Field of View
Resolution and Numerical Aperture
Chromatic Aberration
Working Distance
Your first assignment as a research assistant in a new lab is to image and document sections of a mouse embryo.
Because the embryo is small, the animal has been sectioned intact along the sagittal plane.
Other workers in the lab have already prepared the samples for you.
Each section of the embryo is 250 μm thick.
These sections were then stained, mounted on standard microscope slides, and cover slipped.
Before beginning this task, you will need to be aware of the strengths and limitations of the microscopy equipment you have on hand.
With this information you can then make appropriate decisions on how to image these samples to efficiently obtain the relevant data from these slides.
You should refer to this online viewer to assist you in working through these decisions:
Let Image Width =
Let Image Height =
Objective = series of lenses that keeps image flat and colors constant
You are always limited by what you can see by field number of eye piece
Resolution = "distance between 2 points where you can still tell there are 2 objects"
"you can buy a very low resolution optic , with a really high
"we need to see at least 3 microns or 3000 nano meters"
How big this embryo section?
Come up with answer in mm2
How much of the embryo will be visible through the microscope at a time?
This is an image of the eye piece on your microscope.
If the objective and eye piece field numbers do not match ,
Calculate the field of view ( in mm ) for the following objectives :
The FOV represents the diameter of the circle visible through the eyepieces.
Calculate the visible area ( in mm2 ) and percent of total area of the embryo it represents for the following objectives :
The digital cameras attached to microscopes have square or rectangular sensors
Your lab microscope is equipped with a SPOT RT3 camera.
Using the specification sheet, determine the effective field number ( FN ) of this camera.
What percent of the embryo will be captured in each image you would take using a 10x and 60x objective?
How many images will be necessary to document the whole embryo?
Rayleigh Equations :
Where :
Where :
Where :
Solving for first zero ( Wolfram Alpha ):
Let Wave Number (
Assume
Isolating for
While collecting images with the 60X objective will require significantly more time , it may be necessary depending on the level of detail you wish to capture.
Zoom in again on the embryo online at emouseatlas.org.
What is the size of some of the smallest objects or features in the image?
What kind of resolution would you need to achieve to replicate this level of detail?
Solving for
Solving for
Using light at 550nm , calculate the resolution possible using objectives with the following numerical apertures ( NA ).
Review the NA of the objectives available on the lab microscope.
Do your calculations influence or limit your choice of objectives? Why or why not?
UPLFLN 10X2 :
UPLSAPO 10X2 :
UPLSAPO 20X :
UPLSAPO 40X2 :
UPLSAPO 60XO :
UPLSAPO 100XS :
SPOTTM RT3 2.0 MP Slider :
The wavelength of light is a key parameter in the equation for resolution.
This suggests the choice of wavelength influences the resolution possible for your microscope.
Calculate the maximum resolution possible with a high numerical aperture ( 1.40 ) objective.
Using the equation for NA (
Explain why.
Distance from the lense where everything comes into focus.
Big lens with smooth surface has difference than small lense with large curvature.
Different wavelengths as they pass thorugh the material have different refractive indices.
Chromatically corrected lens focuses everything at the correct place
Fluorite = cheapest lens
Aberration corrections and numerical drive the price of the lens
What kind of staining is used on this embryo tissue?
Stain = haematoxylin and eosin
Use the simplified lens maker formula to calculate the changes in focal length of a lens for the wavelengths listed
Interactive Lens-Marker's Equation :
Let
Red light ( n = 1.513 ) :
Will these differences affect your imaging?
You must keep this in mind when choosing objectives for your studies.
In order to safely focus on any region of your sample ,
Your coworker who prepared the embryo sections informs you that
Working Distance = Coverslip thickness + distance to objective
Coverslip types and thickness tolerances :
Review the spec sheets for the objective on your microscope.
So we need a working distance bigger than 0.42 mm
Are there any limitations on which objectives can be used to image the embryo sections?
UPLSAPO 40X2 , UPLSAPO 60XO , UPLSAPO 100XS have working distances smaller than
Explain why.
Review the spec sheets for the objectives available on your microscope.
Is there a relationship between NA and working distance? Explain why or why not.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerical_aperture
https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/528093
For a given numerical aperture , one can usually increase the working distance
For a given numerical aperture , there is a tradeoff between working distance and cost
Lastly , summarize your strategy for documenting these embryo sections.
What objective( s ) are best?
Why did you choose them?