Bright Field Microscopy And Imaging
Images for Your Lab: Bright Field Microscopy and Imaging
Using a bright field microscope can be easy to many experienced scientists. After all, Brightfield Microscopes are one of the most simple laboratory tools: through the use of visible light passing through the specimen and through a system of lenses, scientists can resolve a few details and learn a few things about specimens, from microbes to minerals. Capturing the image of the specimen, however, is a little more difficult; bright field microscopy and imaging techniques are still constantly being developed in order to make better tools that can help students and researchers alike.
There are many ways by which a bright field microscope image can be captured. In general, the captured image can be static or mobile. Each kind of image will have its own advantages and disadvantages, as well as its own ease of use.
Seeing Pictures
A bright field microscope has its own ocular lens, which is the last system of lenses that the light passes through before it reaches your eyes. The ocular lenses can be enhanced by adding on a camera. For most basic laboratories that are operating on a budget, this camera can be used to take photographs of the specimen being viewed. There are different cameras that you can fit onto a bright field microscope.
- A film camera offers the advantage of low cost, but not all details can be captured by such a camera. Moreover, film cameras need to be removed from a microscope more often in order to take out the used film and put in a new one. This can allow dirt, grime, and dust to enter the body of the microscope, which can hamper the function of the bright field microscope. The dirt, dust, and grime can even enter the ocular or objective lenses, causing images to blur.
- Most laboratories now use digital cameras for bright field microscopy imaging. Although digital cameras are more expensive, they can resolve specimens better, and they do not need to be removed from the microscope body so often. Some digital cameras can be connected directly to a computer, so that images are fed to the computer as soon as they are captured. Some digital cameras also allow viewing of the image from a computer screen, so that looking for details can be less straining on the microscope user.
- An alternative to these cameras is the Polaroid, which makes use of a rather bulky camera attached to a set of films. Once a picture is taken, it can be developed and viewed quickly. However, most Polaroid cameras for the laboratory take only black and white photographs, and resolution is often dependent on the amount of focus on the specimen. Moreover, Polaroid films are expensive.
Watching it on TV
Static images offer the advantage of budget, as well as easy reproducibility. Scientists also need static images in order to document their findings and report them in scientific journals. However, not all static images provide enough information on a specimen. If live specimens need to be examined and studied in detail, scientists need a camera system that can capture the living specimen without killing it or freezing it in time.
As a result, some microscope accessory merchants now provide video camera systems that can be attached to Brightfield Microscopes. Such video camera systems can allow scientists greater versatility in studying specimens. In general, video camera systems can either use film or a digital medium.
- Film video cameras have the same disadvantages as film photography. However, film video cameras can be handy in the field, where computers cannot be brought, and where a microscope is needed to carry out studies on live specimens. Film video cameras can also record specimen movement or behavior, and these films can be played for classrooms without spending too much on playback equipment.
- Digital video cameras have the same advantages as digital photography, and although they are expensive, they can be advantageous to scientists who need to present their microscopy findings at conferences. Digital video files can simply be saved onto a computer, and then played at a conference for conference visitors and observers to look at and enjoy. Digital footage of specimens is also easier to send through the Internet, which is important for scientists working in different parts of the world, as it can expedite their research.
Video imaging techniques for bright field microscopy can be useful for many fields of science. They can show motile bacteria moving through its environment, which can allow scientists to see flagella movements and how the bacterium interacts with its surroundings. Videos can show heart cells in culture, which already beat and contract.
Bright field microscopy and imaging are still undergoing improvements. Although there are already more sophisticated methods of viewing specimens, live specimens need bright field microscopy in order to be viewed better. With basic microscopy and imaging going hand in hand, scientific study can be much easier for scientists, and more exciting and interesting for people waiting for findings.
References
Tortora, G. et al. Microbiology. 5th Edition. Benjamin Cummings.1996.
Campbell, N. Biology. 4th Edition. Benjamin Cummings. 1996.
Alberts, L. et al. Molecular Biology of the Cell. 3rd Edition. 1993.
