Why is microscopy important in anatomy and physiology

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Free course Introduction to microscopy. Microscopy is also becoming an important tool for forensic scientists who are constantly examining hairs, fibers, clothing, blood stains, bullets, and other items associated with crimes. Modern advances in fluorochrome stains and monoclonal antibody techniques have heralded an explosive growth in the use of fluorescence microscopy in both biomedical analysis and cell biology. The basic differences between biomedical and materials microscopy involves how the microscope projects light onto the sample.

In classical biological microscopy, very thin specimens are prepared and the light is passed or transmitted through the sample, focused with the objective and then passed into the eyepieces of the microscope. For observing the surface of integrated circuits that comprise the internal workings of modern computers light passed through the objective and is then reflected from the surface of the sample and into the microscope objective.

In scientific nomenclature, transmitted and reflected light microscopy are known as diascopic and episcopic illuminated microscopy, respectively. The photomicrographs in our photo galleries are derived from both transmitted and reflected optical microscopic scientific investigations. One of the most serious problems in microscopy is the poor contrast produced when light is passed through very thin specimens or reflected from surfaces with a high degree of reflectivity.

To circumvent this lack of contrast, various optical "tricks" have been perfected by scientists to increase contrast and to provide color variations in specimens. The assortment of techniques in the microscopists bag include: polarized light, phase contrast imaging, differential interference contrast, fluorescence illumination, darkfield illumination, Rheinberg illumination, Hoffman modulation contrast, and the use of various gelatin optical filters.

A thorough discussion of these techniques is provided in the Specialized Microscopy Techniques section of this primer. References are provided in both classical bibliographic form and as website links in the front-end page of the microscopy primer. These should serve to provide more details of microscopy and photomicrography to interested readers as well as links to additional material on the World Wide Web. Mortimer Abramowitz - Olympus America, Inc.

Michael W. Microscopy Primer. Light and Color. Microscope Basics. Special Techniques. Digital Imaging. Confocal Microscopy. Live-Cell Imaging. Microscopy Museum. Virtual Microscopy. Web Resources. License Info. Image Use. Custom Photos. Site Info. Contact Us. The Galleries:. Photo Gallery. Silicon Zoo.

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