Patent ID: 7391565

Claim:
Confocal optical scanning device for viewing an observed area of an observed object; comprising means ( 1509 ) for splitting an illuminating beam (FX) into a plurality of illuminating sub-beams (FX 2 ); comprising optical means ( 1513 , 1516 ) for focusing the illuminating sub-beams on to a plurality of illuminating points in the observed object, forming a two-dimensional array of illuminating points in the observed object; comprising optical means ( 1513 , 1516 ) for focusing a plurality of luminous sub-beams (FE) coming back from the illuminating points on to a plurality of luminous points in a first image plane (P 1 ); comprising a spatial filtering system ( 1519 ) arranged in the first image plane and comprising a plurality of microscopic selection areas, each selection area being adapted to select the light reaching a corresponding luminous point, thereby obtaining a corresponding sub-beam (FD) to be detected; comprising optical means ( 1522 , 1523 ) for focusing the plurality of sub-beams to be detected on to a plurality of points to be detected in a second image plane; comprising at least one rotatably mounted mobile mirror ( 1515 ) reflecting: i) the plurality of illuminating sub-beams directed towards the observed object, to allow the plurality of illuminating points to scan the observed object, ii) the plurality of luminous sub-beams, to allow the plurality of luminous points to be fixed in the first image plane, and iii) the plurality of sub-beams to be detected, to allow the plurality of points to be detected to scan the second image plane; and further comprising means to modify the spatial filtering system.