Which Light Microscope Will I Choose? Part 2- Confocal Systems

Why confocal? The standard fluorescence widefield microscope described in our last article has one major disadvantage: it collects not only the desired image information from the focal plane, but it also records a large amount of out-of-focus light, leading to a blurred image. In the 1950’s, system developers started thinking about how to get rid…

Which Light Microscope Will I Choose? Part 1 – Basic Light and Fluorescence Systems

Think before you start! Before you even start preparing your samples, you should think about the choice of microscope for image acquisition. Manufacturers offer an ever increasing range of light microscopes- some of which may already be available in your research institutes. To help you get the best out of your imaging experiment by making the…

The Cell: An Image Library – An Overview of an Award-winning Multimedia Site

Much more than just an archive, The Cell: An Image Library-CCDB (Cell Centered Database; ‘The Cell’) serves many additional purposes. Whilst many researchers use The Cell to organize their own images for research and archival purposes- the real value of The Cell is the ability to share those images with other researchers. In many scientific…

How to Transform Your Images from Mediocre to Publication Quality with Köhler Illumination

How to Transform Your Images from Mediocre to Publication Quality with Köhler Illumination

You’ve spent days, perhaps weeks or months squirrelling away tubes of preserved tissue in the dark drawers under your laboratory bench like the trophies of a demented serial-killer. Hours have been spent in histology in the processing, embedding and sectioning onto slides. Finally, like a warrior victorious in battle, you hold aloft your thin glass…

What You Ought To Know About Polarising Light Microscopy

What You Ought To Know About Polarising Light Microscopy

Polarising microscopy involves the use of polarised light to investigate the optical properties of various specimens. Although originally used predominantly in the field of geology, it has recently become more widely used in medical and biological research fields too. Polarising light microscopy is a contrast-enhancing technique to allow you to evaluate the composition and three-dimensional…

How Köhler Illumination Can Help You See The Light

How Köhler Illumination Can Help You See The Light

Although the microscope is probably the most commonly used biological instrument, it is frequently used improperly. The rate-limiting step to getting high quality microscopic images is illumination of your specimen. When you examine a specimen under the microscope, the intensity and distribution of light must be clear and equal to enable you to evaluate all…