An innovative loader for a high-speed microscope lets it digitally image up to 40 slides/hr. “The slipstream slide loader on the DX-40 transports slides on a cushion of air,” says Artur Olszak, director of engineering at DMetrix, Tuscon, Ariz., (dmetrix.net). The ultra-precise medical microscope is based on the company's array-microscope technology, an idea that replaces one objective lens with many. Imaging occurs in parallel at multiple locations on the slide which moves relative to the array-microscope objective.

Olszak's team chose the Lida 400 linear scale from Heidenhain Corp., Schaumburg, Ill, (heidenhain.com) to make high-speed, precision work possible, says Olszak. “On the main scanning stage, the scale helps control speed and position of the slides carrying samples. The scale is the only one that met our specs,” he adds.