microscopesthey are extremely versatile tools. As children, they open our eyes to the secret worlds contained in a drop of water or discover the extraterrestrial structure of the fly's eye. At the university, they help students identify parts of a cell or study tissue samples. Both amateurs and researcherscan take portable digital microscopes into the fieldto conveniently analyze plant, animal or mineral matter on the go. Microscopes have a wide range of uses when it comes to their usefulness, but one of the biggest ways they affect our lives is in medicine. In this article, we explore how microscopes have had a huge impact on the healthcare field over the centuries.
first microscopes
w 17tage,Antonio van LeeuwenhoekaHe improved on early versions of the microscope by placing a small spherical glass lens on an adjustable axis that could be manipulated to focus on small specimens. He could see red blood cells and microorganisms, which earned him credit as the "father of microbiology." While microscopes certainly had a long way to go from the Leeuwenhoek device to what we use today, their importance in healthcare was evident almost from the beginning.
Leeuwenhoek and other early micrographers recorded bacteria, protozoa, epithelial cells, and other mysteries of the human body.Record your findings in medical textbooks.. However, it was another hundred years before the importance of microscopes in medicine was widely recognized and they became indispensable both in clinical settings and in universities around the world.
Medical education
When you think of a microscope, one of the first images that comes to mind might be a scientist in a white lab coat, bent over an eyepiece. This is not too far from the truth. Health education largely depends onusing medical microscopesteach students how to identify a variety of diseases that can be detected in blood or tissue samples. From your first basic biology class at college to a plethora of pre-med courses, if you're embarking on an educational path to become a healthcare professional, you'll find microscopes along the way.
Teaching students how to use microscopes in school can help them identify infection-causing microbes as soon as they are in a medical environment. But learning how to use a microscope is only one side of the coin. educators canuse digital microscopes with camerasDisplay photos to the whole class. Digital microscopes use optics and a digital camera to transfer images to a computer. Photos and videos can be displayed in real time, so the entire meeting room can view the same slide. Teachers use these devices to ensure that everyone sees exactly the same image, avoiding the differences that arise when students take turns looking through individual eyepieces. This use of USB technology, where images can be saved and shared with users, allows students to refer to data later as they continue to learn.
clinical settings
Before microscopes found their place in modern medicine, people (even doctors) believed that God or evil spirits sent diseases to punish people. In the 1860s, Louis Pasteurdeveloped a theorythat, in fact, "germs" are responsible for our diseases. Pasteur noted correlations between specific diseases and the objects he observed in the blood of sick patients. We now know that the "germs" that Pasteur was talking about are actually bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. His observations paved the way for modern medicine to identify, treat, and even prevent infectious diseases.
Bacteria and blood cells are revealed under phased microscopes which are used in many clinical settings. If you took a biology class in high school, you may remember cleaning the inside of your cheek with a flat toothpick and placing a tissue on a slide. The cells that appeared under the microscope were epithelial cells that line the surfaces of our organs and blood vessels. Doctors and clinicians still use medical microscopes to identify these types of cells, which can often tell us when something is wrong with our body.
Types of microscopes in clinical conditions
There are many reasons why healthcare professionals may need to use a microscope. In addition, more than one type of microscope may be needed to perform each of these functions, so hospitals and doctor's offices often have a wide variety of microscope types on hand. One of the most popular microscopes is the light microscope. They use light to illuminate the image while one or sometimes multiple lenses magnify the sample. They are used to study tissues or to identify single-celled organisms, such as those found in our blood, that indicate disease.
fluorescence microscopesUse ultraviolet light to illuminate larger cellular details. By blocking external light, these microscopes can increase image resolution and display the sample in three dimensions. These devices are perfect for identifying bacteria in a sample. Electron microscopes use concentrated beams of electrons and dyes to illuminate samples. These electron beams have very short wavelengths, which means they can generate extremely high-resolution images. Clinics can use these ranges to identify and study viruses in the bloodstream.
Somewhere between light and electron microscopes are X-ray microscopes. X-rays are very compact beams that cannot be detected by the human eye. They are also not easily reflected or refracted, meaning they can produce very clear and detailed images. They have extremely high resolution (enough for the observer to focus on individual atoms) and are highly specialized. Its advantage in clinical settings is the ability to display live cells, unlike other microscopes that require samples to be stained and fixed on a slide.
Investigation
Medical schools and pharmaceutical companies use all kinds of microscopes for their research. In medical schools, great emphasis is placed on teaching and professional development accompanying research. The principal investigators in the laboratory often practice medicine or give occasional lectures, and conduct research on infectious diseases or other health-related topics. The laboratories are fully equipped with research and teaching facilities, dealing with the discovery of new breakthrough medical solutions, but also focused on helping doctors. Students and postdoctoral researchers take the next step in their careers. In these laboratories, it is common for even undergraduates to work part-time helping PhD students with their research while gaining experience in microscopy and other necessary laboratory skills. Such a wide range of skills, needs and experience means thatmany different types of microscopesare available depending on the type of research conducted.
Unlike the academia, pharmaceutical and research companies typically don't spend much time and resources on teaching.Medical microscopes found in these facilitiesAdvances that are often aimed at finding cures for diseases such as cancer or developing treatments for infectious pathogens are often more advanced. Stereo microscopes are often used for tissue dissection. For example, research labs that focus on immunology and cancer research typically use hundreds of mice per study. These mice were sacrificed and necropsied to analyze response to various treatments used to treat cancer. Stereo microscopes allow researchers to view organs and tumors at magnifications that facilitate the necessary analysis and dissection protocols.
Surgery
In a surgical setting, doctors also use stereo microscopes to get the necessary close-up view of the human body. Making incisions and suturing becomes easier when these microscopes magnify the patient. PDAThe microscope camera can also be used in the operating room..These cameras project large images of the area of the body where the doctor is operating, giving access to details invisible to the naked eye.
Diagnostic microscopy
Electron microscopy has become an invaluable diagnostic tool. Electron microscopes far outperform light microscopes in evaluating single cells and even smaller structures. Organelles, cytoskeletons and other parts of the cell are most clearly visible under the electron beam. Even cancer cells that would otherwise be difficult to identify are discovered using an electron microscope. Kidney biopsies and biopsies of other organs are also worth examining with the clarity and precision of electron microscopes rather than light microscopes.
The combination of electron microscopes with digital microscope camera technology enables the maximum amount of data to be stored and shared. Saving photos and videostaken with microscope camerashealthcare professionals can more easily track a patient's progress over time by comparing and contrasting a pool of images. The more electronic health record systems are improved, the easier it will be to share data between primary care providers and specialists. This means that all the patient's healthcare professionals can use the microscopic images as a reference point in tracking disease progression and making informed decisions about future treatment and care.
Publication
We encourage researchers from academia and industry to publish their findings. In fact, the phrase "publish or perish" illustrates how essential publication is to a scientist's career. Digital microscopes, especially when combined with a powerful microscope camera, enable researchers to collaborate seamlessly on projects, even if their labs are halfway around the world. Since sampling populations from different regions of the world is an important aspect of drug discovery, remote collaboration is common. Digital microscope images can be uploaded and shared in seconds to be added to a research publication. High impact warehouses such asNature,CellySciencethey accept (and even prefer) digital forms of all images, even those obtained from microscopes.
The impact of the microscope on healthcarehas been far-reaching from the very beginning. The speed with which this technology has been refined over the last century is astounding and has had a direct impact on the way we research, diagnose and treat diseases. Our understanding of the human body and the effects of internal and external forces can be largely attributed to how we have learned to use and improve microscopes. Almost every field of healthcare and medicine relies on the microscope to some extent, and new technologies have made its use so accessible, portable and shareable that microscopic imaging can be understood by anyone, even outside the field of medicine. From our first exposure to microscopes in elementary school to each subsequent visit to the doctor's office, we feel the impact of Leeuwenhoek's invention throughout our lives.