The digital microscope can be attached on to a regular microscope and projects light through a system of mirrors on to the microscopic sample. Mimicking a television, the device projects patterns of illumination onto the specimen, and only light that is precisely in the plane of focus returns along the same path and is reflected by the mirror onto a camera to form an image.
The ability to be able to program the mirror device allows the illumination pattern to be adjusted easily for different types of specimens and conditions giving ease of use and flexibility. Unwanted light that comes from regions of the specimen which are out of focus are rejected, improving the image quality.
The resulting images can be scanned on a computer at around 100 frames per second, showing biological processes such as cell activity at much higher speeds than regular microscopes - which tend to be capped at around 1 frame per second.
The Leicester team's microscope has no moving parts, making it robust, and the use of a programmable, digital micromirror allows the user to alter the size and spacing of mirrors in order to choose the quality of the image and adapt to different imaging conditions. Consequently, it has much greater flexibility than other microscopes capable of similar speeds.
The findings are due to be published on the online journal PLOS ONE on August 24.
The researchers believe this technology will be a big help to those working in many scientific fields, including biomedical research and neuroscience.
