Celestron Advanced Stereo Microscope Microscope Basics - Page 9

Fluorescence - These microscopes use an illumination method that is used to locate fluorescently tagged material (protein, enzyme, genes) by exciting the specimen with one wavelength of light in hopes that the fluorescence will appear by emitting a light at a different wavelength. Metallurgical - A microscope that is used for identification, inspection, and analysis of different metals and alloys. Electron Beam - These microscopes typically cost more than $ 100,000 and sometimes much more and use a beam of highly energetic electrons instead of light to examine objects on a very fine scale. This allows the microscope to surpass the resolution limits of optical microscopes and can magnify specimens up to 250,000x or more. Users can examine the topography of a specimen, its morphology, composition, etc. Digital - These are a combination of a microscope and a digital camera. The more common types are the digital cameras which can use a CCD or CMOS chip. The camera can be integrated (built-in) with the microscope or specialized cameras (imagers) can be purchased separately and adapted to virtually any microscope (like one pictured below) at economical prices. With basic software provided (with the camera (or using your own photo editing software) the user can display, save, and edit images. Some more expensive software packages allows for a variety of image analysis useful for medical, educational, and sophisticated research usage. Handheld Digital Microscopes use new technology for a miniature camera and illuminator in one unit. You use a PC or laptop computer to view and image. See the photo below. Handheld Digital Microscope with a Laptop Microscope VGA Imager attached to a microscope and laptop Parts of a Microscope 9