Archive for the ‘Stereo Microscopes’ Category
The Stereo in Stereo Microscopes
Stereo technology started with a theatrical bang. In the movie industry, stereo relates to 3D vision where spectators were required to wear red and green spectacles. The point was to combine separate motion picture images into a single image. It’s the same with stereo microscopes, sans the red and green spectacles, of course.
Stereo Technology in Microscopy
The stereo sound was the wave of the 60s. The technology enable the production of three dimensional sound effects with the use of microphones; two microphones recorded sound and these were connected to two separate channels connected loudspeakers. Listening to vinyl records back then, music enthusiasts heard sound coming from different directions.
In stereo microscopes, images not music from two different angles are combined – to create an illusion of depth of the specimen. This happens when different images of the same object are presented to each eye. The microscope offers a lateral and upright view of the object from two dissimilar angles and the eyes sees the object in 3D. With stereoscopy features, two eyepieces plus two objectives, the microscope is a perfect instrument for dissecting specimens or inspecting larger objects, i.e. rock minerals and diamonds.
Stereoscopy gives dissecting convenience. Dissecting the specimen becomes easier because viewing the specimen at same time while dissecting it can be done. Larger specimens like rock minerals can also be conveniently viewed because there is more distance between the objective and the stage. Custom stereo microscopes can also be obtained from some dealers or can be assembled according to specific needs.
Types of Microscopes with Stereo Functions
Microscopy research requirements demand specific functions that can be responded with the different microscopes available. For stereo or for dissecting specimen, such as plant or human tissue, the stereo feature comes useful. However, you don’t just get any microscope out there because it has STEREO written all over it.
Concerned dealers inquire what you need for a microscope to ensure that you get that you get exactly what you need for stereo microscopes. There are binocular and trinocular microscopes with stereo features. Different models and brands will come with or without fixed magnification with a magnification selection knob, and easy zoom in and zoom out function.
Digital technology also goes with stereo technology. You can have the best of both worlds in this amazing piece of instrument, and you don’t need bulky contraptions to view 3D imaging. With a USB camera added, excellent imaging for live video and still jpg is possible. You might also need an upright rather than an inverted microscope.
If you are a gemologist, stereo binocular microscopes should fit the bill. You can see a 3D image of a tiny diamond and examine it for flaws. Student laboratories will benefit from a pole-mounted microscope.
Stereo Does It
Had it not been for stereoscopy, it would still be tricky to dissect specimens accurately without the aid of the eyepiece. For illumination, the microscope may use a fluorescent bulb, LED ring light or fiber optics. Added to stereo 3D imaging some stereo microscopes have video capability and a digital camera.
Before you dismiss stereo microscopes as adult instrument, let it be known that the microscope is also great for educating young children; prices may range from under 100 dollars or can run up to thousands of dollars. It is your choice.
CanScope – complete solution for all your microscopy needs.
Contact: 1-877-56SCOPE(72673) or info@CanScope.ca
Looking for stereo microscopes in Toronto? No problem. You can also find a polarized light microscope in Toronto and the latest in metallurgical microscope in Toronto all the time. Visit CanScope.ca today.
The Many Capabilities of a Stereo Microscope
When you talk about magnification, lenses, and small things, one thing comes to mind: the microscope. But gone are the days when the term only covers simple and compound microscopes. Today, you hear kinds such as the stereo microscope and the polarized light microscope. There are even biological microscopes and educational microscopes.
Indeed, there are so many updates on the word of microscopes today. If you’ve only known this laboratory instrument from school and never met one ever since, then you’d be surprised at how many different kinds there are already.
So, to update your information bank on the world of microscopes, this article will talk about an interesting type: the stereo microscope. The stereo microscope is also known as a dissecting microscope. This is because this type is mostly used for close work such as dissection, microsurgery and even watch-making.
The Uniqueness
The stereo microscope differs from the other types of microscopes in a lot of ways. First, while others only have one eyepiece (the cylinder containing the lenses and the part that you put your eyes on to see the specimen in question), the stereo microscope has two. Yes, like binocular, the dissecting microscope makes use of two separate optical paths to give you a better view of the specimen. As a result, this feature gives you a three-dimensional image of the sample being examined.
Second, the stereo microscope uses a different kind of illumination. Compound microscopes use transmitted illumination (light “transmitted through the object”) while stereo microscopes use reflected illumination (light “reflected from the surface of an object”). Of course, this makes sense because of the 3D capability of stereo microscopes. Reflected light is very useful when examining objects that are either too thick or that are opaque – in such a case, transmitting light through it would be next to impossible.
The stereo microscope also has two magnification systems: fixed and zoom. Fixed magnification is achieved using a pair of objective lenses with a set magnification degree. Basically, the degree of magnification that you get solely depends on what your lenses are capable of. Zoom magnification, on the other hand, is capable of varying degrees of magnification. Have you ever heard of the terms “zoom in” and “zoom out?” Well, that’s exactly how the zoom magnification in a stereo microscope works.
Stereo microscopes are also capable of digital displays, as in the case of digital microscopes. Having the image projected on a high resolution monitor is very useful especially in surgeries. If you are ever a fan of House and Grey’s Anatomy, then you’ve surely seen one of those episodes where a monitor is used to view the specimen examined under a stereo microscope.
Microscopes have truly gone a long way. Before, only one lens is used; today, microscopes with two optical paths are already in existence. Surely, Anton van Leeuwenhoek did not dream that his “invention” would go this long, and that it would be used outside of biology.
Still, it’s wonderful to know that Science continues to re-invent and to upgrade itself. It’s nice to know that it continues to work better to provide us with better answers. After all, how will we understand the world more if not for Science? How would we know what an atom looks like if not for a microscope?
CanScope – complete solution for all your microscopy needs.
Contact: 1-877-56SCOPE(72673) or info@CanScope.ca
For your biological microscopes needs, visit CanScope.ca. Check out their site too for selections of a stereo microscope or a polarized light microscope.
Things You Learn Through Educational Microscopes
The world is awesome. From its littlest creatures to its highest peaks, you cannot help but be awed, amazed and enthralled with the spectacle that nature can be. And that’s only through your naked eye, to boot!
When you look through the eyepieces and lenses of educational microscopes, you learn a few more things on a microscopic level that you would have not learned otherwise. Here are just a few of them.
Small is Beautiful
Our society seems to revel in the big – big boobs, big buildings, big movies, big houses, big hits, nig jewelry – that it seems small is, well, small in our eyes. Unless, of course, it’s thin bodies littering the beach in summer but that’s another story.
Anyhow, when you look through educational microscopes, you realize that small is beautiful. Just try looking at the pollen on a flower and you will see just how beautiful small can be!
Inner Space and Outer Space, Both Spectacular
Why look up to the heavens to witness spectacular shows? You can see equally amazing things on the microscopic level, say, a small insect with its colorful wings. And you won’t have to suffer through stiff necks from looking up to the sky and you don’t have to wait for night to set in either!
Seriously speaking, there are a great many things we have yet to learn about our planet Earth. Why don’t we start leaning more about the ground below us before setting our sights on aliens? Just saying though as everybody is entitled to his own opinion.
Looks are Deceptive, Definitely
Often, we turn an indifferent eye to ordinary things thinking that there is nothing spectacular about them. With targets under our educational microscopes, the lesson about beauty lurking beneath everything is homed in on us.
For example, who would have thought that a common rock will yield treasures of exciting patterns? Or that a common leaf will boast of networks so complex it rivals a labyrinth? Or that a strand of hair can be so interesting?
Indeed, with educational microscopes, you start to look for the beauty within each rock, each leaf, each creature, and hopefully, within each human being. Just don’t dissect them though!
Life is Fragile and Fleeting
Invincibility and immortality are things that humanity has aspired for centuries. This is all well and good for, indeed, who does not want to live forever and a day? Still, when you see vestiges of life under educational microscopes, you start to think of your own mortality. After all, when you see living matter breaking down before your very eyes, and at microscopic level at that, you realize that indeed life is fragile and fleeting.
And herein lies the greatest lesson that you may ever learn from educational microscopes – that as much as life is fleeting and fragile, life in all its forms must be valued and respected. Even the tiniest of God’s creatures have a right to live in this planet we call home. Hopefully, we can all have a greater appreciation for what it means to be human and humane.
CanScope – complete solution for all your microscopy needs.
Contact: 1-877-56SCOPE(72673) or info@CanScope.ca
Visit http://www.canscope.ca for your microscope needs from veterinary microscopes and fluorescent filters cube to educational microscopes in Toronto.
The Many Capabilities of a Stereo Microscope
When you talk about magnification, lenses, and small things, one thing comes to mind: the microscope. But gone are the days when the term only covers simple and compound microscopes. Today, you hear kinds such as the stereo microscope and the polarized light microscope. There are even biological microscopes and educational microscopes.
Indeed, there are so many updates on the word of microscopes today. If you’ve only known this laboratory instrument from school and never met one ever since, then you’d be surprised at how many different kinds there are already.
So, to update your information bank on the world of microscopes, this article will talk about an interesting type: the stereo microscope. The stereo microscope is also known as a dissecting microscope. This is because this type is mostly used for close work such as dissection, microsurgery and even watch-making.
The Uniqueness
The stereo microscope differs from the other types of microscopes in a lot of ways. First, while others only have one eyepiece (the cylinder containing the lenses and the part that you put your eyes on to see the specimen in question), the stereo microscope has two. Yes, like binocular, the dissecting microscope makes use of two separate optical paths to give you a better view of the specimen. As a result, this feature gives you a three-dimensional image of the sample being examined.
Second, the stereo microscope uses a different kind of illumination. Compound microscopes use transmitted illumination (light “transmitted through the object”) while stereo microscopes use reflected illumination (light “reflected from the surface of an object”). Of course, this makes sense because of the 3D capability of stereo microscopes. Reflected light is very useful when examining objects that are either too thick or that are opaque – in such a case, transmitting light through it would be next to impossible.
The stereo microscope also has two magnification systems: fixed and zoom. Fixed magnification is achieved using a pair of objective lenses with a set magnification degree. Basically, the degree of magnification that you get solely depends on what your lenses are capable of. Zoom magnification, on the other hand, is capable of varying degrees of magnification. Have you ever heard of the terms “zoom in” and “zoom out?” Well, that’s exactly how the zoom magnification in a stereo microscope works.
Stereo microscopes are also capable of digital displays, as in the case of digital microscopes. Having the image projected on a high resolution monitor is very useful especially in surgeries. If you are ever a fan of House and Grey’s Anatomy, then you’ve surely seen one of those episodes where a monitor is used to view the specimen examined under a stereo microscope.
Microscopes have truly gone a long way. Before, only one lens is used; today, microscopes with two optical paths are already in existence. Surely, Anton van Leeuwenhoek did not dream that his “invention” would go this long, and that it would be used outside of biology.
Still, it’s wonderful to know that Science continues to re-invent and to upgrade itself. It’s nice to know that it continues to work better to provide us with better answers. After all, how will we understand the world more if not for Science? How would we know what an atom looks like if not for a microscope?
CanScope – complete solution for all your microscopy needs.
Contact: 1-877-56SCOPE(72673) or info@CanScope.ca
For your biological microscopes needs, visit CanScope.ca. Check out their site too for selections of a stereo microscope or a polarized light microscope.
Experience Modern Science, Use a Digital Microscope
Surely, you’ve seen a microscope. You’ve had that in your elementary Science class. But did you know that there are a lot of types of microscopes on sale today?
What you’ve probably seen is one of those student’s microscopes. It is a low power optical microscope that has been marketed specifically for non-scientists – that is, to be used by students in primary and secondary school.
As mentioned, the student microscope is an optical microscope – the type that uses a system of lenses and visible light in seeing through images. This is the oldest and the simplest kind of microscope in that this still uses eye-pieces for an observer to have a glimpse of the magnified images.
On the other hand, there’s the digital microscope. It the more modern type, and more often, it does not use eye-pieces. In lieu of the eye-piece, it uses a camera and its output is a digital image projected in a computer monitor.
Using a Digital Microscope
So, how do you use a digital microscope then given that you cannot look through an eye-piece to observe a sample? Simple, think robots.
If you want to clearly see the micro-printing in a dollar bill, for example, just place the bill right below the camera of your digital microscope. The images will then be projected in your computer monitor.
But before you discover the secrets of the dollar bill, you must first install the software of your digital microscope into your computer. Your microscope package should include an installation CD, otherwise, you might be getting a fraudulent microscope.
After you’ve successfully done this, connect your digital microscope and your computer using USB cables. Find the appropriate port. You don’t have to be a computer engineer to know this. The secret to this technical task is in finding the port that fits with your cable. If it does not fit, it is not supposed to be plugged there.
When you’ve connected the correct cables and you see that such a connection is working (i.e. when you move your camera, the image on the monitor also changes), you can now get your dollar bill for scrutiny.
Adjust some knobs in your precious digital microscope until the image in your monitor becomes clear. After which, you can now start doing your digital scrutiny of the dollar bill. You can even save a captured image and do some work on it – label it, make some notes about it, or put a comment on it.
Indeed, by using a digital microscope, you are finding better answers to your questions about the world around you. You are discovering more things.
Gone are the days when you have to prick your finger, get a sample of your own blood, put it in a microscope slide and use a student microscope to observe the discs and color of your blood. Today, you have other kinds such as the digital microscope, the research microscope, and an improved version of the compound microscope.
Science indeed has transformed itself to provide us with better answers. It has even made its gadgets better to provide you with the needed tools to satisfy a more curious you.
CanScope – complete solution for all your microscopy needs.
Contact: 1-877-56SCOPE(72673) or info@CanScope.ca
On an important research? Surely you need a digital microscope in Toronto or a research microscope in Toronto for that. Visit CanScope.ca to learn more about these lab instruments and to find wonderful picks of student’s microscopes.
Understanding the Power of a Compound Microscope
What do you know about the compound microscope?
Probably a common apparatus at most high school science laboratories, the compound microscope use the popular combination of dual lenses and light reflection. In a world becoming infinitesimally smaller in each generation, microscopes of all types, caliber, sizes and capabilities can be found virtually everywhere — from laboratories in high school campuses, colleges, universities, to research and development laboratories of pharmaceutical companies and a host of other manufacturers.
Getting to Know Microscopes
The compound microscope has more than one lens — usually two — to do its job. The most basic of all types — the simple microscope uses a single lens. Impliedly, it offers a better view and more capabilities. Here are basics of microscopy:
1. Light Source.
Illumination is a basic requirement in microscopy. Some microscopes have mirrors that reflect light from sources outside of the microscope. Others, like the fluorescence microscope have their own specific sources of illumination, in its case a mercury-vapor lamp or a xenon arc lamp. Those using specific light sources are generally more powerful as these lights are more intense than generic day or lamplights used by ordinary compound microscopes.
2. Objective Lens.
All microscopes have objective lens — the lens closest to the object under probe; not all microscopes have eyepieces. Although the common image the word conjures is that of an ocular device, there are highly advanced microscopes that do not have an eyepiece. Some microscopes have three eyepieces for normal viewing and for mounting a camera, like the trinocular microscope. Instead, there are mounted on cameras and or video displays for a state-of-the-art, 3D view of microscopic objects or organisms. If you follow popular American TV, you would have already seen this in shows like House, MD.
3. Magnification Controls.
Yes, the term sounds impressive but it’s also very basic. Microscopes, regardless of power and/or grade, allow you to control magnification levels with adjustment knobs. Usually, the magnification power is a factor of the objective lens and the eyepiece. In all cases, the maximum magnification is 2000x. Practical Applications
Compound microscopes are used in many fields and for various purposes. The type of compound microscope you need and the magnification levels you require is determined by what you want to see, the specimen you’re using and what you want to do with the images. Incidentally, manufacturers have developed a range of microscopes with specific applications and users in mind. It’s now common to find different grades of one type of microscope. Student-grade compound microscopes — probably an inexpensive tool — are found in virtually all high school laboratories across the globe. Professional-grade compound microscopes can be found in research laboratories where you usually find white coats. Fortunately, manufacturers of this equipment like Meji Techno, Nikon, and Olympus make customizing microscopes possible with a range of selections that come with various accessories. You can configure your own microscope to suit your specific application.
But wait! That’s not all. Working closely with its user base, these companies are constantly working toward improving their existing line with creative and imaginative input from people who use their products the most. So, have you and your compound microscope met?
CanScope – complete solution for all your microscopy needs.
Contact: 1-877-56SCOPE(72673) or info@CanScope.ca
A compound microscope in Toronto can get you started on the road to discovery. Check out CanScope.ca’s selection of microscopes in Toronto, microscope accessories in Toronto , and more!
Understanding the Research Microscope
When you talk about microscopes, you imagine a piece of metal with a viewing port, some mechanisms for lighting, a few lenses and a specimen. Well, while this perception may apply to all kinds of microscopes, this is pretty generic and an expert in microscopy would say that you’ve probably never grown out of those student’s microscopes. Perhaps, the only time you’ve seen a microscope was during your Science class in your elementary years. Today, however, there are so many kinds of microscopes in the market. If you think that mobile phones have been growing like wildfire in the last decade, wait till you see how the microscope has evolved – at least for the past 50 years or so.
Today, you can already encounter terms such as the digital microscope, the fluorescent microscope and the atomic force microscope. Sounds fascinating? Scary perhaps. Then, you can also hear terms such as the inverted and the upright microscope – add to that the research microscope.
If you are not a man of science – and I mean a true-blue man of science – it would be particularly hard for you to differentiate one from another. For you, all you need to know is that the microscope helps you see things that are not visible to the unaided eye – that’s it! No more, no less.
But it doesn’t hurt to update your “scientific knowledge,” right? Thus, this article, will try to explain – using simple words – one of the terms in microscopy (the field of microscopes and of viewing small objects): the research microscope.
What is a research microscope then? For starters, the term is primarily associated with size. Size can be classified according to routine or research (for inverted microscopes) or student, bench-top, and research (for upright microscopes). An upright microscope is one where the lenses are above the illumination system. An inverted microscope, on the other hand, is the type in where the lenses are below the illumination system. This type is mostly used in studying cells that are in suspension.
Back to topic on the research microscope.
Basically, inverted or upright, a research microscope is big: it is the biggest, in fact. A typical research microscope weighs between 30kg and 50kg. Why is it big? Primarily because it is capable of a lot of things.
It can accommodate cameras and several other documentation accessories. It also has a versatile stage (the part where your sample plate is placed). Also, it is capable of Kohler Illumination (the ideal lighting). Some research microscopes even have built-in computers and monitors. In summary, the research microscope is capable of doing anything. This basically explains why it is so big, not to mention expensive.
If you are simply curious of the world around you, you don’t need an extravagant kind such as a research microscope. This type is ideal for scientists and researchers whose only job day in and day out is to study the very essence of cells and other minute objects. What you need is the ordinary compound microscope or a student’s microscope perhaps.
The microscope indeed has helped scientists discover a lot of things. Now, with the research microscope out and proud, it would not be long before they will be able to discover a few more things – things that will help commoners understand the world better.
CanScope – complete solution for all your microscopy needs.
Contact: 1-877-56SCOPE(72673) or info@CanScope.ca
Whatever the type of microscope you need, you can find it at CanScope.ca. Visit their site and discover loads about student’s microscopes and about the more sophisticated kinds: the research microscope and the digital microscope.