Biological Tissue Observation Using Phase Contrast Microscope: The Different Techniques
You can never underestimate the power of Zernike’s innovation. The phase contrast microscope has indeed provided enhancement in the way people study and process experiments, especially in the field of biology. Here are the common applications of a phase contrast microscope.
Phase Contrast Microscopy
If light goes through a specific medium to another with another kind of refractive index, the light waves will refract, which will then change the phase of the light wave. Even the smallest structure of any microscopic material is sufficient to cause such change in the medium and thus change the phase of the light wave. The process called phase contrast microscopy can recognize the shift of the light phase and see it as a modification in the light contrast.
The outcome is that you can see these living specimens in a much enhanced viewing contrast. You don’t have to use any staining or dye to the specimen. Thus, you study the specimen as is—without any alteration to its natural state. The phase contrast microscope can also be customized according to your particular needs.
The Special Technique Employed
If you wish to see every detail found in a living cell, then you have to properly choose the equipment you are going to use. For optimum results, you better settle for the phase contrast microscope. It makes use of a different viewing technique which basically translates the shift in the phase of light wave to shift in its intensity to come up with visible contrast. This was introduced during the 1930s by Fritz Zernike, a Dutch physicist. He was awarded in 1953 with Nobel Prize for Physics because of his invention known as phase contrast microscope.
Study Cellular Structures with No Staining
With the use of a phase contrast microscope, there is no need for you to stain or dye the specimen, which can only destroy the cells. Instead, you observe the different cell structures through the use of this advanced light microscope. Because of such advantage, this is commonly used by laboratories. Moreover, the phase contrast microscope allows researches to observe minute structures inside a cell body. This is considered to be highly valuable when it comes to filming or photographing the movements of live cells. Another positive attribute of phase contrast microscopy is that it can also improve the destructive interference of light as it passes through the specimen as well as to the medium. This optical technique referred to as contrast-enhancing effect is now utilized to develop high contrast images of thin slices of tissue, living cells, lithographic patterns, microorganisms, fragments of fiber glass, latex dispersions, organelles, and nuclei.
Structures Are Preserved As Is
Phase contrast microscopes involve the employment of optical mechanism which translates smallest phase variations into their corresponding amplitude changes. This may be visualized as image contrast differences.
One of the primary advantages with regards to phase contrast microscopes is that you can examine living cells in their natural state without having them stained, killed, or fixed. By utilizing this, the principles of the biological procedures may be observed as well as documented in high contrast—the specimen, even its smallest detail, becomes clear.
Phase Contrast Microscopy in Asbestos Testing
Laboratories tasked to measure fibers in the workplace samples will likely use two kinds of standards commonly called as D 7200 and D 7201. Both of these will identify methods for assessing air samples for fibers with the use of phase contrast microscope. Along with it, a transmission electron microscope will also be used for the counting and identification of these fibers. When comparing these two procedures, phase contrast microscope can actually give quicker but less pricey results. However, transmission electron microscope has the power to differentiate the asbestos fibers from other types such as organic or glass fibers.
Sperm Morphology
Although rare, a phase contrast microscope can be used for sperm morphology. This is to identify abnormal cells from normal ones. You create a phase contrast mount through putting a little amount of semen into a saline (formal buffered solution) in order to preserve or kill the cells. Then you place a small drop of the saline sample in the slide. A cover slip is placed on the drop. A phase contrast microscope is used to analyze the specimen. You need to complement both the phase ring and the power you’re utilizing. The phase contrast will function as a stain but the cells will appear floating rather than lying flat.
Other Areas of Applications
Other applications of a phase contrast microscope include the following:
1. horse breeding
2. animal breeding
3. dog breeding
4. research for cellular biology
5. research for molecular biology
6. motility of sperm cells
7. treatments for infertility
8. detection of mold and mildew
9. control of dust mite
10. monitoring of air pollution in the environment
