A new inverted microscope platform with enhanced optical characteristics and extended water immersion capability is now available for biotech and other life science researchers.
The highly regarded microscope manufacturer ZEISS (Jena, Germany) has introduced the Axio Observer line of inverted microscopes for life science research. The Axio Observer family comprises three stable and modular microscope stands for flexible and efficient imaging.
Axio Observer combines the proven quality of ZEISS optics with new automation features, allowing researchers to perform demanding multimodal imaging of living and fixed specimens. Among these features is Autocorr, a technology that allows adaptation of immersion objectives to varying sample carriers and imaging conditions.
The new Autoimmersion option that builds up and maintains stable water immersion without traditional problems such as evaporation or air bubbles is compatible with multiple water immersion objectives in the nosepiece. It uses a powerful piezo-electric pump to bring water from a small tank to a nozzle in the center of the objective turret. With a single click just the right amount of water is applied to the active immersion objective. This provides better contrast and resolution, more efficient light collection, and increased sensitivity.
Definite Focus.2 is a novel hardware focus feature that automatically compensates for focus drift and enables long-term time-lapse imaging and demanding multi-position experiments. Axio Observer can be combined with the new multicolor LED light source Colibri 7 that delivers up to seven excitation wavelengths. This light source, in combination with new Virtual Filter technology, enables researchers to perform ultrafast fluorescence imaging with high spectral flexibility.
The Axio Observer platform is controlled by ZEN imaging software. The current release 2.3 integrates all new features seamlessly and offers convenient experiment setup with dedicated wizards, large-data acquisition, and data processing in two and three-dimensions, including a powerful graphics card-enabled three-dimensional deconvolution. Data can easily be exported to a multitude of file formats and third-party software.
