Image forming apparatus, image forming method, image forming system, and recording medium

An image forming method, comprising:

• emitting illumination light successively in different illumination directions relative to a sample slice and illuminating the sample slice with the illumination light;
• obtaining a plurality of images corresponding to the respective different illumination directions with an image sensor, the image sensor being disposed at a position where light that has passed through the sample slice is incident on the image sensor;
• and
• generating a high-resolution image of the sample slice by combining the plurality of images, the high-resolution image having a resolution higher than a resolution of each of the plurality of images,
• wherein the illuminating of the sample slice with the illumination light includes
• illuminating the sample slice with a first light having a peak in a first wavelength range in the different illumination directions, and
• illuminating the sample slice with a second light having a peak in a second wavelength range in at least one of the different illumination directions, and
• wherein the obtaining of the plurality of images includes
• obtaining a plurality of first-color images while the sample slice is being illuminated with the first light serving as the illumination light successively in the different illumination directions, and
• obtaining at least one second-color image while the sample slice is being illuminated with the second light serving as the illumination light in at least one of the different illumination directions.

An image forming system, comprising:

• an imager electrically connected to an image sensor, the image sensor being disposed at a position where light that has passed through a sample slice is incident on the image sensor;
• an illumination system that emits illumination light successively in different illumination directions relative to the sample slice and illuminates the sample slice with the illumination light, the illumination system emitting a first light having a peak in a first wavelength range and a second light having a peak in a second wavelength range;
• and
• a computer,
• wherein the computer executes
• obtaining a plurality of first-color images with the image sensor while the sample slice is being illuminated with the first light serving as the illumination light successively in the different illumination directions,
• obtaining at least one second-color image with the image sensor while the sample slice is being illuminated with the second light serving as the illumination light in at least one of the different illumination directions, and
• generating a high-resolution image on the basis of the plurality of first-color images and the at least one second-color image, the high-resolution image having a resolution higher than a resolution of each of the first-color images.

An image forming method, comprising:

• emitting a first light having a peak in a first wavelength range in a first illumination direction, the first light emitted in the first illumination direction passing thorough a first portion of a sample to emit a first resulting light from the first portion;
• obtaining first direction data showing that the first light is emitted in the first illumination direction;
• receiving the first resulting light on an image sensor;
• outputting first image data based on the received first resulting light by the image sensor;
• emitting a second light having a peak in a second wavelength range in the first illumination direction, the second light emitted in the first illumination direction passing through the first portion of the sample to emit a second resulting light from the first portion;
• obtaining second direction data showing that the second light is emitted in the first illumination direction;
• receiving the second resulting light on the image sensor;
• outputting second image data based on the received second resulting light by the image sensor;
• emitting the first light in a second illumination direction, the first light emitted in the second illumination direction passing through a second portion of the sample to emit a third resulting light from the second portion;
• obtaining third direction data showing that the first light is emitted in the second illumination direction;
• receiving the third resulting light on the image sensor;
• outputting third image data based on the received third resulting light by the image sensor;
• and
• preparing a first image based on the first data, the second data, the third data, the first illumination direction, the second illumination direction, and the third illumination direction,
• wherein the second light is not emitted in the second direction.