Fluorescence Microscopy Camera

The Infinity 3-6UR microscopy camera is a high resolution 6 megapixel CCD camera that performs exceptionally well in low light scenarios such as fluorescence microscopy.

The image below was captured by CTK Instruments with FITC and DAPI on a fluorescence microscope using the Infinity 3-6URC color microscope camera.

CTK Instruments fluorescence microscopy image using Infinity 3-6UR camera.

For more information on high end research Zeiss microscopes contact CTK Instruments.

For more information on Lumenera microscopy cameras contact Microscope World.

Pine Tree under the Microscope

Wishing you a very happy holidays from Microscope World!

Below are images of the cross section of a pine needle (from a Christmas tree!) captured under a biological microscope using the Jenoptik Naos microscopy camera.

Cross section of a pine needle at 100x captured using the Jenoptik Naos microscope camera.

Cross section of a pine needle at 200x captured using the Jenoptik Naos microscope camera.

Contact Microscope World for more information on microscopy cameras or microscopes. Happy Holidays!

Lungs under the Microscope

The lungs are sponge-like organs that fill the chest cavity and make up most of the lower respiratory tract. Their most important job is providing oxygen to capillaries so they can oxygenate blood. Each lung is divided into lobes. The right lung has three lobes, but the left lung only has two in order to provide room for the heart.

Together the lungs' tissue surface is almost 40 times greater than the body's outer surface, making the lungs as a whole one of the largest organs in the body.

Each lung houses a bronchial tree, which gets its name from the intricate network of air passages that supply the lungs with air. The air-filled sacs in the lungs called alveoli resemble grape clusters. Blood cells known as macrophages, located inside each alveolus, ingest and destroy airborne irritants that enter the lungs. After you exhale, the lungs stay partly inflated because of a fluid called surfactant that is produced by special cells and secreted within the alveoli. Surfactant contains fatty proteins and helps prevent lung infections.

Suffering from a respiratory disorder is one of the most common reasons for doctor visits in industrialized countries where the air is filled with chemicals, pollutants, dust, pollen, bacteria and viruses. The billions of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses and fungi in the air can enter the lungs and make respiratory infections common. Some infections, such as the common cold or sinusitis, affect the upper respiratory tract. Others, such as bronchitis and pneumonia affect the lower respiratory tract.

The images below are of the lung structure and were captured using the RB30 lab microscope with a 5mp basic documentation microscopy camera.

Lung structure captured under a lab microscope at 40x.

Lung structure captured under a lab microscope at 100x.

Lung structure captured under a lab microscope at 400x.

Contact Microscope World for more information about microscope solutions.

Quantum Efficiency and Microscopy Cameras

Quantum efficiency (QE) is the measure of the effectiveness of a camera imager to produce an electronic charge from incident photons. In non-scientific terms it is a measurement of how efficient the camera is at capturing available light. The higher the number, the better the microscope camera is at this function.

When light is digitized photons pass through a camera sensor and are converted to electrons. Before the light is digitized they are stored as pixels. The number of electrons that are stored is referred to as "saturation capacity." Extra electrons are discarded once capacity is reached. QE is the percent of photons that are converted to electrons at a particular wavelength through the sensor.

So what exactly does this mean in terms of microscopy cameras? Typically microscope cameras with a higher quantum efficiency will perform better in low-light conditions. A new way to improve quantum efficiency is through a back illuminated sensor. Jenoptik is using back-illuminated sensors in their new line of Gryphax cameras. Back illumination means the sensor is back-thinned and light is delivered from the back making it easier for incident photos to reach and be absorbed in the active layer of the sensor.

A few of the microscope cameras with higher quantum efficiency include:

• Lumenera Infinity 3S-1UR Color 57%
• Jenoptik Gryphax Rigel 64%
• Jenoptik Gryphax Naos 64%
• Jenoptik Gryphax Arktur 64%
• Lumenera Infinity 3-6UR Color 66%
• Lumenera Infinity 3-3UR Monochrome 68%
• Lumenera Infinity 3S-1UR Monochrome 70%
• Lumenera Infinity 3-6UR Monochrome 73%

Microscopy image captured with the Jenoptik Gryphax Arktur back-illuminated sensor.

Contact Microscope World with questions regarding microscopy cameras for your specific application.

Scalp with Hair under the Microscope

The scalp is the soft tissue layers covering the bone of the vault of the skull. It consists of a thin sheet of muscle, the epicranius, a layer of connective tissue richly supplied with blood vessels, and the skin. Typically the scalp is covered with hair.

Hair is simple in structure and is made of a tough protein called keratin. A hair follicle anchors each hair into the skin. The hair bulb forms the base of the hair follicle. In the hair bulb, living cells divide and grow to build the soft shaft. Blood vessels nourish the cells in the hair bulb, and deliver hormones that modify hair growth and structure at different times in life.

Hair grows at different rates in different people, with the average rate at one-half inch per month. Hair color is created by pigment cells producing melanin in the hair follicle. With aging, pigment cells die and hair turns gray.

The images of scalp with hair (cross sections) were captured using the Fein Optic RB30 microscope and a 5mp microscope camera.

Hair and scalp c.s. captured under the microscope at 40x.

Hair and scalp c.s. captured under the microscope at 100x.

Hair and scalp c.s. captured under the microscope at 400x.

For more info on microscopes and digital microscopy cameras contact Microscope World.

Cyber Monday Special

Cyber Monday Special! Get a free prepared slide kit ($22 value) with the purchase of any microscope.

Click here to view microscope gift ideas and the Cyber Monday special.

Cellular Neurothekeoma under the Microscope

Cellular Neurothekeoma appear as a painless skin mass or nodule that are occasionally painful to the touch. The skin over the nodule is pink, firm and usually intact, with a size between 0.5 - 2cm. In the majority of cases the nodules do not cause any symptoms.  The most common location of Cellular Neurothekeoma nodules is the head and neck region, however the tumors can appear anywhere on the body.

Cellular Neurothekeoma affects both males and females, but is more common in females and it commonly occurs in young individuals in their mid-20s. Treatment for Cellular Neurothekeoma is complete surgical removal and this typically cures the condition. If the tumors are not completely removed they may recur after a period of time, hence it is important to completely remove them through surgery.

The images below of Cellular Neurothekeoma were captured with a lab microscope using the Lumenera Infinity 2-5 CCD 5 megapixel camera.

Cellular Neurothekeoma captured with the Infinity 2-5 microscope camera at 100x.

Cellular Neurothekeoma captured with the Infinity 2-5 microscope camera at 200x.

Cellular Neurothekeoma captured with the Infinity 2-5 microscope camera at 200x.

For more information on microscopes or microscopy cameras contact Microscope World.

Digital Pathology Microscope Cameras

Pathologists study and diagnose disease through examination of organs, tissues and bodily fluids. Digital pathology is the practice of digitizing glass slides and managing the resultant information for later educational, diagnostic, and analytic purposes.

Digital pathology captured images are used for documentation, archiving, teaching, publication and consultation. Microscope digital cameras used in pathology applications use the following features to produce the best results.

High-Fidelity Color Reproduction and Consistency:
Pathology is practiced by identifying and acting upon visual cues. In contract to digital radiology, which is confined to grey-scale images, color plays a crucial perceptual role. For this reason, colors captured by the camera should match human perception as much as possible. Additionally color capture should be as consistent as possible from one capture to another.

The fidelity and consistency of color capture is paramount in digital pathology applications. One key consideration is the means by which color wavelengths are filtered prior to being captured by the image sensor. Crucial hardware design choices, such as whether to use mosaicing filters or three different pixel sensors for each RGB color, can affect color quality. In terms of software, reproduction algorithms designed for specific types of pathology must also be carefully designed and tested. Color quality and consistency are also affected by the monitor used to display the resulting image.

Microcystic Adnexal Carcinoma- Perineural captured with Infinity 2-5 camera.

Low Noise:
Every digital microscope camera suffers from a degree of noise that degrades the image. Due to the stringent quality standards of digital pathology, cameras must exhibit a high signal-to-noise ratio in order to produce images acceptable for medical diagnosis. Camera noise can be divided into fixed-pattern noise or temporal noise. Fixed-pattern noise is produced by variability between pixel to pixel. Using high-quality components and a careful production process can reduce this variability as can proper calibration. Temporal noise is produced during the image capture process. One source is optical (or shot) noise, which is a fundamental and unavoidable property of photos. It is possible to mitigate shot noise through the use of software post-processing algorithms. Another source is electronic noise, produced by the electronic circuitry and semi-conductors during the capture process. Aspects such as size of the photodetector surface, integration time for linear sensors and component quality all play a role.

Wide Dynamic Range / Large Bit Depth:
The dynamic range of a camera refers to the range of light intensity that it can capture in one frame. Cameras still struggle to produce low noise images that can match the dynamic range of the human eye. In this specific application, especially when fluorescence specimens are used, it is crucial that both low- and high-intensity signals are captured and displayed to the medical professional.

The fundamental electronic circuitry of an image sensor is one key factor that can significantly impact dynamic range. Another key factor affecting dynamic range is the size of individual pixels. While smaller pixels do increase spatial resolution, they also reduce the number of photos hitting the image sensor, which limits the dynamic range of the resulting image.

Ilium Brownii captured with Infinity 3-3UR camera using 10x objective, 10ms exposure, 1.2x gain, 1.0 gamma.

Excellent Sensitivity:
Sensitivity is related to dynamic range and is the lowest light intensity a camera can capture where the amount of noise is still less than the true light signals. Human eyes have lower sensitivity than cameras, which explains why a flash is needed for consumer photography conditions that may seem well-lit to the human eye. High sensitivity is desirable in digital pathology. In particular, fluorescence imaging, with its frequent low-intensity signals, has demanding needs for high-quality images under challenging conditions. Physical components of the camera can affect sensitivity, as can the size of pixels since larger pixels capture more photons.

High Spatial Resolution:
A high spatial resolution, meaning the smallest details the imaging system can capture, is a desirable feature of most imaging applications. However, most digital pathology applications, such as certain types of tissue processing, necessitate stringent resolution demands for visual cues and this can push against the theoretical optical resolution limit of visible light.

Large Optical Sensor:
The size of the camera sensor affects how much of the microscopy field of view the pathologist can capture at one time.

Thyroid gland of a sheet captured with a 40x objective lens using Infinity 3-6UR camera.

Fast Frame Rates:
Whole-slide imaging requires high frame rates (90 fps or higher) to keep the digital scanning process as fast as possible. In order to match these fast frame rates, the image sensor quality, including many of the factors explained above, must be high enough to perform effectively under these quick conditions.

Standard and High-Speed Data Interface:
In order to allow a fast transfer of the image data, the camera must be equipped with a high-speed data interface.

Popular Digital Pathology Microscope Cameras:

• 5 megapixel Infinity 2-5 CCD camera has a peak quantum efficiency of 42% and a dynamic range of 58dB.
• Higher performance 3 megapixel Infinity 3-3UR low noise CCD camera and has a peak quantum efficiency of 61% and a dynamic range of 68.8dB.
•  High resolution 6 Megapixel Infinity 3-6UR CCD camera has a peak quantum efficiency of 66% and dynamic range of 68.6dB.

Quantum efficiency is basically how efficient a camera is at capturing available light, meaning a higher quantum efficiency is desirable. All of the above microscope cameras have a maximum bit depth of 14 bits and output color-accurate raw images. View all Lumenera microscope cameras here. For more information on digital pathology and setting up your microscope and camera configuration, contact Microscope World.

Amber under the Microscope

Amber is an organic gemstone that is formed from the hardened resin of ancient pine trees. The hardening process of Amber is known as polymerization, which fossilizes the resin over time and makes it solid and sturdy. Amber is formed from viscous, sticky resin, and therefore commonly contains inclusions that got stuck in the Amber and remained there when it hardened. These inclusions often include insects or plants, with the most well-known being mosquitoes. Amber with well-preserved organisms frozen internally are highly prized.

Macro Zoom Lens Microscope

Juan Pons of National Treasures of Mexico mines for amber in Chiapas, Mexico, a southern Mexico state bordering Guatemala. Deep in the mines of Chiapas, he locates pieces of Amber, many of which have inclusions of insects and flowers that are hundreds and even thousands of years old.

The images of amber shown below were captured using a macro zoom lens microscope system with the 5 megapixel microscope camera. A feature on the software known as extended depth of focus was used with several of the images in order to capture in-focus images at different depths of field and then merging them into a single crisply focused image.

Amber piece with a flower encapsulated in it under a macro zoom lens microscope.

Insect inside amber captured under the microscope.

Amber captured at 60x under the microscope using extended depth of focus with the 5mp microscope camera.

Amber captured at 78x under the microscope using extended depth of focus with the 5mp microscope camera.

Amber captured at 90x under a macro zoom lens microscope.

Flower inside amber under a macro zoom lens microscope system.

Insect in a piece of amber captured at 17x under the microscope.

Insect in a piece of amber captured at 42x under the microscope.

For more information on amber, contact Juan Pons by email or phone 831-227-6398.

For more information on microscopes, microscopy cameras or extended depth of focus software contact Microscope World.

Dragonfly under the Microscope

FZ6 Stereo Microscope

The images below of a dragonfly were captured using the high resolution Fein Optic FZ6 stereo zoom microscope and the Jenoptik Subra HD microscope camera.

Dragonflies are fast, agile fliers, sometimes migrating across oceans, and are often found near water. In flight, the adult dragonfly can propel itself in six directions: upward, downward, forward, back, left and right.

Each dragonfly image was captured between 7x and about 30x magnification. The images were captured using the Jenoptik Gryphax software that is included with the Subra HD camera.

Dragonfly wing captured with the FZ6 stereo microscope.

Dragonfly body captured with the FZ6 stereo microscope.

Dragonfly captured with the FZ6 stereo microscope.

Dragonfly captured with the FZ6 stereo microscope.

Contact Microscope World for more information on digital microscope systems.

Microcystic Adnexal Carcinoma under the Microscope

Microcystic Adnexal Carcinoma (MAC) is an uncommon, locally aggressive malignant appendage tumor commonly classified as a low-grade sweat gland carcinoma. The tumor usually occurs on the head and neck, particularly the central face. Microcystic adnexal carcinoma shows aggressive local invasion but has little metastatic potential. If MAC is diagnosed too late, it can be inoperable because of its infiltrative growth.

The images below were captured using a biological lab microscope and the Lumenera Infinity 2-5 CCD 5 megapixel microscope camera.

Microcystic Adnexal Carcinoma under the microscope using the Lumenera Infinity 2-5 camera.

Microcystic Adnexal Carcinoma Perineural (nerve) invasion. Image: Lumenera Infinity 2-5.

Contact Microscope World for more information on microscope solutions and digital microscopy cameras.

Butterfly Tongue under Phase Contrast Microscope

RB40 Phase Microscope

The images below of a Victorian butterfly tongue were captured using the RB40 phase contrast microscope both with and without the 550nm green interference filter (IF550). Microscopy images were captured using a microscope digital camera.

The butterfly tongue is called a proboscis and is shaped like a tube. A butterfly's tongue functions much like a flexible straw, and will uncoil when the butterfly wants to sip nectar from a flower.

All images below were captured using phase contrast microscopy.

Victorian Butterfly Tongue under RB40 microscope, microscope camera, 100x phase contrast, color.

Victorian Butterfly Tongue under RB40 microscope, microscope camera, 100x phase contrast, green interference filter.

Victorian Butterfly Tongue under RB40 microscope, microscope camera, 100x phase contrast, GIF, monochrome.

Victorian Butterfly Tongue under RB40 microscope, microscope camera, 400x phase contrast, color.

Victorian Butterfly Tongue under RB40 microscope, microscope camera, 400x phase contrast, green interference filter.

Victorian Butterfly Tongue under RB40 microscope, microscope camera, 400x phase contrast, GIF, monochrome.

View this page for more information on phase contrast.

Mast Cell Tumor (Mastocytoma) in Dogs

Mast cells are cells that reside in the connective tissue, specifically those vessels and nerves closest to external surfaces such as the skin, lungs, nose and mouth. Their primary function includes defense against parasitic infestations, tissue repair and the formation of new blood vessels. They can also be associated with allergic reactions.

Mast cell tumors (mastocytomas) in dogs are graded according to their location in the skin, their presence of inflammation and how well they are differentiated.

• Grade 1 cells - well differentiated with low potential for metastasis.
• Grade 2 cells - intermediately differentiated with potential for locally invasive metastasis.
• Grade 3 cells - poorly differentiated or undifferentiated with high potential for metastasis.

There are four stages of the disease which includes:

• Stage 1 - single tumor, no metastasis.
• Stage 2 - single tumor with metastasis into the surrounding lymph nodes.
• Stage 3 - multiple skin tumors, or a large tumor that has invaded subcutaneously.
• Stage 4 - presence of a tumor, with metastasis to an organ or widespread mast cell presence in blood.

The image below of a canine mast cell tumor was captured with a biological microscope using the Lumenera Infinity microscopy camera. The prepared slide was stained with a toluidine blue stain.

Canine Mast Cell Tumor with Toluidine Blue Staining (C) Lumenera

For more information on microscopes or microscopy cameras, contact Microscope World.

Kitten Baby Tooth Under the Microscope

Kittens, just like children, lose their baby teeth. Meet Flame and Bobbi, brother and sister kittens. One of them recently lost a kitten tooth. We placed the tooth under the FZ6-ILS2 stereo zoom microscope and the DCM5 microscope camera with 5 megapixels to capture the images.

Flame and Bobbi

Kitten tooth under the FZ6 stereo microscope at 25x.

Kitten tooth under the FZ6 stereo microscope at 25x.

Polarizing Microscope Images

R40POL Polarizing Microscope

The images below are thin sections of rocks and minerals.  They were captured using the PAXcam microscope camera on the R40POL transmitted light polarizing microscope. The images appear different in some of the photos because the polarizer and analyzer were adjusted.

Polarizing microscopes are typically used in geology and petrology for viewing thin sections of rocks. Additionally, polarizing microscopes are often used in the pharmaceutical industry when viewing drugs and chemical compounds. Most drugs when viewed under the microscope create a beautiful array of colors.

The PAXcam2 is a 2 megapixel color microscope camera with a CMOS chip in it. The images below were captured using the PAXit! Basic Measurement Software.

Thin rock section under the R40POL polarizing microscope with PAXcam microscope camera.

Thin rock section under the R40POL polarizing microscope with PAXcam microscope camera.

Thin rock section under the R40POL polarizing microscope with PAXcam microscope camera.

Thin rock section under the R40POL polarizing microscope with PAXcam microscope camera.

Thin rock section under the R40POL polarizing microscope with PAXcam microscope camera.

Thin rock section under the R40POL polarizing microscope with PAXcam microscope camera.

For more information about the R40POL polarizing microscope, PAXcam microscope cameras or any other microscope configuration, please contact Microscope World.