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Microscope Equipment Requirements
For microscope literacy and basic health literacy education Dissection microscopes You will need: A trinocular dissection microscope with zoom from about 10X – 40 X total; with C-mount adapter and colour ½” CCD video camera (see below for details) for display on TV screen. These should be available from any good microscope dealer . A solid, reliable inexpensive option is the Orion OSM-ZP zoom trinocular Dissecting microscope. Shell-Lap Supplies CCD video cameras And 2 X cables, camera to TV (one for spare). Cables must have one end male RCA plug, one end male BNC plug Note: In the past we have recommended a ½” CCD chip because it displays a greater area of the view you see through the microscope. This makes the image on the TV more consistent with that seen thought the lens. However the ½” chip is more expensive and we have recently found that we can use the extra magnification of the 1/3” to our advantage. In a compound light microscope this extra magnification means that we rarely need to use the 1000X magnification (which requires oil immersion, which can be messy if trying to drop down to a lower power again) instead we can quickly switch between 100X and 400X magnifications as desired. Suggestion: Panasonic CCTV colour camera, 1/3” CCD, Model (or similar) Available from Shell-Lap Supplies or most other microscope suppliers PLUS: You will need a Television (with AV input) of a size appropriate to your requirements. An 12” TV gives the best, sharpest picture. The big TV is better for large groups but you definitely lose clarity. Do not get talked into buying a 'super-duper' monitor. A good off the shelf TV is better; half the weight and half the price. Compound Light Microscopes Compound Light Microscopes are able to view microscopic translucent samples down to things the size of bacteria. To view live bacteria and live blood clearly the microscope must have phase contrast and dark field microscopy capabilities. Such a set up will enable you to clearly show people bacteria in saliva, stagnate water or any wet sample, virtually any minute parasite, along with white blood cells, red blood cells and fat droplets in the blood.
Dark field microscopy comes in two forms one uses what is called a dry dark field condenser; the other uses an oil dark field condenser. The oil dark field is much better and can be used at a magnification of 1000X (obj. lens 100X), it gives more accurate colour, better 3D definition and more light. However it is more expensive and must have a separate dedicated condenser. We recommend using the oil condenser; it is really not a problem to switch between condensers in any of the light microscopes we suggest here. OLYMPUS BX50: is top of the range, gives great images, and has 100w of light for dark field operation. The down side is that it is heavy for field use and expensive. For a clinic or office based microscope you couldn’t get better. However, if you intend to move this microscope around by air or long rough dusty roads you will also need a specially made aluminium chest. Make sure they make it with a handle on each end so two people can lift it, as a centre handle is too difficult and heavy. Short distance cartage works well by seat belting the microscope in with a lap and shoulder sash; this saves dismantling and re-assembling at the other end. If you do a lot of moving from place to place consider the alternative below. Suggested configuration OLYMPUS BX50
For education in the field or a less expense alternative we recommend: Nikon E200-F: this is a very versatile smaller microscope suitable for doing microscope literacy and basic health literacy in the field or as a cheaper alternative to the large Olympus. It is much lighter and more portable. Its only drawbacks are those suffered by all smaller models, a reduced light source and it fits only 4 objective lenses. However, it easily accommodates the switching of condensers between phase contrast and oil dark field. And it produces images comparable if not the same as the Olympus – considering the reduced light source. Suggested configuration:
Nikon Contact: Brad Hope
Complied by Timothy Trudgen, Nov 2002 |
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