Lots has changed in microbiology labs over the years. One thing that hasn’t changed much really for decades is the good old light microscope.

In the microbiology we use light microscopes to perform Gram stains, wet films, Ziehl-Nielson stains, parasite stains, KOH stains etc etc.

I think the arrival of the digital age is going to change laboratory microscopy, probably in the following ways:

1) Recording of what we see: At some point in the future, digital recording of all the images we view under a microscope will become routine, with its obvious advantages both in length of storage and providing a more concrete audit trail.

2) How we look at the samples: It may be that we will eventually discard with the eyepieces and instead look at (and manipulate) all our images on a large screen.

I know that these technologies are already available but it will likely take a while for them to become refined to the point where they are being used routinely in the majority of microbiology laboratories.

But it will happen some day, hopefully in my working lifetime…

Michael