Microscopy Field Notes
A blog created to help life science researchers navigate the inspiring world of optical microscopy
Making Sense of the Fine Details
Over the next few posts, we will dig deeper into microscope objectives and explore how they can affect the quality of your imaging. Let’s start the series off with magnification and resolution, which can be a point of confusion when planning experiments. Often,...
Photons to Pixels: Illuminating Bit Depth
The meaning and relevance of bit depth is a common point of confusion for life scientists who use microscopes. Typically, when we mention bit depth in microscopy, we are referring to gradations in the intensity readings from a detector. Let’s use a photomultiplier...
Two-Photon Microscopy: How to Minimize Optical Aberrations
The main advantage of two-photon microscopy is the ability to image deeper into scattering samples, such as tissue and live specimens. One way that two-photon objectives assist deep imaging is by providing extended working distances compared to lenses for other...
Two-Photon Microscopy Objectives: Focusing on the Essentials
In our last post, Craig and I introduced the basics of two-photon microscopy. This month we will review some considerations for choosing the best objective for your multiphoton imaging. If you are new to objectives and their properties, we recommend that you consult...
What Is Two-Photon Microscopy?
This week I am joined by Dr. Craig Brideau, an engineering scientist who has recently joined the LCI team. Craig has designed and built numerous optical systems, and has particular expertise in biomedical imaging using non-linear optics. Over the next several posts,...
Honouring Maria Goeppert-Mayer for International Women’s Day
In recognition of International Women’s Day, I would like to highlight the German-American physicist Maria Goeppert-Mayer (1906-1972). Goeppert-Mayer started off in mathematics but was inspired to switch to physics after attending a quantum mechanics seminar presented...