Varying an illumination path of a selective plane illumination microscopy

Abstract

A system for illuminating a microscopy specimen includes an illumination source configured to emit a light that travels along an illumination path to illuminate the microscopy specimen placed on an optical detection path of an optical microscope. The system also includes optical elements in the illumination path and configured to at least in part transform the light from the illumination source into a light sheet illuminating the microscopy specimen. The optical elements include an electronically tunable lens configured to vary a focal distance of the electronically tunable lens to dynamically vary a position of a waist of the light sheet illuminating the microscopy specimen. The optical elements include a deflector configured to vertically move the light sheet to illuminate the microscopy specimen at different horizontal planes.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for illuminating a microscopy specimen, comprising:
 an illumination source configured to emit a light that travels along an illumination path to illuminate the microscopy specimen placed on an optical detection path of an optical microscope; and   optical elements in the illumination path and configured to at least in part transform the light from the illumination source into a light sheet illuminating the microscopy specimen;   wherein the optical elements include an illumination objective and an electronically tunable lens configured to vary a focal distance of the electronically tunable lens to dynamically to vary a position of a waist of the light sheet illuminating the microscopy specimen; and   wherein the optical elements include a deflector configured to vertically move the light sheet to illuminate the microscopy specimen at different horizontal planes, wherein the light sheet extends in the horizontal plane and the vertical movement of the light sheet corresponds to a movement in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal plane of the light sheet; and   is wherein the optical elements include a second deflector configured to horizontally move a direction with which beam components extending within the light sheet are directed to the microscopy specimen; and   wherein the second deflector includes an oscillating mirror that vibrates about a central rotational axis such that the beam components illuminate the microscopy specimen at horizontal light sheet directions that alternate many times due to a horizontal light sheet movement at least in part caused by the second deflector to reduce or eliminate a shadow caused by a substance of the microscopy specimen.