Veterinary microscopes, or simply vet microscopes, are complex types of microscopes that require proper handling and usage. Before a person can use a veterinary microscope, he should be well informed of the steps on how to use these types of instruments. Veterinary microscopes, all being delicate and intricate devices, have to be handled with absolute care and knowledge.

Here are the steps on how to use a vet microscope:

1. Carry and mount the microscope correctly.
The first thing you’ll ever have to do when using a microscope of any kind is to take it out of the shelf or the box and put it on the worktable. To carry the microscope, you have to use both of your hands. One of your hands is for support while the other one holds the arm of the microscope. The worktable should be absolutely level. It should not be tilted on any side. And there shouldn’t be anything on the table as you lay the microscope down.

2. Calibrate the microscope properly.
Every viewing project requires users to properly setup the microscope. To do this, make sure that the lowest objective of the vet microscope is in position. The lowest objective lens is also the shortest one. You will also need a sample specimen for this step. Put the glass slide in the holder. Then look at the objective lens and try to focus on the image. There are fine and coarse adjustment knobs on the veterinary microscope. Find them and adjust the image accordingly. Adjust the lighting of the microscope as well. Once you see a crisp, detailed image through the objective lenses of the microscope, the microscope is calibrated for any use.

3. Place the specimen you’d like to view.
If you have placed trial specimen and not the actual one you’d like to view, this is the time to change it. Veterinary microscopes are high power microscopes. Therefore, you can view a specimen to as large as 100 times its normal size. However, the 100x objective is usually an oil immersion lens. That lens is used not in the same way as the other objectives. An oil immersion lens requires the application of a special mineral oil, as its name suggests. Before the 100x lens is clicked into position, a compatible mineral oil has to be applied to the lenses to achieve the 100x effect. Failure to do so could break the objective lens.

4. Look for the veterinary microscope’s x and y positioning knobs and adjust them.
A veterinary microscope is a complex microscope. As such, it has many adjustment knobs that you can turn to get the best possible image of your specimen. The x and y positioning knobs are just an example. To position the specimen on the center of the microscope this is the knob that is supposed to be turned. You know that the specimen is in the right place by checking if the brow spot is right below the central part of the objective lens.

5. Never the slide, the specimen, and the lenses with your bare hands.
To prevent contamination of the subject and the blurring of the microscope’s lenses and slides, you are discouraged against touching anything on the viewing field of the microscope. Your fingerprints could easily blur the lenses and the slides. You hand may also have microbes that could otherwise pollute the subject. If you have to touch the lenses, try to wear surgical gloves first.

6. Store the veterinary microscope properly after use.
To make sure that your microscope will serve you long years ahead, make sure that you keep it in the right place right after using it. You can store it in the shelf or in its original box if it is a tabletop microscope. If it a wall mounted veterinary microscope, just make sure that the lenses are in secured position before putting it away. The same goes true for floor mounted veterinary microscope. Place the microscope in the corner with the least traffic, preferably inside a secured laboratory.

These are the six steps to properly using a veterinary microscope. These microscopes are a little expensive. It is very important that proper way of using them is always followed. Unless you won’t be using these microscopes for a long time, you don’t need to go through all of these. Else, you have to know these steps by heart so that you can perform your tasks well and enjoy the microscope for a long period of time.  Read more