Microscope webcam options for matlab?

Fairly new to Matlab with peripherals. I am trying to get image information from parts down to the finest detail I can. Problem is I do not know what webcams I can use with Matlab and which I can't. I am afraid of buying something fairly expensive to suit my needs and it not work. What I need is as many megapixels as I am able to get, as close as I can get (specifically I would like to see the differences between 0.01mm), ability to take a shot from Matlab and not me doing it physically, and with an auto adjust for when it takes a photo. Also I would like it to be under 200 dollars. Could anyone tell me how I can find out if something is Matlab accessible or suggest me an idiot-proof webcam for me to use?

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

"webcam" these days almost always refers to "USB webcam". For those, you can use any that have USB drivers for your system.

However, for microscope work, it is not enough to get autofocused images: you need to be able to retrieve the settings, including the current magnification, and you might want to do manual controls to look at items at different depth. These are things that cannot be done with the generic USB webcam interface.

Scientific instruments that are actually useful for scientific purposes might possibly have USB interface, but they will tend to be controlled using instrument controls, perhaps with using VISA drivers.

Scientific cameras tend to be TCP/IP based -- ethernet or sometimes wifi; https://www.mathworks.com/help/supportpkg/ipcamera/index.html; sometimes Gigabit Ethernet https://www.mathworks.com/help/supportpkg/gigevisionhardware/index.html

IP cameras and gigabit cameras tend to have a richer set of controls.

There is still a bunch of scientific work being done with fairly raw video signals, such a CCTV with BNC connectors, and possibly with some kind of motor control driving the adjustements. Image acquisition card are needed for those: they are not "webcam" by any definition.

Perhaps you should have a look at https://www.mathworks.com/solutions/biological-sciences/microscopy-biomedical-imaging.html

[James Andrew]

So what you are saying is that basic webcams are readily usable with Matlab, but more complex ones will probably use either TCP/IP drivers, which are also usable in Matlab but take an extra step. The project I am working on isn't really that overly complex all I really need to do is acquire the image and use the image processing toolbox in Matlab on it (this is just a school project). Is there an idiot proof webcam you might suggest for me to use that is more plug and play and can easily acquire micron images for analysis?

[Walter Roberson]

I do not have any information about plug-and-play affordable microscopes. In the field of affordable microscopes, see

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Microscope/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNRqjDqHVws

http://www.arducam.com/tag/arduino-microscope/

https://publiclab.org/notes/partsandcrafts/11-26-2017/building-a-raspberry-pi-microscope

http://www.instructables.com/id/ARPM-Another-raspberry-pi-microscope-made-from-Ple/

But notice that last one talks about being valid from 1/20 mm to 5 mm, whereas you want to get down to 1/100 mm. That suggests that the task is more difficult for you, that you might need higher quality lens (and purer light) and finer-grained controls. 0.01 mm is 10 um, which is about the width of a neuron, so you do not appear to be needing to look inside cell nucleus but you do appear to be needing to see some information on cell surfaces.

It is late in my night so I do not have the brainpower to reach at the moment; I see https://www.staples.ca/en/muvi-20x-200x-usb-microscope/product_194054_1-CA_1_20001 is a USB microscope with up to 200x magnification.