Medical Equipment 1

Microscope
 Purpose
. The purpose of a microscope is to magnify and study specimens and small
objects using visible light.
The microscope basically serves as a diagnostic aid of first order in
healthcare, in specialties such as haematology, bacteriology, and parasitology.
They have played a key role in developing
human knowledge and understanding the
working of nature.
 Monocular vs Binocular Microscopes
Monocular Microscopes
For educational purposes, single eyepiece compound
microscopes are usually used as they are low cost
systems and simple in operation.

Binocular Microscope
A microscope with two eyepieces that allows the
viewer to use both eyes.
This arrangement of the double eyepiece microscope
reduces the eyestrain that typically results from
traditional microscopes using a single eyepiece.
The popularity of the binocular microscope has grown
over the years and currently represents that vast majority
of the microscopes in use today.
Components of a bright field microscope
 Components (cont)
Eyepieces (ocular)
These are used to view the sample image enlarged by the objective.
The eyepiece is located near the top of the tube and forms the second lens
system.
Eyepieces often have 10x magnification.
One of the two eyepieces always has an adjustment ring.
This is necessary because the eyesight of our left and right eye might be
different.

Nosepiece
The nosepiece is located under the microscope
head and holds the different objectives.
Depending on the microscope, there
are three or four.
The desired objective is brought into
position by turning the nosepiece.
 Components (cont)
Objective lens
This collects light from the sample and magnifies the image.
The objective is the most critical of the two lens systems, and the
microscopes are designed so that the objective can be used at its maximum
efficiency.
Common objectives have a magnifications of 4x, 10x, 40x, 100x.
The 100x objective is an oil immersion objective which is used with a
drop of special optical oil.
The other objectives with lower magnification are air objectives and
must not get in contact with the oil immersion.
 Components (cont)
Stage
The flat horizontal platform upon which the slide is placed is called
the stage.
The slide is held in place by spring loaded clips.
The microscope stage has two functions.
The microscope can move the stage up and down
and also move the slide in the horizontal plane.
Both functions are controlled by gear reduction mechanisms.
 Components (cont)
The Adjustment knobs
For moving the stage platform up and down a mechanic with a coarse
gear and a fine gear comes into being.
The coarse adjustment knob
This knob is located on the arm of the microscope moves the stage up and
down.
The gearing mechanism of the adjustment produces a large vertical
movement of the stage with only a partial revolution of the knob.
The fine adjustment knob
This knob is used to bring the specimen
into sharp focus under low power.
.
 Components (cont)
Stage clips
The stage clips are used to hold the slide in place on the microscope stage.
To enable the slide to be moved in a horizontal plane, the slide is first fixed
in place with the slide holder.
The microscopist can then use two further knobs to precisely position the
slide and determine the image detail.
One knob moves the slide sideways (X direction) and the other moves it
back and forth (Y direction).
 Components (cont)
Condenser lens
This is used to focus light from the light source onto the sample.
It receives light from the light source and is responsible for the
concentration of light rays on the object.
The condenser usually contains an aperture diaphragm to control and focus
light on the specimen.

Diaphragm or iris
Many microscopes have a rotating disk under
the stage.
This diaphragm has different sized holes and is
used to vary the intensity and size of the light that
is projected upward into the slide.
 Components (cont)
Light source
All microscopes have built-in illumination.
This illumination must be very powerful, especially when 100x objectives
are used.
Halogen bulbs of 15 W, 20 W or more are used as the light source.
A dimmer allows the user to adjust the brightness as required.
Arm
This is the part of the microscope that connects the eyepiece tube to the
base.
Base
The solid and heavy base gives the microscope stability.
It contains the illumination system and the dimmer with a brightness
control knob and the on/off switch.
 Magnification
The total magnification of a microscope is calculated by multiplying the
magnification of the eyepieces by the magnification of the objective.

Example: Eyepieces 10x, objective 40x. The total magnification is

A magnification of 1000x is the highest magnification a standard laboratory