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mass on the left is a fungal growth (note the little buds).
This was an early image and the color around the red blood cells was caused by an out of adjustment dark field adapter. You can click on this images, or the images below, to see a bigger view but they are big files (600k) so be patient if you have a slow link. |
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My name is Terry Nevin and I have been a resident of Kamuela, Hawaii for 21 years. I moved to the Big Island to work on the Canada France Hawaii telescope. My main job was to build and wire optical instruments on Mauna Kea. I retired from Mauna Kea in 1987.
In 1999 I was commissioned by a friend, David Miller, to enhance a microscope in a doctor's office. David was suspected of having a blood pathogen, but the doctor's microscope was not good enough to even start looking for it. I treated the commission just like any optical job I have had in the past. First job was to contact the engineering departments of the major video manufacturers. After about a week of calling I had a list of the best equipment available anywhere.
On October 1999 the equipment was installed and turned on for the first time. A patient was found to give a drop of blood to test the system. Everyone was amazed by the color and clarity of the images. The doctor (Ron Sorenson, with 30 years experience in micro biology) claimed he had never seen a blood image with that much detail. The other patients in the office were so fascinated that soon it was standing room only around the video monitor.
The equipment easily saw images down to 200 nano-meters (nm) in size. This is important because this means that it can see all bacteria (which are all greater than 1000 nm) and most viruses (20 to 400nm).
About the images and resolution
All the images here I am actually disappointed with, because the video has about 3 times better resolution and watching the motions of all the cells is much more spectacular.
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These are 2 white cell checking each other out. Note that the cell on the left seems to have facets I found that the best way to understand what white cells are actually doing, is to watch them on a VCR in fast forward. They move too slow in real life. |
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This picture shows Ureic crystals and some sort of blood protein (the small sphere). At this magnification, in the video, all these objects are moving around erratically (because of Brownian motion). |
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This is blood on a slide so you expect clotting to start. All those filaments are slowly pulling the red cells into a clot. |
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This is embarrassing because this is my own blood, and the fuzzy stuff is plaque. The sphere embedded in the plaque (lower middle) could be a bacteria. |
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If you want to purchase this unique video system
or need more information, contact: Terry Nevin