| flying spot microscope | <instrument> A microscope in which a moving spot of light is imaged in the object plane, the energy transmitted by the specimen being detected with a photoelectric cell; the light source may be a cathode ray tube, a scanning disk or drum, or an oscillating mirror. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| laser microscope | <instrument> A microscope in which a laser beam is focused on a microscopic field, causing it to vaporise; the emitted radiation is analyzed by means of a microspectrophotometer; at a low intensity the laser is employed as the light source in an interference microscope. (05 Mar 2000) |
| light microscope | <instrument> The most common type of microscope (a device used to magnify small objects or substances) used in laboratories. The device works by passing visible light through a condenser and an objective lens. (09 Oct 1997) |
| auditory field | The space included within the limits of hearing of a definite sound, as of a tuning fork. (05 Mar 2000) |
| bright field illumination | <microscopy> The method of lighting the specimen with a solid cone of rays. Transmitted bright field illumination is performed by a substage condenser. Reflected bright field illumination is performed by a vertical illuminator. Compare: dark field illumination (05 Aug 1998) |
| bright field imaging | <microscopy> An imaging mode in a transmission electron microscopy that uses only unscattered Electrons to form the image. Contrast in such an image is due entirely to mass-thickness variations in amorphous samples, and may include diffraction contrast in crystalline samples. (05 Aug 1998) |
| bright field microscopy | <technique> Optical microscopy, in which absorption to a great extent and diffraction to a minor extent give rise to the image, as opposed to phase contrast or interference methods of microscopy. (18 Nov 1997) |
| Broca's field | The posterior part of the inferior frontal gyrus of the left or dominant hemisphere, corresponding approximately to Brodmann's area 44; Broca identified this region as an essential component of the motor mechanisms governing articulated speech. Synonym: Broca's area, Broca's field, motor speech centre. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cardioid dark field condenser | <microscopy> A condenser designed with two reflecting surfaces, the first, a spherical surface which reflects the rays to a second, cardioid (heart-shaped) surface. The virtue in such an arrangement is that, if the cardioid surface is of true figure, the lens is both achromatic and aplanatic. It has a limiting numerical aperture of about 1.0. Thus objectives of a greater numerical aperture cannot be used successfully with it. A true cardioid figure is the trace of a point on the circumference of a circle rolling around an equal, fixed circle. (05 Aug 1998) |
| magnetic field | The sphere of influence of a magnet. (05 Mar 2000) |
| magnetic field gradient | In magnetic resonance imaging, a magnetic field that varies with location, superimposed on the uniform field of the magnet, to alter the resonant frequency of nuclei and allow recovery of their spatial position. Synonym: field gradient. (05 Mar 2000) |
| paraboloid dark field condenser | <microscopy> A lens of parabolic shape. The vertex end is ground back so that its focus can be brought into coincidence with the specimen on the slide. A central stop is provided to block the central rays. It is used chiefly for medium- power work. (05 Aug 1998) |
| receptive field | That part of the retina whose photoreceptors (rods and cones) pertain to a single optic nerve fibre. The response of a neuron to stimulation of its receptive field depends on the type of neuron and the part of the field that is illuminated; an "on-centre" neuron is stimulated by light falling at the centre of its receptive field and inhibited by light falling at the periphery; an "off-centre" neuron reacts in exactly the opposite fashion; that is, it is inhibited by light falling at the centre of its receptive field. In either case, the net response depends on a complex switching action in the retina. When an entire receptive field is equally illuminated, the response of receptors at the centre of the field predominates. (05 Mar 2000) |
| visual field | The area simultaneously visible to one eye without movement; often measured by means of a bowl perimeter located 330 mm from the eye. (05 Mar 2000) |
| visual field test | <ophthalmology> A test which measures the extent of visual field loss. This test may be performed by a number of methods including confrontation, tangent screen exam and automated perimetry. Diseases that affect visual field include stroke, diabetes, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, hyperthyroidism, Jacob-Creutzfeldt disease and optic glioma. (27 Sep 1997) |