Since the time when zoom microscopy was conceptualized and developed, there are a lot of advancements that are integrated to it over time. Learn what these advancements are by reading the article below.

Right now, there are many advancement observed with zoom microscopy. Zoom microscopes are the type of microscopes that are stereoscopic in nature – meaning they have the ability to magnify and focus into the specimen in a continuous manner. In essence, you can adjust the magnification levels of the microscope in the same way that you do it in a digital camera. You can increase and decrease the magnification level of the sample as if you are diving into it or going away from it.

Today, the principles of zoom microscopy is toward full automation. This would only mean that merely a press of a button can zoom in and out of the viewed specimen. The many models of zoom microscopes that are available today are still following a motorized focusing system. But that would soon change, as there are models that integrates buttons, sliders, and programs to the device. And aside from the microscope’s zooming system, the stage is becoming fully automated as well. The X and Y translation systems of the stage are now being manufactured so that it can made to vary in the same way that the zoom lenses can.

There are also zoom microscopes that can be controlled by foot switches. The foot switch is what make the microscope a full hands-free device. When the foot switch is incorporated to the X and Y axis translation, the stage can be made to move continuously for a specified time and increment. Holding the switch down for long as one and a half seconds is possible, so that the stage moves along with it.

This particular advancement in zoom microscopy is best applied in the field of embryo transplanting. The foot switch also allows for an ergonomic way of controlling the routine tasks of zoom microscopes according to the requirements of its user. The foot switch is not all mechanical. It is also equipped with very precise servo motors and a set of rotary encoders that has a high resolution. These advancements ensures users of an error-free operation all the time.

But aside from the innate features of a zoom microscope, even its appendages are being innovated as well. To enhance the application of zoom microscopy, digital photomicrographs are made to work with these types of microscopes instead of the regular CCD cameras that trinocular microscopes normally use. These special cameras can possibly capture the levels of zooming that the stereo microscope follows.

There are zoom microscopes that are manufactured to work with a special software that can directly control the natural features of the microscope. For starters, a zoom microscopes can easily be integrated or connected to a computer system. Most of these microscopes are equipped with a USB connector or a special adapter that allows it to be detected by a laptop or a regular desktop computer.

Now when the microscope is made to work with a computer, the software can then be installed. This software then will supply the users with sliders that can be moved up or down, depending upon what the user wants to do. The three features that can easily be controlled with a click of the mouse are the focus, the lamp intensity, and the zoom magnification levels. The zoom slider can variably adjust the sample to be magnified from 0.75x to as much as 11.25x.

There are also multi-purpose zoom stereoscopes today. These multi-purpose devices can provide for a longer working distance and a wider field of view. A longer working distance is essential so that users can possibly manipulate, move, or dissect, the samples they are trying to view – and they can do it even without taking their eyes from the microscope’s binocular eyepiece.

A wider field of view, on the other hand, is best use on higher magnifications. Because zoom microscopes can possibly dig into the sample being viewed, it is possible that the sample goes out of the field view. With a wider field view though, bigger part of the sample can be viewed without the need to move the specimen to its sides.

These are the different  zoom microscopy advancements today. There are surely a lot of others in the months or years to come. Zoom microscopy is a widely used concept in microscopes. And much of it is because both novices and professionals have the need to enlarge the samples they are viewing in a continuous and seamless manner.