Microcomputer software and interface for control of a microscope scanning stage.
Motorized scanning stages are valuable in microscopy systems that employ digital image analysis and for the development of semiautomatic computer-assisted microscope systems; the development of standard software "tools" to control such stages will facilitate their integration into a variety of computer-based systems. A set of Microsoft BASIC and Turbo PASCAL programs that interfaces a microprocessor-controlled stepper motor microscope stage (MDACE 1000) to an IBM PC or PC-AT or compatible microcomputer via a serial interface (RS-232) is described. These programs can be integrated into other software written in either BASIC or PASCAL, or used via a menu program that directs the routines to control scanning patterns and to locate the microscope stage to a selected area of the slide. Coordinates of significant events on a slide can be stored on a disk file to allow future examination. The software and interface also provide control of a filter wheel in the microscope for use in multicolor fluorescence assays.
Lee
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Transplantation Research Program Center, Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.
Ludl
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Reynolds
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D003201:Computers; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008838:Microcomputers; D008853:Microscopy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012984:Software; D014584:User-Computer Interface