Patent ID: 7627707

Claim:
A microscope system, comprising: an intra-system bus line for transmitting control data for controlling operations of the microscope system; a switch connected in series to the intra-system bus line at some point on the intra-system bus line; an extension connector to which an extension unit, which comprises at least a processing device for transmitting/receiving the control data, and an intra-unit bus line that the processing device uses to transmit/receive the control data, is connected; and a detecting unit for detecting whether or not the extension unit is connected to the extension connector, and for opening/closing the switch based on a result of detection, wherein: the switch releases the intra-system bus line at a position of the switch when opened, and connects the intra-system bus line at the position of the switch when closed, the intra-system bus line is led from both sides of the switch to the extension connector, and connected via the intra-unit bus line if the extension unit is connected to the extension connector, and the detecting unit opens the switch if it detects that the extension unit is connected to the extension connector, and closes the switch if it detects that the extension unit is not connected to the extension connector.