Patent ID: 7884337

Claim:
A fluorescence microscope which irradiates a determined specimen with excitation light and detects fluorescence generated according to the irradiation, comprising: an excitation light source which outputs excitation light; an excitation light irradiating optical system which has a spatial light modulator for spatially modulating excitation light outputted from the excitation light source and irradiates the determined specimen with excitation light spatially modulated by the spatial light modulator; a fluorescence detecting optical system which receives fluorescence generated in a region irradiated with excitation light by the excitation light irradiating optical system and forms an image of the fluorescence, and has selective output means for selectively outputting fluorescence made incident on a specific region of the imaging surface; a detector which detects an intensity of fluorescence outputted from the selective output means; imaging means for imaging the determined specimen; and means for distinguishing observation regions from each other from an image detected by the imaging means and forming a plurality of excitation light irradiation regions in at least one observation region by controlling a spatial light modulation of excitation light, means for judging whether the measurement results of the respective excitation light irradiation regions in the observation region are equivalent, and means for adjusting the spatial modulation pattern of the excitation and controlling the spatial light modulator to adjust the intensities of excitation light based on an analysis of fluorescence intensity at a plurality of irradiation regions in an observation region, wherein the spatial light modulator included in the excitation light irradiating optical system is a phase modulation type spatial light modulator.