The Uses of the Stereo Microscope

The Uses of the Stereo Microscope

The stereo microscope has been around for a long time and was invented in 1830. This type of microscope uses light, or rather more specifically, refraction, to examine samples at different magnifications. As such, this type of microscope is the oldest known and it was used in both chemistry and biology before being discovered by the Royal Society of Chemistry. The stereo, or stereo microscopes, use a lens with two lenses that are each capable of magnifications (how much the sample is enlarged) and that both transmit light in the same manner as that of the eye.

This type of microscope uses light waves, rather than light itself, to illuminate and view specimens. It is similar to the monocular telescope in that it can magnify objects up to four times without losing any resolution. However, the stereo microscope differs because the specimen is magnified not just by the focusing lenses but also by the transmission of light from behind the specimen. Thus, when you look through the eyepiece of this type of microscope, light is being transmitted from all directions and as a result, the image is clear even though all the light that has been transmitted passes through the opaque covering.

Unlike the monocular type, the stereo microscope finds that it useful to be able to examine specimens at different magnifications; in fact it finds this to be of particular importance in life sciences. Because the image seen through two separate optical paths can be magnified by 100x, the stereo microscope finds its greatest utility in life science research. For example, if scientists are studying the development of bacteria, one specimen could be scanned at ten different magnification levels while another might be scanned at three different levels. As such, the two separate optical paths do not need to be coupled through a lens in order to increase the magnification range of the sample.

In terms of the design of the specimen mounts, the conventional type of tripod, where the specimen is mounted on a rotating platform, is a problem for a stereo microscope system. Since the image is now seen through two optical paths, it is not possible to place the camera in such a way that the rotational axis will hit both of the optical axes simultaneously. To overcome this, some stereo microscope makers have developed cameras which use concentric lenses in order to meet this problem. In effect, the specimen is viewed through two optical path lengths, thereby doubling the number of directions from which the image can be viewed. In practice, most stereo microscope systems consist of at least two concentric lenses, allowing for the provision of multiple viewing angles.

The use of stereo microscopes is most commonly found in the field of biotechnology, particularly in the field of molecular and genetic analysis. This is because it is possible to employ the same instrument in order to view molecular structures at various sizes, while eliminating the need for manual magnification. This is important in biological or medical research, where the amount of time required to properly conduct research is crucial. For example, if a researcher needs to examine a molecular sample at a very high magnification, he would be forced to use an optical microscopy system with a long lead time between shots. However, if he were to use a compound microscope, he would be able to observe the sample at various focus strengths, thus increasing his efficiency in his research work. Since compound microscopes allow for simultaneous viewing of multiple optical paths, the user is able to conduct both biophysical and structural research using the same device.

Some stereo microscope systems are also used to examine unicellular materials and even living organisms. Since microscope light cannot pass through many surfaces, especially those which are too thin to allow for proper viewing, these types of microscopes are typically incorporated as part of extended microscope kits. Stereomicroscopes allow scientists to observe living specimens at different time and magnification levels, allowing them to learn about the physiology and anatomy of these specimens in greater detail. For example, by using a combination of different types of eyepiece, a scientist can inspect cells up to thousands of times with little loss of image resolution.

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