Blood cells, what microscope do i need for them?

[Guest]

Hi, I am new to microscopes and am starting a biomedical science degree this year. I was hoping someone could give me some info on which type of microscope i should get that will let me see individual white and red blood cells. What kind of magnification would i need ect?
Thanks for any info

[twebster]

Hello Guest

I have moved your post to the "Techniques and Technical Forum" where I think you will get a better response to your question. I've not done blood analysis, myself, but I'm sure other members have at one time or another.

Best regards,

[Ken Ramos]

There maybe others here in the forums that can give you a better idea of what you need for that partiuclar field. I can only suggest a high end model from Nikon, Olympus, or Zeiss. I am using a Zeiss Axiostar Plus Routine for studies in Protozoa and Algae. The Axiostar Plus has multiple upgrades that can be added or taken away to suit your specific needs. Stock, it comes with CP (Clinical Plan) Achromats which give a very flat field of view from edge to edge, there is no field curvature as in normal achromats. Images are extreamly sharp from edge to edge. Objectives start at 5X, 10X, 40X, and 100X (oil), giving you a magnification range from 50X through to 1000X. The Axiostar features ICS (Infinity Color Corrected System) optics. Price stock, $1350.00 US. Hope this helps you out some.

[lacerta]

I was working with prepared blood smears infected with Plasmodium vivax (malaria) today in my parasitology lab. Human erythrocytes average about 6-7 microns in diameter. Pretty small actually. A 40X objective gives you a nice scanning view that you can easily count number of lymphocytes or pick up on anything that may be abnormal. A 100X oil immersion lens is needed, however, for meaningful diagnostic work. It will allow you to clearly see the presence of malarial ring stage, trophozoites, and hemozoin granules (Shufner's dots). During earlier studies, the oil immersion was also needed to identify species of Trypanosoma (sleeping sickness) or other hemoflagellates. Liberal use of appropriate stains helped immensely for bringing out structure.
George

[Garry DeLong]

I spent 36 years looking at blood cells--now I'm retired. Mostly, you need a microscope with an oil immersion (usually 100x) objective. It would also be handy to have a good 40x high dry. You may be able to get a 40x oil objective but these are rare treasures. I've seen some techs do WBC differential counts using the 40x, but I don't recommend this. Use the 100x objective. As in the previous post, any malaria work MUST include examination with a 100x oil immersion.
Garry DeLong

[Ken Ramos]

Some good information here, glad you guys posted it. Thanks George and Garry

[nephiliim]

I am studying at a analitic school, and we use olympus scopes with 10X 40X and 100X immersion objectives. We do all sorts of research, blood cells, bacteria, (100X is too little a magnificcation for bacteria but it works for determination)