JOURNAL OF ELECTRON MICROSCOPY TECHNIQUE 15:lOl-102 (1990)
Rapid Communication AN ALTERNATE METHOD OF VIEWING STEREO PAIRS FROM THE SEM Deborah A. Harrington HT(ASCP)l and Angela Welford EMT(EMSA)2 IDept of Pathology and Lab Medicine, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, 231 Bethesda Ave, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267-0529 and 2Dept of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131. The use of stereo pairs in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is of value in analyzing the surface topography of a specimen, evaluating the preparation of a specimen, and assessing the operation of the microscope (Black, 1974; Morton, 1989). One of the difficulties encountered after obtaining stereo pairs is finding an appropriate method of presenting the pairs. Many variations on the use of colorizing or polarizing the images, as well as the use of prism lenses have been described. An alternate method of viewing stereo pairs that is simple and inexpensive will be presented here. The technique of printing the pictures is central to this process. The negatives are printed in the usual manner except that the negative which was obtained when the specimen was tilted closer to the collector must be printed with the emulsion side up (therefore, in reverse). Care must be taken to print the same field at the same magnification for both pictures. The next step is to align the prints so that they are side-byside. A gap of at least half an inch should be left between the prints. Then a mirror is placed upright between the two images, with the reflective side facing the picture printed in reverse. To view the images, the viewer places his nose along the edge of the mirror so that one eye is on either side of the mirror (A mirror at least six inches high is recommended). If the viewer then looks at the unreversed picture, he will see a threedimensional image. Previously, the most common techniques involved colorizing or polarizing the images for presentation to an audience. For individual viewing, prism lenses or binocular viewing stands have been used. These methods are expensive and/or are time consuming. The only equipment required for this method is a mirror. The authors obtained a mirror tile for $1.50. The cost of printing the pictures is the same as for printing two blackand-white pictures and preparation time is minimal. Unlike using prism lenses, there are no problems associated with the interpupillary distance or the set radius (Nemanic, 1974). This means that anyone with binocular vision should be able to see the images three-dimensionally. The size of the pictures which can be viewed is limited only by the size of the mirror. The disadvantage of this method is that it cannot be used with large audiences; however, it is ideal for viewing negatives to ensure that they will form a three-dimensional image, and is also valuable for presenting stereo pairs in a journal. 0 1990 WILEY-LISS, INC.
Received January 30, 1990; accepted in revised form February 14, 1990
D.A. HARRINGTON AND A. WELFORD
102
REFERENCES Black, J.T. (1974) The Scanning Electron Microscope: Operating Principles. In: Principles and Techniques of Scanning Electron Microscopy; biological applications. Vol. 1, M.A. Hayat, ed. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, pp. 1-43. Morton, R. (1989) Fundamentals of Stereophotography in Medicine. J. Audiovisual Media in Medicine, 12:ll-14. Nemanic, M.K. (1974) Preparation of Stereo Slides from Electron Micrograph Stereopairs. In: Principles and Techniques of Scanning Electron Microscopy; biological applications. Vol. 1, M . A . Hayat, ed. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, pp. 135-148.
Fig. 1 a , b . Sample stereo pair with the unreversed picture on the left. Fig. 2. Diagram demonstrating the application of t h i s technique.
Rapid Communication AN ALTERNATE METHOD OF VIEWING STEREO PAIRS FROM THE SEM Deborah A. Harrington HT(ASCP)l and Angela Welford EMT(EMSA)2 IDept of Pathology and Lab Medicine, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, 231 Bethesda Ave, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267-0529 and 2Dept of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131. The use of stereo pairs in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is of value in analyzing the surface topography of a specimen, evaluating the preparation of a specimen, and assessing the operation of the microscope (Black, 1974; Morton, 1989). One of the difficulties encountered after obtaining stereo pairs is finding an appropriate method of presenting the pairs. Many variations on the use of colorizing or polarizing the images, as well as the use of prism lenses have been described. An alternate method of viewing stereo pairs that is simple and inexpensive will be presented here. The technique of printing the pictures is central to this process. The negatives are printed in the usual manner except that the negative which was obtained when the specimen was tilted closer to the collector must be printed with the emulsion side up (therefore, in reverse). Care must be taken to print the same field at the same magnification for both pictures. The next step is to align the prints so that they are side-byside. A gap of at least half an inch should be left between the prints. Then a mirror is placed upright between the two images, with the reflective side facing the picture printed in reverse. To view the images, the viewer places his nose along the edge of the mirror so that one eye is on either side of the mirror (A mirror at least six inches high is recommended). If the viewer then looks at the unreversed picture, he will see a threedimensional image. Previously, the most common techniques involved colorizing or polarizing the images for presentation to an audience. For individual viewing, prism lenses or binocular viewing stands have been used. These methods are expensive and/or are time consuming. The only equipment required for this method is a mirror. The authors obtained a mirror tile for $1.50. The cost of printing the pictures is the same as for printing two blackand-white pictures and preparation time is minimal. Unlike using prism lenses, there are no problems associated with the interpupillary distance or the set radius (Nemanic, 1974). This means that anyone with binocular vision should be able to see the images three-dimensionally. The size of the pictures which can be viewed is limited only by the size of the mirror. The disadvantage of this method is that it cannot be used with large audiences; however, it is ideal for viewing negatives to ensure that they will form a three-dimensional image, and is also valuable for presenting stereo pairs in a journal. 0 1990 WILEY-LISS, INC.
Received January 30, 1990; accepted in revised form February 14, 1990
D.A. HARRINGTON AND A. WELFORD
102
REFERENCES Black, J.T. (1974) The Scanning Electron Microscope: Operating Principles. In: Principles and Techniques of Scanning Electron Microscopy; biological applications. Vol. 1, M.A. Hayat, ed. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, pp. 1-43. Morton, R. (1989) Fundamentals of Stereophotography in Medicine. J. Audiovisual Media in Medicine, 12:ll-14. Nemanic, M.K. (1974) Preparation of Stereo Slides from Electron Micrograph Stereopairs. In: Principles and Techniques of Scanning Electron Microscopy; biological applications. Vol. 1, M . A . Hayat, ed. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, pp. 135-148.
Fig. 1 a , b . Sample stereo pair with the unreversed picture on the left. Fig. 2. Diagram demonstrating the application of t h i s technique.
