The biggest problem associated with imaging low magnification samples is that the focal range of the optical system is far less than the depth of the specimen. The resulting image provides little in-focus data and not a clear representation of the sample, as displayed in the images immediately to the right.

Pictured to the left is a system which will acquire multiple optical sections of a sample in the z-axis and reconstruct them into a fully in-focus image, as displayed directly above. This system can be customized to suit nearly any application. Here we are using a zoom lens capable of magnifications from 7X to 40X. The camera is a standard 640x480 analog, however digital cameras can also be used for higher resolution images.

An incident ring light is pictured here, however transmitted light sources and fiber optic bundles are also possible. Different software packages can be integrated to this system depending on the types of analyses needed. 3D surface plots can be constructed and physical measurements in x, y and/or z can be performed on calibrated systems. Measurement tolerances can be as low as +/- 0.1 micron.

Other images reconstructed using the above system:

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