People working in a laboratory using several conventional optical as well as digital microscopes face a long list of common issues whenever they try to perform advanced measuring and imaging operations. Technologies are however advancing with each day passing and with the help of the newest digital microscopy technology, all of these issues can be met easily. Laboratory equipment, such as microscopes, are made with a combination of advanced digital imaging technology and time-tested optics. This allows even first-time users of laboratory microscopes to work efficiently and produce superior images as well as highly reliable results.
There are a variety of challenges related to measurement, observation, and image capturing that one can face while using a microscope. Advanced digital microscopes help overcome all these challenges but still there are small chances of human error occurring. So, today in this blog, we will discuss the most common issues that a person has to deal with when he/she is working with any laboratory microscope. Continue reading this blog to learn all of them and how to avoid them.
5 Common Issues Everyone Faces While Using a Microscope
The microscope you are using is a vital tool for your laboratory and it is responsible for getting all the results correctly. This makes it crucial to have prior knowledge on how to use it properly. Now, we will review some of the common issues in microscope usage.
- Poor Slide Preparation: Poor slide preparation is one of the most common issues that everyone faces. There can be air in the slide that you are observing and not knowing what is in the biomass. There can also be smudges and fingerprints on the slide that makes it difficult to observe.
You need to handle your slides with care and hold them by their sides to avoid this issue. Also, don’t forget to make a quick visual check before putting them under your microscope.
- Insufficient Magnification: Know that if you will not enlarge your microscope image enough then there are great chances that you will not be able to properly see what is present. You may also miss smaller fragments.
Now to avoid this, you need to start with 100x and then focus on your image. After that, move to 400x for image capture. Besides that, you have to be patient and work slowly.
- Stay Focused: Another common issue that you might face is the out-of-focus image. If your image is blurry then there is a great chance that it is out of focus. So, remember to try to focus on the main item being examined. Almost every microscope has two focus knobs – the first one is for the coarse focus and the second one is for fine focus. First, use the coarse focus to get all the general shapes visible to your eyes, and then use the fine focus. It will get your images sharp and clearly visible.
- Center the Life Forms In the Middle of the Slide: Before sending the photos of your process to anyone, there is one last thing that you need to consider. It is to have all the life forms centered in the image. It will be easy as you just have to make sure that you have well-prepared slides as well as a clear view so that you can see what is happening under magnification in your microscope.
- Specific Details on Challenging Samples: In most imaging cases, it is not possible to observe low contrast samples. And even after magnification, sample surfaces cannot be observed clearly with low contrast and reflective difference. Sometimes, sample surfaces can also be disturbed by the glare that is caused by halation. This is why a clear observation in such cases is challenging. You can eliminate this glare by carefully adjusting the illumination but it is a time-consuming process and it is still possible that it may not yield satisfactory results for you. To solve this issue, today’s digital microscopes use sophisticated digital image processing to help clearly observe the surfaces.
The Bottom Line
Though these are some of the common issues that one faces while working with a microscope, they are, however, significantly reduced. All thanks to the high-quality optics and advanced digital technology. Today’s digital microscopes deliver intuitive magnifying operation, efficient observation, reproducibility, and a variety of observation methods. But knowing all these common issues beforehand helps save a lot of time and effort. If you are searching for the best lab equipment calibration, repair, and validation services in San Diego then you have come to the right place! Biotechnical Services Inc. is there to offer you superior quality lab equipment maintenance, repair, and calibration services so that you can easily focus on your experimentation and manufacturing. Get in touch with us today at (800) 274-0287!
