Calibration fibre

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Taryn Saggese Taryn Saggese
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Calibration fibre

Dear Listers,

I’m looking for a rod/fibre equivalent to the fluorescence beads used for
microscope calibration. As I would like to use these rods as a control for a
skeletonization algorithm they need to be of a known length, preferably
between 2 and 10µm and have a diameter of 0.5 - 1µm. It is also preferable
that the rods are made of a material that is able to be bent or twisted.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated

Kind regards,
Taryn
Martin Wessendorf-2 Martin Wessendorf-2
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Re: Calibration fibre

Taryn Saggese wrote:

> I’m looking for a rod/fibre equivalent to the fluorescence beads used for
> microscope calibration. As I would like to use these rods as a control for a
> skeletonization algorithm they need to be of a known length, preferably
> between 2 and 10µm and have a diameter of 0.5 - 1µm. It is also preferable
> that the rods are made of a material that is able to be bent or twisted.
>
> Any suggestions would be most appreciated

Might diatoms work?  They couldn't be twisted but some of those have
interesting, convoluted shapes that have been pretty thoroughly
characterized.

Good luck--

Martin Wessendorf
--
Martin Wessendorf, Ph.D.                   office: (612) 626-0145
Assoc Prof, Dept Neuroscience                 lab: (612) 624-2991
University of Minnesota             Preferred FAX: (612) 624-8118
6-145 Jackson Hall, 321 Church St. SE    Dept Fax: (612) 626-5009
Minneapolis, MN  55455
**MY E-MAIL ADDRESS HAS CHANGED.  PLEASE USE [hidden email] **
Kurt Thorn Kurt Thorn
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Re: Calibration fibre

In reply to this post by Taryn Saggese
You can buy fluorescent plastic fiber but it's relatively large diameter
(0.25 mm). You might be able to draw it to a finer diameter, or their
may be distributors of smaller diameter material.

Kurt

Taryn Saggese wrote:

> Dear Listers,
>
> I’m looking for a rod/fibre equivalent to the fluorescence beads used for
> microscope calibration. As I would like to use these rods as a control for a
> skeletonization algorithm they need to be of a known length, preferably
> between 2 and 10µm and have a diameter of 0.5 - 1µm. It is also preferable
> that the rods are made of a material that is able to be bent or twisted.
>
> Any suggestions would be most appreciated
>
> Kind regards,
> Taryn
>
>  


--
Kurt Thorn, PhD
Director, Nikon Imaging Center
University of California San Francisco

UCSF MC 2140
Genentech Hall Room S252
600 16th St.
San Francisco, CA 94158-2517

http://nic.ucsf.edu
phone 415.514.9709
fax   415.514.4300
Craig Brideau Craig Brideau
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Re: Calibration fibre

What is the source for this fiber?  I'm curious about who makes and distributes it.

Thanks,

Craig


On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 10:45 AM, Kurt Thorn <[hidden email]> wrote:
You can buy fluorescent plastic fiber but it's relatively large diameter (0.25 mm). You might be able to draw it to a finer diameter, or their may be distributors of smaller diameter material.

Kurt


Taryn Saggese wrote:
Dear Listers,
I'm looking for a rod/fibre equivalent to the fluorescence beads used for
microscope calibration. As I would like to use these rods as a control for a
skeletonization algorithm they need to be of a known length, preferably
between 2 and 10µm and have a diameter of 0.5 - 1µm. It is also preferable
that the rods are made of a material that is able to be bent or twisted.
Any suggestions would be most appreciated
Kind regards, Taryn

 


--
Kurt Thorn, PhD
Director, Nikon Imaging Center
University of California San Francisco

UCSF MC 2140
Genentech Hall Room S252
600 16th St.
San Francisco, CA 94158-2517

http://nic.ucsf.edu
phone 415.514.9709
fax   415.514.4300

Gary Laevsky-2 Gary Laevsky-2
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Re: Calibration fibre

In reply to this post by Taryn Saggese
Re: Calibration fibre

How about soaking a human hair in fluorescein? About 100 um.


Best,

Gary Laevsky, Ph.D.
(774) 291 - 9992

----- Original Message -----
From: Confocal Microscopy List <[hidden email]>
To: [hidden email] <[hidden email]>
Sent: Tue Oct 21 18:44:10 2008
Subject: Re: Calibration fibre

What is the source for this fiber?  I'm curious about who makes and distributes it.

Thanks,

Craig



On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 10:45 AM, Kurt Thorn <[hidden email]> wrote:


You can buy fluorescent plastic fiber but it's relatively large diameter (0.25 mm). You might be able to draw it to a finer diameter, or their may be distributors of smaller diameter material.

Kurt


Taryn Saggese wrote:


Dear Listers,
I'm looking for a rod/fibre equivalent to the fluorescence beads used for
microscope calibration. As I would like to use these rods as a control for a
skeletonization algorithm they need to be of a known length, preferably
between 2 and 10µm and have a diameter of 0.5 - 1µm. It is also preferable
that the rods are made of a material that is able to be bent or twisted.
Any suggestions would be most appreciated
Kind regards, Taryn






--
Kurt Thorn, PhD
Director, Nikon Imaging Center
University of California San Francisco

UCSF MC 2140
Genentech Hall Room S252
600 16th St.
San Francisco, CA 94158-2517

http://nic.ucsf.edu
phone 415.514.9709
fax   415.514.4300



Tim O'Brien Sr. Tim O'Brien Sr.
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Re: Calibration fibre

In reply to this post by Taryn Saggese
Tayrn and other listserver users-

Our group (CISMM at UNC) routinely makes arrays of flexible rods about
that size. We could probably make them fluorescent. Are there any other
users out there that would find them useful? If there is a great need in
the community, we could move it up our list, but could possibly make
some for only a few users. We also write software for analyzing tube or
rod shapes or movements so it might be interesting to compare notes on
the algorithm you are testing.

Tim O'Brien
CISMM
http://www.cs.unc.edu/Research/nano/cismm/
UNC Physics and Astronomy
Chapel Hill, NC






Taryn Saggese wrote:

> Dear Listers,
>
> I’m looking for a rod/fibre equivalent to the fluorescence beads used for
> microscope calibration. As I would like to use these rods as a control for a
> skeletonization algorithm they need to be of a known length, preferably
> between 2 and 10µm and have a diameter of 0.5 - 1µm. It is also preferable
> that the rods are made of a material that is able to be bent or twisted.
>
> Any suggestions would be most appreciated
>
> Kind regards,
> Taryn
>  
Kurt Thorn Kurt Thorn
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Re: Calibration fibre

In reply to this post by Craig Brideau
If you google fluorescent fiber or wavelength shifting fiber you'll find
a bunch of vendors.  Wavelength shifting fiber is apparently what the
physics community refers to this stuff as - they use it for converting
scintillator fluorescence to a longer wavelength to match PMT peak
sensitivities - and this search turns up lots of papers.

The distributors are mostly small hobby-oriented vendors.  These guys
appear to be one of the manufacturers: http://www.nanoptics.com/

Kurt

Craig Brideau wrote:

> What is the source for this fiber?  I'm curious about who makes and
> distributes it.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Craig
>
>
> On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 10:45 AM, Kurt Thorn <[hidden email]
> <mailto:[hidden email]>> wrote:
>
>     You can buy fluorescent plastic fiber but it's relatively large
>     diameter (0.25 mm). You might be able to draw it to a finer
>     diameter, or their may be distributors of smaller diameter material.
>
>     Kurt
>
>
>     Taryn Saggese wrote:
>
>         Dear Listers,
>         I'm looking for a rod/fibre equivalent to the fluorescence
>         beads used for
>         microscope calibration. As I would like to use these rods as a
>         control for a
>         skeletonization algorithm they need to be of a known length,
>         preferably
>         between 2 and 10µm and have a diameter of 0.5 - 1µm. It is
>         also preferable
>         that the rods are made of a material that is able to be bent
>         or twisted.
>         Any suggestions would be most appreciated
>         Kind regards, Taryn
>
>          
>
>
>
>     --
>     Kurt Thorn, PhD
>     Director, Nikon Imaging Center
>     University of California San Francisco
>
>     UCSF MC 2140
>     Genentech Hall Room S252
>     600 16th St.
>     San Francisco, CA 94158-2517
>
>     http://nic.ucsf.edu
>     phone 415.514.9709
>     fax   415.514.4300
>
>


--
Kurt Thorn, PhD
Director, Nikon Imaging Center
University of California San Francisco

UCSF MC 2140
Genentech Hall Room S252
600 16th St.
San Francisco, CA 94158-2517

http://nic.ucsf.edu
phone 415.514.9709
fax   415.514.4300
Rosemary.White Rosemary.White
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Re: Calibration fibre

In reply to this post by Martin Wessendorf-2
Why not try cotton fibres?  They can be stained with many fluorescent
dyes, e.g. DAPI, propidium iodide, calcofluor white, in fact, almost any
DNA or carbohydrate stain.  They are a few microns in diameter, very
flexible, centimeters long and very tough.  Cotton wool from the chemist
or supermarket should work fine.
cheers,
Rosemary

Rosemary White
CSIRO Plant Industry
GPO Box 1600
Canberra, ACT 2601
Australia

ph 61 2 6246 5475
fx 61 2 6246 5334
________________________________________
From: Confocal Microscopy List [[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Martin Wessendorf [[hidden email]]
Sent: Wednesday, 22 October 2008 12:45 a.m.
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: Calibration fibre

Taryn Saggese wrote:

> I’m looking for a rod/fibre equivalent to the fluorescence beads used for
> microscope calibration. As I would like to use these rods as a control for a
> skeletonization algorithm they need to be of a known length, preferably
> between 2 and 10µm and have a diameter of 0.5 - 1µm. It is also preferable
> that the rods are made of a material that is able to be bent or twisted.
>
> Any suggestions would be most appreciated

Might diatoms work?  They couldn't be twisted but some of those have
interesting, convoluted shapes that have been pretty thoroughly
characterized.

Good luck--

Martin Wessendorf
--
Martin Wessendorf, Ph.D.                   office: (612) 626-0145
Assoc Prof, Dept Neuroscience                 lab: (612) 624-2991
University of Minnesota             Preferred FAX: (612) 624-8118
6-145 Jackson Hall, 321 Church St. SE    Dept Fax: (612) 626-5009
Minneapolis, MN  55455
**MY E-MAIL ADDRESS HAS CHANGED.  PLEASE USE [hidden email] **
Rosemary.White Rosemary.White
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Re: Calibration fibre

Hmm, misread the dimensions....  Another option would be pollen, very
regular shapes, many are elongated, e.g. canola pollen, most are
fairly autofluorescent, can be stained if desired and they're tough.
Reasonably uniform size, often quite well-characterised, like diatoms.
And unless you need a pure sample, kitty litter will give you lots of
diatoms... though perhaps not of known length.
________________________________________
From: Confocal Microscopy List [[hidden email]] On Behalf Of [hidden email] [[hidden email]]
Sent: Wednesday, 22 October 2008 7:43 a.m.
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: Calibration fibre

Why not try cotton fibres?  They can be stained with many fluorescent
dyes, e.g. DAPI, propidium iodide, calcofluor white, in fact, almost any
DNA or carbohydrate stain.  They are a few microns in diameter, very
flexible, centimeters long and very tough.  Cotton wool from the chemist
or supermarket should work fine.
cheers,
Rosemary

Rosemary White
CSIRO Plant Industry
GPO Box 1600
Canberra, ACT 2601
Australia

ph 61 2 6246 5475
fx 61 2 6246 5334
________________________________________
From: Confocal Microscopy List [[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Martin Wessendorf [[hidden email]]
Sent: Wednesday, 22 October 2008 12:45 a.m.
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: Calibration fibre

Taryn Saggese wrote:

> I’m looking for a rod/fibre equivalent to the fluorescence beads used for
> microscope calibration. As I would like to use these rods as a control for a
> skeletonization algorithm they need to be of a known length, preferably
> between 2 and 10µm and have a diameter of 0.5 - 1µm. It is also preferable
> that the rods are made of a material that is able to be bent or twisted.
>
> Any suggestions would be most appreciated

Might diatoms work?  They couldn't be twisted but some of those have
interesting, convoluted shapes that have been pretty thoroughly
characterized.

Good luck--

Martin Wessendorf
--
Martin Wessendorf, Ph.D.                   office: (612) 626-0145
Assoc Prof, Dept Neuroscience                 lab: (612) 624-2991
University of Minnesota             Preferred FAX: (612) 624-8118
6-145 Jackson Hall, 321 Church St. SE    Dept Fax: (612) 626-5009
Minneapolis, MN  55455
**MY E-MAIL ADDRESS HAS CHANGED.  PLEASE USE [hidden email] **
Kevin Braeckmans Kevin Braeckmans
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Re: Calibration fibre

In reply to this post by Kurt Thorn
Hi Taryn,

We routinely make fluorescent polystyrene 'nanofibers' of typically 1-5
micrometer diameter which are quite flexible. It should be possible to make
them as thin as 500 nm. We use lasercutting to make shorter pieces of a few
tens of nanometers in length. You can contact me if you would be interested
in this.

Best regards,

Kevin


Prof. Dr. Kevin Braeckmans
Lab. General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy
Ghent University
Harelbekestraat 72
9000 Ghent
Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)9 264.80.78
Fax: +32 (0)9 264.81.89



> Taryn Saggese wrote:
> > Dear Listers,
> >
> > I’m looking for a rod/fibre equivalent to the fluorescence beads used
> for
> > microscope calibration. As I would like to use these rods as a
> control for a
> > skeletonization algorithm they need to be of a known length,
> preferably
> > between 2 and 10µm and have a diameter of 0.5 - 1µm. It is also
> preferable
> > that the rods are made of a material that is able to be bent or
> twisted.
> >
> > Any suggestions would be most appreciated
> >
> > Kind regards,
> > Taryn