Lateral stereo microscope illumination

One of the main problems in the preparation of gastrotriches is to track down the animals in a water sample and pipettate on an object carrier.Since gastrotriches are transparent, they are almost invisible in a stereo microscope with traditional incident or transmitted light illumination.The animals only become visible when the field lighting is dark.

In the professional area, dark field lighting is realized by cold light conductor. LED lights with swan neck offer an alternative option that illuminate the sample on the side.This lateral lighting only gets the light spread on the objects into the lens of the microscope.The background remains pure black.Since the lamps are not attached to the sample, the illuminance and the shadow throw changes depending on the sample position.Often the lamps also represent a mechanical obstacle when shifting the sample vessel. This type of lighting is usually not available in stereo microscopes and must be retrofitted.

In order to minimize these disadvantages, I have developed a side dark field lighting for this purpose, which can be easily realized with simple means and a 3D printer and can be adapted to any stereo microscope.

Holder for LED strips