What Any Microscope Enthusiast Should Know About The Parts Of A USB Microscope

A USB microscope is a specialty microscope that acts as three gadgets: a regular microscope, a web camera and a digital camera. Because of its ability to connect to the USB port of any PC or laptop, any video or image viewed can be automatically be viewed and saved to the PC or laptop. Digital viewing, transfer and editing of images is also made possible with the help of specialized softwares.

The USB microscope is a necessity in any university, research facility and medical facility because of the ease of its use and great manageability of visual data. The transfer of the files via the internet is also possible because of its connection to the PC. Because of the web camera that comes with it, viewing by parties from any part of the world can see the same images in just a few clicks. Web conferencing on special or emergency medical issues can be done as well.

So aside from the USB port and the camera that goes with the USB microscope, what are the other important parts and what are their uses?

1. The eyepiece/s or Ocular piece/s. The typical USB microscope comes with one (i.e. monocular) or two oculars (i.e. binocular). The eyepiece is where the user looks into when viewing the specimen. Sometimes, USB microscopes come with dual heads where 2 users can view the same specimen at the same time.

2. The body tube is the part that connects the upper part of the microscope where the ocular is and the lower part where the rest of the microscope is.

3. The area where the slide or the object to be viewed microscopically is called the stage or platform. It often comes with knobs that will enable you to move the slide or object up or down, left or right, so you could see the whole image. Clips are also present to keep the slide in place even if the microscope is tilted and the stage is moved. Nowadays, temperature controlled stages are used by many companies world wide because of specimens that require certain cold or hot temperatures to preserve them or to optimized viewing.

4. A USB Camera with high resolution. The USB camera is the part that sets this microscope apart from the rest. This part will enable you to connect directly to a laptop when you go on field study or to any PC with a USB port. Images and live video of your specimens can be transferred immediately to the PC and viewed at the monitor.

5. Fiber optic illumination. The viewing of the specimen will not be possible if there is not enough light to illuminate the subject. Adequate lighting with less heat as possible so as not to kill or affect live specimens are necessary for optimum viewing delight. Fiber optic illumination has the advantage of having clear but cold light that can be focused to the particular specimens, especially if there are tiny target areas that you want to focus your viewing on.

6. The revolving nosepiece is especially used to adjust to any objective of your choice. It allows you to shift from low to high power objective and back.

7. The arm serves as the handle when one wants to carry the microscope elsewhere. The good grip it offers makes it conveniently transferred from one site to another.

8. The diaphragm enables the user to cut off the edges of the field of vision, allowing you to see only the center of the field where you want to focus your viewing.

9. The coarse and fine focus knobs are used to adjust the clarity of the image seen. The coarse focus knob would move the body tube closer or farther from the specimen. Once the image is seen, the fine focus knob is used to further enhance the clarity.

10. The condenser at the bottom of the stage serves to concentrate the light reflected by the mirror below it to the specimen above. The concentration of light is adjusted using the diaphragm or iris.

11. The mirror serves to reflect light coming from an external source to enhance the light source. Sometimes, adequate external lighting is enough to make you view the specimen effectively. Internal lamps are much needed if you are indoors and can be provided by the illuminator.

Having an idea on the different parts of a USB microscope is very important. It will make you aware of the functions of each part making the use of the microscope more effective and easier. If you know all the parts of the microscope, it is more likely that you will maximize the function of each part, making microscopic viewing a fruitful experience.

For more information, please visit http://www.usb-microscope.com/