Similarities and Differences Between Fluorescence Microscopes and Optical Microscopes
Fluorescence microscope uses ultraviolet light as a light source to irradiate the object being inspected, causing it to emit fluorescence, and then observe the shape and position of the object under the microscope. Fluorescence microscopy is used to study the absorption, transport, distribution, and localization of substances within cells.
Some substances in cells, such as chlorophyll, can fluoresce when exposed to ultraviolet radiation; There are also some substances that cannot emit fluorescence themselves, but can also emit fluorescence if stained with fluorescent dyes or fluorescent antibodies and irradiated with ultraviolet light. Fluorescence microscopy is one of the tools for qualitative and quantitative research on such substances.
There are the following differences between fluorescence microscope and ordinary microscope:
1. The illumination method is usually a falling type, where the light source is projected onto the sample through an objective lens;
2. The light source is ultraviolet light, with a shorter wavelength and higher resolution than ordinary microscopes;
3. There are two special filters, the one in front of the light source is used to filter out visible light, and the one between the eyepiece and objective lens is used to filter out ultraviolet light to protect human eyes.
Fluorescence microscope is also a type of optical microscope, with the main difference being the excitation wavelength. This determines the differences in structure and usage methods between fluorescence microscopes and ordinary optical microscopes.
Fluorescence microscope is a fundamental tool for immunofluorescence cell chemistry. It is composed of main components such as light source, filter plate system, and optical system. It is the use of light of a certain wavelength to excite the specimen to emit fluorescence, which is then magnified through an objective lens and eyepiece system to observe the fluorescence image of the specimen.
