Method for accelerated microscopy of large samples

A microscope device comprising:

• a microscope objective;
• at least one control unit;
• a sample stage for holding a sample;
• a mechanism for creating a continuous relative movement between the sample and the microscope device;
• a light source;
• an illumination slit-forming element;
• a scanning unit;
• and
• a detector;
• the microscope device being configured to:
• create, by the mechanism, the continuous relative movement between a sample and the microscope device;
• wherein an optical axis of the microscope objective is substantially perpendicular to a vector of the continuous relative movement;
• illuminate by the light source controlled by the at least one control unit, a part of the sample through the microscope objective, wherein the illuminated part of the sample is smaller than a field of view and forms an illumination slit on the sample;
• move, by the scanning unit controlled by the at least one control unit, the illumination slit in a scanning direction across the field of view;
• and
• detect, by the detector controlled by the at least one control unit, the illumination slit in the scanning direction across the field of view;
• and
• detect, by the detector controlled by the at least one control unit, light from the sample collected by the microscope objective, wherein
• the sample is moved in a same direction as the scanning direction or in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction while the illumination slit is moved across the field of view by the scanning unit.

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions thereon which when executed on a processor cause a microscope comprising,

• a microscopic objective;
• at least one control unit;
• a sample stage for holding a sample;
• a mechanism for creating a continuous relative movement between the sample and the microscope;
• a light source;
• an illumination slit-forming element;
• a scanning unit;
• and
• a detector, to:
• create, the mechanism, the continuous relative movement between the sample and the microscope, wherein an optical axis of the microscope objective is substantially perpendicular to a vector of the continuous relative movement;
• illuminate, by the light source controlled by the at least one control unit, a part of the sample through the microscope objective, wherein the illuminated part of the sample is smaller than a field of view and forms an illumination slit on the sample;
• move, by the scanning unit controlled by the at least one control unit, the illumination slit in a scanning direction across the field of view;
• and
• detect, by the detector controlled by the at least one control unit, an illumination collected by the microscope objective, wherein;
• the sample is moved in a same direction as the scanning direction or in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction while the illumination slit is moved across the field of view by the scanning unit.