The Story Of The Microscope Stage
The microscope stage has simple beginnings. As first, for Anton Leeuwenhoek, it was merely a needle-like projection that held a drop of water before a glass sphere for magnification. The tip of the needle had an eye that the water was suspended in, and then was screwed up in front of the magnifier.
When the first tube microscopes were developed, the microscope stage became more or less as it is today: Flat, with a hole for the light source to come through. The first stages did not have anything to hold the specimen down, so you had to stand to look into the eyepiece and see your object.
Later, the stage was developed with clips, about the same time as the microscope glass slide. With this development, the glass slide could have the specimen mounted, and then held in place for viewing. If you needed to move the slide around, you were limited to the width the clips were installed.
The clipped stage was also useful to make the microscope lean back for a more ergonomic approach to viewing. With the microscope tilted back, you could now sit at a laboratory bench and have more comfort while scrutinizing your specimen.
The stage itself was also being developed with the light source in mind. At first, early microscopes had a mirror mounted beneath the stage, so that light could be reflected through the specimen via a hole in the stage. This was a great advance in the history of the microscope, yet limited the observer to daylight, or even worse, candle and lamp light, which flickered.
During the 1950's a stage with a built in electrical light source was developed. The light source was a simple tungsten bulb, but the light was always available, and the tungsten lamp itself could be replaced.
In this new age, stages are the epitome of microscopy efficiency. Stages not only have advanced light sources, but they also have fine movement, as fine as any clockwork, and clips design to hold a number of microscope slide design and thicknesses.
In the medical laboratory, the glass slide has also advanced, thus making designers make stages that can accommodate the different forms of this method of specimen viewing. For example, Urinalysis has its own type of slide, making for a more aseptic technique of viewing a urinary specimen. The slide is made of plastic, with wells, so it is thicker than the glass slide. This makes for less effort and speedier results, and the stage is made to fit this slide.
The microscope stage has been as important to the microscopy expert as the lenses used to view the specimen. Stereomicroscopes have their stages completely illuminated from below and above, so that three-dimensional viewing is possible. The stage itself does not move in this case, but the objectives move above the stage.
Stages are now being developed for very form and type of microscope in use today. It is a vital part of the microscopy experience. Moving a specimen around under the objective gives the user control in observation, and so makes scrutiny under the glass easy and effective.
by: Andrew Long
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