| immersion bath | A therapeutic bath in which the whole person or a body part is totally immersed in the therapeutic substance. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| immersion foot | A condition of the feet produced by prolonged exposure of the feet to water. Exposure for 48 hours or more to warm water causes tropical immersion foot or warm-water immersion foot common in vietnam where troops were exposed to prolonged or repeated wading in paddy fields or streams. Trench foot results from prolonged exposure to cold, without actual freezing. It was common in trench warfare during world war I, when soldiers stood, sometimes for hours, in trenches with a few inches of cold water in them. (andrews' diseases of the skin, 8th ed, p27) (12 Dec 1998) |
| immersion lens | An objective (for a microscope) constructed in such a manner that the lower lens may be moved downward into direct contact with a fluid which is placed on the object being examined; by using a fluid with a refractive index closely similar to that of glass, the loss of light is minimised. (05 Mar 2000) |
| immersion liquid | <microscopy> Any liquid occupying the space between the object and microscope objective. Such a liquid is usually required by objectives of 3-mm focal length or less. For best results (i.e., resolution) the liquid should be used between the condenser and the microscope slide. Immersion objectives for transmitted light are designed for use with either oil, glycerin, or water, the refractive index of the liquid and the coverslip (if any) being the determining factor. The liquid and the front lens of the objective should ideally coincide in index and in dispersion value. See: homogeneous immersion objective (05 Aug 1998) |
| immersion medium | <microscopy> In microscopy the medium used to immerse the specimen, the space between the objective lens and coverslip, or the condenser lens front element and the slide. For the latter purposes, cedar or synthetic oils with refractive indices and dispersions approximating the front elements of the lens are used for homogeneous immersion. Homogeneous immersion provides high numerical aperture, less light loss and depolarisation, and generally improved correction of aberrations. Glycerol or water may be used for immersion of particular lenses, but for high-numerical aperture lenses designed to be used with a variety of immersion media, proper adjustment of the correction collars is necessary, the refractive index, thickness, and dispersion of the immersion media and coverslips all enter into the corrections for aberrations of high-numerical aperture objective and condenser lenses. (05 Aug 1998) |
| immersion objective | <microscopy> An objective in which the medium of high refractive index and is used in the object space to increase the numerical aperture and hence the resolving power of the lens. See: homogeneous immersion of objective. (05 Aug 1998) |
| immersion of a lens | <physics> With nearly all high-power lenses, it is intended that the spaces between the condenser and the slide, and the specimen and the front lens of the objective be filled with an immersion liquid. Owing to the limitations imposed by the critical-angle phenomenon, numerical apertures are impossible exceeding 1.0 without immersion. In addition, immersion makes possible the use of the naturally aplanatic points of the front lens element of the objective. (05 Aug 1998) |
| immersionist | One who holds the doctrine that immersion is essential to Christian baptism. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| imminent abortion | An impending abortion characterised by copious vaginal bleeding, uterine contractions, and cervical dilation. Synonym: imminent abortion. (05 Mar 2000) |
| immiscible | Incapable of mutual solution; e.g., oil and water. Origin: L. Im-misceo, to mix in (in + misceo) (05 Mar 2000) |
| immittance | In audiology, a general term describing measurements made of tympanic membrane impedance, compliance, or admittance. Origin: L. Immitto, to send in (05 Mar 2000) |
| immobilisation | The act of rendering immovable, as by a cast or splint. (18 Nov 1997) |
| immobilise | To render fixed or incapable of moving. Origin: L. In-neg. + mobilis, movable (05 Mar 2000) |
| immobilised cell bioreactors | Bioreactors in which the cells grown are immobilised onto some sort of support material. (14 Nov 1997) |
| immobilised cell biosensor | Biosensors that use living cells as an essential part of their detector system. The immobilised cell does the sensing and produces a very weak signal of some sort, which is detected and amplified into a signal the user can read. (14 Nov 1997) |