by a plurality of fluorescent probes, by emitting a laser beam onto the specimen and receiving fluorescent light, corresponding to the emission of the laser beam, back from the specimen, the laser scanning microscope comprising:at least one laser source which generates the laser beam in at least one excitation wavelength corresponding to the plurality of fluorescent probes;a laser beam scanner which scans the generated laser beam over an observation plane of the specimen;a dispersion unit which disperses the fluorescent light from the specimen to extract the fluorescent light by an arbitrary wavelength section;a spectrum characteristic data storage unit which stores spectrum characteristics of the plurality of fluorescent probes;a spectral data acquisition condition setting unit which sets a spectral data acquisition condition for the dispersion unit to extract a prescribed wavelength interval from the fluorescent light based on the spectrum characteristics of the plurality of fluorescent probes;a dispersion control unit which controls the dispersion unit based on the set spectral data acquisition condition; anda photoelectric conversion unit which receives the extracted fluorescent light, and which converts the received light into an electrical signal;wherein the dispersion unit comprises a diffraction mirror for dispersing the fluorescent light from the specimen and selecting a wavelength of the fluorescent light, and a slit for selecting a the arbitrary wavelength section of the dispersed fluorescent light to be received by the photoelectric conversion unit in accordance with the selected wavelength; andwherein the spectral data acquisition condition setting unit sets a wavelength incrementing amount corresponding to a rotation angle of the diffraction mirror and a spectral resolution corresponding to a width of the slit, which are applicable to carrying out a wavelength scanning for the specimen based on the spectrum characteristics of the plurality of fluorescent probes. 3. The laser scanning microscope according to claim 2, wherein the spectral data acquisition condition setting unit comprises:a proximate inter-peak distance calculation unit for calculating a distance between proximate peak wavelengths among a plurality of peak wavelengths of the fluorescent light from the plurality of fluorescent probes;an incrementing amount setting unit for setting the wavelength incrementing amount based on the calculated distance between proximate peak wavelengths; anda spectral resolution setting unit for setting the spectral resolution based on the calculated distance between proximate peak wavelengths; andwherein the dispersion control unit controls the dispersion unit based on the set spectral resolution and the set wavelength incrementing amount. 4. The laser scanning microscope according to claim 3, further comprising an acquisition start and end positions specification unit which is adapted to specify acquisition start and end wavelengths of the spectral data. 5. The laser scanning microscope according to claim 3, further comprising an acquisition range setting unit for setting acquisition start and end wavelengths of an acquisition range of the spectral data based on the spectrum characteristics of the plurality of fluorescent probes. 6. The laser scanning microscope according to claim 5, wherein the acquisition range setting unit sets the acquisition range of the spectral data so as to include all of the peak wavelengths of the fluorescent light from the fluorescent probes. 7. The laser scanning microscope according to claim 5, wherein the acquisition range setting unit sets acquisition start or end positions for the spectral data by using a value of wavelength of each edge in curves which decreases by a prescribed ratio from each peak value of curves being the lowest or the highest wavelength. 8. The laser scanning microscope according to claim 3, wherein the wavelength scanning for the specimen obtains the spectral data in a plurality of acquisition sections corresponding to successive wavelength ranges extracted in accordance with the set spectral resolution and incremented by the wavelength incrementing amount,wherein the spectral data acquisition condition setting unit further comprises a section judgment unit for judging whether or not one of the acquisition sections is set so as to include two among: the peak wavelengths of the fluorescent light from the fluorescent probes and any of said at least one excitation wavelength of the laser beam emitted onto the specimen, andwherein the dispersion control unit controls the dispersion unit based on the set acquisition sections if it is judged that each of the acquisition sections includes one or less among: the peak wavelengths of the fluorescent light from the fluorescent probes and any of said at least one excitation wavelength of the laser beam emitted onto the specimen. 9. The laser scanning microscope according to claim 8, wherein the spectral data acquisition condition setting unit further comprises a section division unit for dividing the acquisition sections into a prescribed number if the one of the set acquisition sections is set so as to include at least two among: the peak wavelengths of the fluorescent light from the fluorescent probes and any of said at least one excitation wavelength of the laser beam emitted onto the specimen,wherein the section judgment unit judges whether or not one of the divided acquisition sections includes two among: the peak wavelengths of the fluorescent light from the fluorescent probes and any of said at least one excitation wavelength of the laser beam emitted onto the specimen. 10. The laser scanning microscope according to claim 9, further comprising: a lowest limit resolution value storage unit for storing a lowest limit value of the spectral resolution which enables detection of a peak of fluorescent light; anda section width judgment unit for judging whether or not a section width of into which the acquisition sections are divided by the section division unit is equal to or less than the lowest limit value,wherein the dispersion control unit controls the dispersion unit based on the divided acquisition sections if the section width of is judged to be larger than the lowest limit value. 11. The laser scanning microscope according to claim 3, wherein the wavelength scanning for the specimen obtains the spectral data in a plurality of acquisition sections corresponding to successive wavelength ranges extracted in accordance with the set spectral resolution and incremented by the wavelength incrementing amount,wherein the laser scanning microscope further comprises:a lowest limit resolution value storage unit for storing a lowest limit value of the spectral resolution which enables detection of a peak of fluorescent light; anda section width judgment unit for judging whether or not a section width the acquisition sections is equal to, or smaller than, the lowest limit value,wherein the dispersion control unit controls the dispersion unit based on the set acquisition sections if the section width is judged to be larger than the lowest limit value. 12. The laser scanning microscope according to claim 3, wherein the wavelength scanning for the specimen obtains the spectral data in a plurality of acquisition sections corresponding to successive wavelength ranges extracted in accordance with the set spectral resolution and incremented by the wavelength incrementing amount, andwherein the spectral resolution setting unit sets the spectral resolution and the wavelength incrementing amount so that borders of the wavelength ranges of adjacent acquisition sections contact with each other. 13. The laser scanning microscope according to claim 3, wherein the wavelength scanning for the specimen obtains the spectral data in a plurality of acquisition sections corresponding to successive wavelength ranges extracted in accordance with the set spectral resolution and incremented by the wavelength incrementing amount, andwherein the spectral resolution setting unit sets the spectral resolution and the wavelength incrementing amount so that the wavelength ranges of adjacent acquisition sections overlap with each other for a prescribed interval. 14. A computer readable storage medium storing a spectral data acquisition program that is executable by a computer to cause the computer to carry out processing for setting a spectral data acquisition condition for acquiring spectral data with a laser scanning microscope which enables observation of a specimen, which is marked by a plurality of fluorescent probes, by emitting a laser beam onto the specimen and receiving fluorescent light, corresponding to the emission of the laser beam, back from the specimen, the program causing the computer carry out a process comprising:calculating a proximate inter-peak distance between approximate peak wavelengths among a plurality of peak wavelengths of the fluorescent light from the plurality of fluorescent probes;setting a wavelength incrementing amount corresponding to a rotation angle of a diffraction mirror which disperses the fluorescent light from the specimen into a spectrum and selects a wavelength, based on the calculated proximate inter-peak distance;setting a spectral resolution corresponding to a slit width of a slit which selects a wavelength section of the received fluorescent light, based on the calculated proximate inter-peak distance; andacquiring the spectral data based on the set wavelength incrementing amount and the set spectral resolution. 15. A method for defining a spectral data acquisition condition and acquiring spectral data with a laser scanning microscope which enables observation of a specimen, which is marked by a plurality of fluorescent probes, by emitting a laser beam onto the specimen and receiving fluorescent light, corresponding to the emission of the laser beam, back from the specimen, the method comprising:calculating a proximate inter-peak distance between proximate peak wavelengths among a plurality of peak wavelengths of fluorescent light from the plurality of fluorescent probes;setting a wavelength incrementing amount used for spectrally receiving the fluorescent light back from the specimen based on the calculated proximate inter-peak distance;setting a spectral resolution which is a wavelength section for one acquisition of the received fluorescent light based on the calculated proximate inter-peak distance; andacquiring the spectral data based on the set wavelength incrementing amount and the set spectral resolution. 16. The spectral data acquisition method according to claim 15, wherein acquiring the spectral data is carried out based on acquisition start and end wavelengths of the spectral data. 17. The spectral data acquisition method according to claim 15, further comprising: setting acquisition start and end wavelengths of the spectral data based on spectrum characteristics of the plurality of fluorescent probes,wherein acquiring the spectral data is carried out based on the acquisition start and end wavelengths of the spectral data. 18. The spectral data acquisition method according to claim 15, wherein the spectral data is obtained in a plurality of acquisition sections, which correspond to wavelength ranges incremented by the wavelength incrementing amount and acquired in successive said acquisitions in accordance with the spectral resolution, andwherein the method further comprises:judging whether or not one of the acquisition sections is set so as to include two among: the peak wavelengths of the fluorescent light from the fluorescent probes and any of said at least one excitation wavelength of the laser beam emitted onto the specimen, andacquiring the spectral data based on the set acquisition sections sections if it is judged that each of the acquisition sections includes one or less among: the peak wavelengths of the fluorescent light from the fluorescent probes and any of said at least one excitation wavelength of the laser beam emitted onto the specimen. 19. The spectral data acquisition method according to claim 18, further comprising:dividing the acquisition sections into a prescribed number if the one of the set acquisition sections is set so as to include at least two among: the peak wavelengths of the fluorescent light from the fluorescent probes and any of said at least one excitation wavelength of the laser beam emitted onto the specimen, andjudging whether or not one of the divided acquisition sections includes two among: the peak wavelengths of the fluorescent light from the fluorescent probes and any of said at least one excitation wavelength of the laser beam emitted onto the specimen. 20. The spectral data acquisition method according to claim 15, wherein the spectral data is obtained in a plurality of acquisition sections, which correspond to wavelength ranges incremented by the wavelength incrementing amount and acquired in successive said acquisitions in accordance with the spectral resolution, andwherein the method further comprises setting the spectral resolution and the wavelength incrementing amount so that borders of the wavelength ranges of adjacent acquisition sections contact with each other. 21. The spectral data acquisition method according to claim 15, wherein the spectral data is obtained in a plurality of acquisition sections, which correspond to wavelength ranges incremented by the wavelength incrementing amount and acquired in successive said acquisitions in accordance with the spectral resolution, andwherein the method further comprises setting the spectral resolution and the wavelength incrementing amount so that the wavelength ranges of adjacent acquisition sections overlap with each other for a prescribed interval. 22. The spectral data acquisition method according to claim 15, further comprising setting acquisition start or end positions for the spectral data by using a value of wavelength of each edge in curves which decreases by a prescribed ratio from each peak value of curves being the lowest or the highest wavelength. 23. A laser scanning microscope, which enables observation of a specimen, which is marked by a plurality of fluorescent probes, by emitting a laser beam onto the specimen and receiving fluorescent light, corresponding to the emission of the laser beam, back from the specimen, the laser scanning microscope comprising:proximate inter-peak distance calculation means for calculating a proximate inter-peak distance between proximate peak wavelengths among a plurality of peak wavelengths of fluorescent light from the plurality of fluorescent probes;incrementing amount setting means for setting a wavelength incrementing amount based on the calculated proximate inter-peak distance;spectral resolution setting means for setting a spectral resolution which is a wavelength section for receiving fluorescent light based on the calculated proximate inter-peak distance; andspectral data acquisition means for acquiring spectral data based on the set wavelength incrementing amount and the set spectral resolution. 24. A method for defining a spectral data acquisition condition and acquiring spectral data with a laser scanning microscope which enables observation of a specimen, which is marked by a plurality of fluorescent probes, by emitting a laser beam onto the specimen and receiving fluorescent light, corresponding to the emission of the laser beam, back from the specimen, the method comprising:generating the laser beam in at least one excitation wavelength which corresponds to the plurality of fluorescent probes;storing spectrum characteristics of the plurality of fluorescent probes;scanning the generated laser beam over the specimen;dispersing the fluorescent light from the specimen into a spectrum and selecting a wavelength of the fluorescent light using a diffraction mirror;extracting the dispersed fluorescent light by an arbitrary wavelength section using a slit, based on the selected wavelength;setting a wavelength incrementing amount corresponding to a rotation angle of the diffraction mirror and a spectral resolution corresponding to a width of the slit, based on the spectrum characteristics of the plurality of fluorescent probes as a spectral data acquisition condition to acquire the spectral data;controlling the diffraction mirror and the slit based on the spectral data acquisition condition; andreceiving the extracted fluorescent light and converting the received light into an electric signal.