Implementation Of A Digital Microscopy Teaching Environment

Extract

The steady evolution of computer controlled electron microscopes is dramatically changing the way we teach microscopy. For today’s microscopy student, an electron microscope may be just another program on the desktop of whatever computer platform he or she uses. This is reflected in the use of the term Desktop Microscopy. The SEM in particular has become a mouse and keyboard controlled machine, and running the microscope is not very different from using a drawing program or a word processor. Transmission electron microscopes are headed in the same direction.

While one can debate whether or not it is wise to treat an SEM or a TEM as just another black-box computer program, it is a fact that these machines are here to stay, which means that microscopy educators must adapt their traditional didactic tools and methods. One way to bring electron microscopes into the classroom is through the use of remote control software packages, such as Timbuktu Pro or PC-Anywhere. The remote user essentially opens a window containing the desktop of the microscope control computer and has all functions available. On microscopes with specialized graphics boards, integration of the image and control display for remote operation may not be straightforward, and often requires the purchase of additional graphics boards for the remote machine.