Confocal Microscope Facility

Olympus FluoView FV1000 Confocal Laser Scanning Biological Microscope built on the Olympus IX81 Inverted Microscope

The Olympus FV1000 is a fully integrated confocal system configured using the Olympus IX81 inverted microscope and permitting experiments ranging from morphology on fixed cells and tissues to real-time in vitro studies. Images can be exported in TIFF and JPG formats, and analytical graphs can be exported into Microsoft Excel format.

The types of experiments most appropriate for this instrument include slides with fluorescent labels on fixed cultured cells or tissue sections that require high resolution imaging; samples up to 100µm thick; short- and long-term live cell imaging; multiple time point ("mark and find") studies; and studies requiring image tiling.

The diode lasers have emission lines at 405nm, 473nm, 559nm and 635nm and, with appropriate filters and detectors, allow for the excitation of many commonly-used fluorescent probes.

The Olympus IX81 inverted microscope is equipped with a Prior motorized stage and a Precision Plastics Incubation System that controls temperature, humidity and CO2 for longer live-cell experiments. The chamber can be completely opened for use with samples on slides.

Please note that because the Olympus IX81 microscope is an INVERTED microscope, culture dishes, chambers, and well plates must contain a 0.16-0.19 mm (No. 1.5) glass coverslip for optimal imaging on this microscope. For more information, see companies such as Mat-tek, Inc., that may supply free samples of dishes incorporating coverslips.

Notice: The Confocal Microscopy Shared Research Facility will no longer maintain an archive of user images and/or data. Approximately 30 days after an imaging session or experiment, the images and data will be deleted from our system.