With the specifically developed UDE BioSLiDES viewer the digital specimens can be focused through over many focal planes, in the same way as directly on the microscope; in other systems for virtual micrcoscopy this feature is usually not available for large-scale digitized samples. All specimens are scanned in high quality, using high end microscope optics to obtain high optical resolution and magnification.

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Screenshot of the UDE BioSLiDES viewer
​​Most similarly extensive collections of digitized microscopy specimens are used for the education of medical students based on histopathological tissue sections and are often only available to a closed user group. UDE BioSLiDES, on the other hand, is completely freely available and serves the teaching of general biology not only at universities but also at schools; accordingly, our collection includes specimens from the fields of botany, zoology and microbiology.

The focus on teaching is supported, among others, by following features:

• The digital preparations consist not only of high-resolution scans, but also contain supplementary information about the organism, its preparation, the microscope optics used, important anatomical structures and tissue types, and links to comparable preparations.
• Various comparison series of different microscopy and staining methods are available.
• The specimen collection includes not only technically sophisticated "high-end" preparations of microtome thin sections with elaborate differential staining, but also specimens that can be prepared by simple means and are therefore used e.g. in school lessons.
• All contents of UDE BioSLiDES are available free of charge as so-called Open Educational Resources . This does not only apply to using them within our own system, but all data are also offered for downloading them in different formats for furhter use and reuse under a free license.