Lectures

A number of introductory and advanced microscopy lectures can be found on the HCBI YouTube channel and the iBiology Microscopy Course website.

Be sure to check out these lectures by HCBI Faculty Director Professor Jeff Lichtman:

Diffraction
Description: Light has properties of particles and waves. Understanding the wave nature of light is essential to understanding the workings of a microscope. This lecture describes Huygens Wavelets, constructive/deconstructive interference, and diffraction.

Point Spread Function
Description: An infinitesimally small point appears in the microscope as a spot with a certain size, blurred in the Z-direction and with concentric rings around it. This "point spread function" reveals many of the optical properties of your microscope. This lecture explains why and how the microscope images a point as a point spread function.

Resolution
Description: The resolution of a microscope can be defined as the smallest distance at which two small objects can still be seen as separate objects.  This lecture discusses various criteria for resolution, the factors that influence resolution in the lateral and axial planes, and how to sample an image adequately using a camera or confocal microscope, such that the full optical resolution is retained.

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