A simple technique to measure the movements of the microscope stage along the x and y axes for stereological methods

Measurements of microscope stage movements in the x and y directions are of importance for some stereological methods such as the optical disector and optical fractionator. The length of stage movements can be measured with g reat precision and accuracy using a suitable motorized stage, which is gene rally a computer-assisted instrument. This type of equipment is generally t oo expensive for and not readily available in many laboratories. This paper describes a simple method to measure the movements of the microscope stage along the x and y directions, which can be used for purposes such as syste matic uniform random sampling. It needs a microscope attachment consisting of two dial indicators; one of them is used to measure the amount of stage movement along the x-axis and the other measures the amount of movement alo ng the y-axis. Movements of the stage on the micrometre-scale can be measur ed easily using this device.