Similar to human's binocular vision, stereomicroscopes are comprised of two optical paths under a convergence angle
providing a full perspective insight into the world's microstructure. The numerical aperture of stereomicroscopes has
continuously increased over the years, reaching the point where the lenses of left and right perspective paths touched
each other. This constraint appeared as an upper limit for the resolution of stereomicroscopes, as the resolution of a
stereomicroscope was deduced from the numerical apertures of the two equally sized perspective channels. We present
the optical design and advances in resolution of the world's first asymmetrical stereomicroscope, which is a technological
breakthrough in many aspects of stereomicroscopes. This unique approach uses a large numerical aperture and thus an,
so far, unachievable high lateral resolution in the one path, and a small aperture in the other path, which provides a high
depth of field ("Fusion Optics"). This new concept is a technical challenge for the optical design of the zoom system as
well as for the common main objectives. Furthermore, the new concept makes use of the particular way in which
perspective information by binocular vision is formed in the human's brain. In conjunction with a research project at the
University of Zurich, Leica Microsystems consolidated the functionality of this concept in to a new generation of
stereomicroscopes.
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