Written by students who passed Immediately available after payment Read online or as PDF Wrong document? Swap it for free 4.6 TrustPilot
logo-home
Summary

Summary Lecture Notes Biomedical Imaging | Microscopy Basics | UA | 2025/26

Rating
-
Sold
-
Pages
34
Uploaded on
24-04-2026
Written in
2024/2025

Lecture notes from Chapter 1 of the Biomedical Imaging course at Universiteit Antwerpen, covering the fundamental principles of microscopy and optical physics. Topics include wave properties of light, refraction and Snell's law, diffraction, interference, lens theory, compound microscope design (upright and inverted), optical trains, conjugate planes, and resolution limits. These notes provide a comprehensive foundation for understanding how microscopes work and are essential for mastering the core concepts tested in this course.

Show more Read less
Institution
Course

Content preview

BIOMEDICAL IMAGING
HOOFDSTUK 1: MICROSCOPY BASICS

WAVE LIKE PROPERTIES OF LIGHT

- Light has a dual property: particle and wave  light is just radiation
- Anything with a short wavelength and thus a higher energy is ionizing radiation
- Visible light: 400-700 nm
- Blue is lower in wavelength and red higher
- Slows down in media other than vacuum
- Refraction: when light moves from one medium in another the light will
bend because of the change in refractive index
speed of light ∈vacuum
o Refractive index n =
speed ∈medium
o It will slow down in a thicker
o Snell’s law: n1sinα1 = n2sinα2  the angle will be smaller when the refractive index becomes
bigger
o How higher the refractive index  how more it will be bend + the direction of bending will
be towards the normal
- Refraction is dependent on the wavelength  dispersion =
wavelength dependent refraction = every wavelength will be bend
a little different f.a. prisma
o Depending on medium and angle the light pass or no
longer pass
o If u reach a critical angle light will reflect and not refract: angle = angle incidence
- Diffraction: property of light to bend when it reaches and opening = coherent light spreads out when
passing a narrow slit
o The smaller the opening, the stronger the light will be bend
o It changes the way light is perceived and how it is projected on a flat plan  important for
microscopy
o It generates a characteristic pattern  diffraction pattern  made by the different speeds of




Important formular: d sin θ =


the different parts + the interaction, pos of neg
o Interference: when 2 waves meet
o Constructive or destructive interference

,LENS THEORY




1




2
- A lens focusses light in the focal point at a certain distance f from the lens
o Rule 1: parallel rays converge at the focal point
o Rule 2: rays from the focal point plane exit in parallel
o Rule 3: rays that pass though the centre are unaffected
- Calculating the magnification 3




OPTICAL TRAIN OF COMPOUND MICROSCOPE

Inverted microscope: like a normal upright microscope but the lenses are inverted, they are below the sample
hole.

Condenser: condenses the light onto the sample and thus focusses the light on it and then the light diverses
again and gets captured by the lens  detector, commonly the eye


THE COMPOUND MICROSCOPE IS A TWO-LENS MAGNIFIER
The first lens that really makes the magnification is
the objective.

The lens works as a slide projector, it makes a real
inverted image on the other side of the lens  the
object needs to be position at least closer than 2x
focal distance, else it will not magnify

The real image is formed outside of the objective and
then captured by the second lens, the ocular 

,generate a virtual image: acts as magnifier that gives an image on the same side so we can see it because it is
projected on our retina

A virtual image is made if the object is
positioned closer than the focal distance




The compound lens system achieves higher magnification.
We can see the virtual image because our eye has a lens itself and
that projects the image on our retina

We can add different structural components in between the lenses
for different properties but we then need more space in-between the lenses. But the lenses are put in an exact
measured distance for the optimal view  infinity optics: the object is positioned exactly at the focal plane of
the objective  infinity image  if we don’t position any lenses in between then the image would just
continue because of the parallel rays  we can put anything in between without effecting the focus  after
we put in everything we want we put a tube lens which focusses the light before the focal plane of the eye
piece

Everything needs to be well aligned.

Within a microscope slide box there are several positions
where the focus is the same = conjugate planes

In image forming path: 4 planes
Intermediate image plane = where the objective focusses
the image = 3th conjugate plane
4th = before the sample = above the collector lens = where
we control how much of the field is illuminated = where
we position the diaphragm

In illuminating path:
Conjugate planes where the amp filament is in focus 
we don’t want to see that  there can not be a conjugate
plane at the position of the sample  light should there
move parallel  light should be focussed in front of the
focal plane of the condenser = 1st conjugate plane




PROPERTIES OF OPTICS (HEEL BELANGRIJK DEEL)

, A microscope has a resolution limit because of diffraction.

When passing the lens aperture, light diffracts



The smaller the distance between the patterns, de more
the light will get bend  larger diffraction pattern + less
resolution

The moment the gaps become wider, there are more
maxima the objective can detect.

Diffraction takes place but that isn’t a problem because
if we can capture everything, we can make the image.
But if we lose some maxima, we can’t regenerate the
complete image anymore. This is because the objective
can only capture a part of the light  lose resolution

f imposes a
resolution limit.

Resolution limit= limit where u have a difficulty win spotting maxima
België (BE)between the 2 we can no longer resolve the object

Rayleigh limit = 25% in intensity drop

λ
Optical resolution limit: d =
2n∗sin α
n*sin α = numerical aperture NA
Small d = good resolution

NA = the opening of the lens = the angle the objecti<ve can make, how much light it can capture or how
strongly it can focus the light. It also defines the resolution.

The resolution is only defined by 2 things: the wavelength and the NA, not the magnification

Working distance= distance u have between
the sample and the lens
Is connected to the NA: the larger the opening
the closer u have to be to ur sample.



With a high NA u have a small
depth off field.

Most lenses work in dry environment but ur samples are often
embedded in a oily solution  refractive index differences  some high class lenses are made
so u can use immersion media: u can put a drop of the solution on the lens  minimize
refractive index differences + capture more lightrays  higher resolution

Written for

Institution
Study
Course

Document information

Uploaded on
April 24, 2026
Number of pages
34
Written in
2024/2025
Type
SUMMARY

Subjects

$9.38
Get access to the full document:

Wrong document? Swap it for free Within 14 days of purchase and before downloading, you can choose a different document. You can simply spend the amount again.
Written by students who passed
Immediately available after payment
Read online or as PDF

Get to know the seller
Seller avatar
RubbenS

Get to know the seller

Seller avatar
RubbenS Universiteit Antwerpen
Follow You need to be logged in order to follow users or courses
Sold
-
Member since
2 months
Number of followers
0
Documents
5
Last sold
-

0.0

0 reviews

5
0
4
0
3
0
2
0
1
0

Why students choose Stuvia

Created by fellow students, verified by reviews

Quality you can trust: written by students who passed their tests and reviewed by others who've used these notes.

Didn't get what you expected? Choose another document

No worries! You can instantly pick a different document that better fits what you're looking for.

Pay as you like, start learning right away

No subscription, no commitments. Pay the way you're used to via credit card and download your PDF document instantly.

Student with book image

“Bought, downloaded, and aced it. It really can be that simple.”

Alisha Student

Working on your references?

Create accurate citations in APA, MLA and Harvard with our free citation generator.

Working on your references?

Frequently asked questions