On-Line Petrological Virtual Microscope

Kurzfassung

A University department in the South East of England has developed a virtual microscope which is a major advance over existing tools in the metallurgical, biological and medical sectors due to it`s ability to switch rapidly between different lighting conditions, link to rotating images, text or compositional data. The department would like to talk to companies in the aforementioned sectors, as well as optical instrument or camera manufacturers about a joint licensing agreement.

Details

The Virtual Microscope tool described here delivers a microscope style interface in standard PC browser window with no additional software, and displays slide images held on central server over the web. The interface provides basic pan and zoom functions with fixed or variable magnification, a graticule and a grid, and also displays slides in plane polarised and cross polarised light. Hot spots in the slide link to rotating images to show birefringence and pleochroism. Other modes such as reflected light are also possible, and a similar interface has been developed in which 3-D images can also be viewed and manipulated. The University would like to develop the wider commercial and educational potential of the microscope.

Innovative Aspects:
The microscope offers the capability to look at microscope slides under a range of conditions and can also be used to click on particular grains or areas of an image to which link to rotating images, chemical analysis data or other information. Mobile device and shared vision (multi-user) versions of the microscope are under development.