Learn & Share: Microscopy Basics
Basic knowledge in optics and contrasting methods is fundamental for microscopic imaging. The precise setup of an optical microscope including correct Koehler illumination improves image quality – the base for further image analysis. Within light microscopy we differentiate between stained and unstained samples influencing the amplitude and the phase of the light waves traversing the sample. For the human eye, differences in the amplitude are visible as brightness differences. Contrasting methods like phase contrast, modulation contrast, differential interference contrast, often used in living samples, convert phase shifts into intensity. Staining and fluorescence techniques, like immunofluorescence or the use of fluorescent proteins, are used to make selected structures or proteins visible. Thus, to optimize the use of a microscope it is reasonable to learn more about its basic characteristics.
Perform Microscopy Analysis for Pathology Ergonomically and Efficiently
The main performance features of a microscope which are critical for rapid, ergonomic, and precise microscopic analysis of pathology specimens are described in this article. Microscopic analysis of…Read article
Factors to Consider When Selecting a Research Microscope
An optical microscope is often one of the central devices in a life-science research lab. It can be used for various applications which shed light on many scientific questions. Thereby the…Read article
Key Factors to Consider When Selecting a Stereo Microscope
Stereo microscopes are often nicknamed the “workhorse” of the lab or production site. Users spend many hours looking through the eyepieces inspecting, observing, documenting, or dissecting samples.…Read article
Getting Sharper 3D Images of Thick Biological Specimens with Widefield Microscopy
Widefield fluorescence microscopy is often used to visualize structures in life science specimens and obtain useful information. With the use of fluorescent proteins or dyes, discrete specimen…Read article
How to Sanitize a Microscope
Due to the current coronavirus pandemic, there are a lot of questions regarding decontamination methods of microscopes for safe usage. This informative article summarizes general decontamination…Read article
What Does 30,000:1 Magnification Really Mean?
One important criterion concerning the performance of an optical microscope is magnification. This report will offer digital microscopy users helpful guidelines to determine the useful range of…Read article
Basics of Microscope Optics
Microscopy has become easier than ever before. Leica Microsystems offers state-of-the-art microscopes that allow to start microscopy work without a lot of training and expert skills.Read article
The Fundamentals and History of Fluorescence and Quantum Dots
At some point in your research and science career, you will no doubt come across fluorescence microscopy. This ubiquitous technique has transformed the way in which microscopists can image, tag and…Read article
Eyepieces, Objectives and Optical Aberrations
For most microscope applications, there are generally only two sets of optics which are adjusted by the user, namely, the objectives and the eyepieces. Of course, this is assuming that the microscope…Read article
Koehler Illumination: A Brief History and a Practical Set Up in Five Easy Steps
The technique of Koehler Illumination is one of the most important and fundamental techniques in achieving optimum imaging in any given light microscope set-up. Although it should be routinely used as…Read article
Immersion Objectives: Using Oil, Glycerol, or Water to Overcome some of the Limits of Resolution
To examine specimens at high magnifications using the microscope, there are a number of factors which need to be taken into consideration. These include resolution, numerical aperture (NA), the…Read article
Graphene-Based Microbots for Toxic Heavy Metal Removal and Recovery from Water
Heavy metal contamination in water is a serious risk to the public health and other life forms on earth. Current research in nanotechnology is developing new nanosystems and nanomaterials for the fast…Read article
Collecting Light: The Importance of Numerical Aperture in Microscopy
Numerical aperture (abbreviated as ‘NA’) is an important consideration when trying to distinguish detail in a specimen viewed down the microscope. NA is a number without units and is related to the…Read article
Introduction to Widefield Microscopy
One of the most basic microscopy techniques is known as ‘Widefield Microscopy’. It is fundamentally any technique in which the entire specimen of interest is exposed to the light source with the…Read article
Optimization of the Interplay of Optical Components for Aberration free Microscopy
Optical microscopes are used to magnify objects which are otherwise invisible for the human eye. For this purpose high quality optics is necessary to achieve appropriate resolution. However, besides…Read article
Milestones in Incident Light Fluorescence Microscopy
Since the middle of the last century, fluorescence microscopy developed into a bio scientific tool with one of the biggest impacts on our understanding of life. Watching cells and proteins with the…Read article
Video Talk by Kurt Thorn: The Abbe Diffraction Experiment
This lecture describes the famous experiments of Ernst Abbe which showed how diffraction of light by a specimen (and interference with the illuminating light) gives rise to an image and how collection…Read article
Microscope Resolution: Concepts, Factors and Calculation
In microscopy, the term ‘resolution’ is used to describe the ability of a microscope to distinguish detail. In other words, this is the minimum distance at which two distinct points of a specimen can…Read article
Image Gallery: Application Options with Leica DM2500 LED Microscope
The number of applications in microscopy can be as manifold as life itself. Different specimens demand different contrast methods to get a decent result. Unstained cells normally do not show a very…Read article
Definitions of Basic Technical Terms for Digital Microscope Cameras and Image Analysis
Most microscopes today are operated with a camera. The characteristics of the camera often decide whether the acquired image will reveal what a researcher wants to see. But when diving into camera…Read article
Infinity Optical Systems
“Infinity Optics” refers to the concept of a beam path with parallel rays between the objective and the tube lens of a microscope. Flat optical components can be brought into this “Infinity Space”…Read article
Introduction to Digital Camera Technology
A significant majority of modern optical microscopy techniques require the use of a digital camera. By working with digital devices researchers can observe specimens on a screen in real time or…Read article
Color Infidelity: Why Using a Light Source Incorrectly is Cheating on your Data
There are many influences on color in the imaging process including lighting, optics, sensor, and monitor, and ultimately print. The first, and generally most important, is lighting. There are plenty…Read article
Fluorescent Proteins Illuminate Cell Biology
Green fluorescent protein (GFP) isolated from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria and GFP-like fluorescent proteins from other animals have had an important role in the technical innovations that have…Read article
A Brief History of Light Microscopy – From the Medieval Reading Stone to Super-Resolution
The history of microscopy begins in the Middle Ages. As far back as the 11th century, plano-convex lenses made of polished beryl were used in the Arab world as reading stones to magnify manuscripts.…Read article
Video Talk by Joseph Gall: Early History of Microscopy
Joseph Gall takes us through the history of early microscopes and the discovery of the cell. Compound microscopes were invented alongside the telescope in the 17th century; however these microscopes…Read article
Microscopes Put to the Test with Severe Conditions: ISO Standard for Resistance of Optical Instruments to Fungus and Mold Growth
Microscopes and other optical instruments can be affected during use by environmental factors. The environment depends on the geographic location and conditions of the place where the instrument is…Read article
Video Talk by Jeff Lichtman: Point Spread Function
An infinitesimally small point appears in the microscope as a spot with a certain size, blurred in the z-direction and with concentric rings around it. This "point spread function" reveals many of the…Read article
Micropolarimetric Analysis of Guard Cell Walls in M. Koenigii versus De Novo Localized Starch Granules in Freshly-Isolated Potato Tuber
Polarized light microscopy (PLM) has often been utilized in the fields of geology and the material sciences with significant implications in determining the mineral compositions and structures of…Read article
Video Talk by Jeff Lichtman: Resolution in Microscopy – Wave Optics and the Diffraction Limit
Light has properties of particles and waves. Understanding the wave nature of light is essential to understanding the workings of a microscope. This lecture describes Huygens Wavelets,…Read article
Useful Links
Communities and Web Sources
www.researchgate.net/Social network for scientists
www.ibiology.org/Teaching tools, video lectures on biology and microscopy
bitesizebio.comOnline magazine and community for molecular and cell biology researchers
www.somersault1824.comResource for high-end scientific illustrations, images and animations
Search Engines and Data Bases
www.cellimagelibrary.orgPublic resource database of images, videos, and animations of cells
harvester.fzk.de/harvesterBioinformatic meta search engine for genes and proteins
www.gopubmed.comSearch interface for pubmed
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_academic_databases_and_search_enginesList of academic databases and search engines
scholar.google.comBeta of Google's search engine for scientific article abstracts
Journals
www.doaj.org/Directory of open access journals
www.lifescied.orgCBE-Life Sciences Education – an ASCB online journal
www.sciencemag.org/Science
www.nature.com/Nature
www.cell.com/Biweekly publication of exceptional research articles
jcs.biologists.org/Journal of Cell Science
dev.biologists.org/Development
jeb.biologists.org/The Journal of Experimental Biology
dmm.biologists.org/DMM Disease Models & Mechanisms
www.biotechniques.com/International Journal of Life Science Methods
www.opticsinfobase.org/Collection of Journals and Proceedings in Optics and Photonics
spie.org/x576.xmlSPIE - peer-reviewed journals on applied research in optics and photonics
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1864-0648Journal of Biophotonics
www.plosone.org/home.actionInternational, peer-reviewed, open-access, online publication
rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/Proceedings B - the Royal Society's biological research journal
www.microscopy-analysis.com/International Journal for microscopists
www.optoiq.com/index/biophotonics/biomedical-imaging/bow-microscopy.htmlNews and features on biomedical microscopy
Organizations / Institutes
www.microscopy.org/Microscopy Society of America
www.eurmicsoc.org/European Microscopy Society
www.rms.org.uk/Royal Microscopical Society
http://www.doitpoms.ac.ukTutorials on microscopy for materials science; University of Cambridge, Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy
www.ascb.org/ASCB American Society of Cell Biology
www.biologists.com/cob_activities.htmlthe company of biologists
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