A drop of blood is pricked from the patient’s finger using a fine needle. The blood is placed on a glass slide and then examined using a special darkfield microscope. The magnification of the microscope is usually in the order of 1000x. Most practitioners will have their microscope connected to a video screen so that the patient may see the live blood sample for theirself. The practitioner will point out cells that are in damaged or in a degenerative state.
The term darkfield refers to the microscopic image having a dark background. Light objects, such as blood cells, show up against the dark background. Darkfield microscopy relies on a very bright light being directed at the sample at such an angle that the reflection of the light is sent to the lens. Under standard “brightfield” conditions, the light is shined directly onto the the sample. It is thought that darkfield microscopy better allows for certain elements within the blood stream to be observed. |
