The sediment may be examined using both brightfield and phase-contrast microscopy. With the brightfield microscope, subdued light must be used. Some structures will be missed if there is too much light in the field. Fine focus throughout the examination to identify structures in different focal planes.

Scan the slide on low power for quantification of casts, crystals and elements that are present in only a few fields. Use high power to identify casts and count red blood cells, white blood cells and epithelial cells.