A simple technique to measure the movements of the microscope stage along the x and y axes for stereological methods.
Measurements of microscope stage movements in the x and y directions are of importance for some stereological methods such as the optical disector and optical fractionator. The length of stage movements can be measured with great precision and accuracy using a suitable motorized stage, which is generally a computer-assisted instrument. This type of equipment is generally too expensive for and not readily available in many laboratories. This paper describes a simple method to measure the movements of the microscope stage along the x and y directions, which can be used for purposes such as systematic uniform random sampling. It needs a microscope attachment consisting of two dial indicators; one of them is used to measure the amount of stage movement along the x-axis and the other measures the amount of movement along the y-axis. Movements of the stage on the micrometre-scale can be measured easily using this device.
Kaplan
S
S
Department of Histology-Embryology, Medical Faculty, Ondokuz Mayis University, 55139 Samsun, Turkey. skaplan@omu.edu.tr
Canan
S
S
Aslan
H
H
Unal
B
B
Sahin
B
B