Microscope for routine cell culture room needs

[Anton Kamnev]

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Dear colleagues,

I'm very new to the confocal microscopy list, and hope that my post still
fits the theme.

I'm an imaging manager at the Warwick Medical School (UK). Currently I'm
looking into upgrade of our regular cell culture microscope (Nikon TMS)
which is great for checking the cells but missing digital camera and is not
able to do fluorescence.

Since most of the time in the mammalian cell culture room only very course
and fast check of cell morphology and transfection efficiency is required I
think there's no reason to install 20k bulky fluorescent microscope. Quick
search showed that there are nice all-in-one solutions available on the
market (e.g. EVOS® FL Digital Fluorescence Microscope from EMS). I am not
sure though if they sell those in the UK.

I guess what I'm looking for is:
small inverted microscope
10~30x long wd objectives (at lest 2 mm)
phase contrast option
long wd condenser (at least 60 mm)
colored digital camera
LED fluorescent light source
filter cubes for DAPI, GFP, mCherry
build in PC with software for image capture (with option to save image to
usb device).

Did anyone came across neat and cheap solution to the routine microscopy in
cell culture room?

Thanks in advance,
Anton.

[Craig Brideau]

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For our own cell culture microscope needs I actually built an inverted
epi-fluorescence system from parts. It has 5 color LED excitation and a 5
Mpixel camera. If you have even a little technical inclination I recommend
checking out some of the kits from ThorLabs or Edmund Optics and building
your own. It can be an inexpensive way to get the functionality you need
and is easy to modify in the future.

Craig
On 2013-06-27 4:25 AM, "Anton Kamnev" <[hidden email]> wrote:

> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> *****
>
> Dear colleagues,
>
> I'm very new to the confocal microscopy list, and hope that my post still
> fits the theme.
>
> I'm an imaging manager at the Warwick Medical School (UK). Currently I'm
> looking into upgrade of our regular cell culture microscope (Nikon TMS)
> which is great for checking the cells but missing digital camera and is not
> able to do fluorescence.
>
> Since most of the time in the mammalian cell culture room only very course
> and fast check of cell morphology and transfection efficiency is required I
> think there's no reason to install 20k bulky fluorescent microscope. Quick
> search showed that there are nice all-in-one solutions available on the
> market (e.g. EVOS® FL Digital Fluorescence Microscope from EMS). I am not
> sure though if they sell those in the UK.
>
> I guess what I'm looking for is:
> small inverted microscope
> 10~30x long wd objectives (at lest 2 mm)
> phase contrast option
> long wd condenser (at least 60 mm)
> colored digital camera
> LED fluorescent light source
> filter cubes for DAPI, GFP, mCherry
> build in PC with software for image capture (with option to save image to
> usb device).
>
> Did anyone came across neat and cheap solution to the routine microscopy in
> cell culture room?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Anton.
>

[Julio Vazquez]

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Anton,

There are now several stand alone microscopy (C-mount) cameras that can collect images directly to a USB memory stick (you plug the camera directly into a monitor for focussing). See for example the Zeiss Axiocam ERc 5s, Lumenera Infinity HD, Leica MC120, Moticam 580, etc... Some even allow collecting your image wirelessly to an iPad, including fairly cheap units such as the Motic Moticam X WiFi. Typically, there is an auto expose and auto white balance button on the camera. Some have a remote control pad which may be good to avoid vibration (specially on a light-duty microscope). Check the manufacturer's web sites for more details. Price range is somewhere between US $ 500 and US $ 5000, depending on quality of camera.

You can mount such a camera on a basic cell culture room scope with Phase and Fluorescence (such as Nikon Eclipse TS100, Olympus CKX 41, and similar offerings from other vendors), and you may have a complete system for maybe around US $ 12-15 K (in the US; maybe a bit more in the UK),  You may even be able to find a suitable scope on eBay or other online site for 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of a new scope.

Zeiss has an integrated system (PrimoVert), where eye piece can be replaced by monitor/memory card slot, but this is bright field only.


Julio Vazquez
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Seattle, WA

http://www.fhcrc.org/en.html

==



On Jun 27, 2013, at 3:11 AM, Anton Kamnev wrote:

> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> *****
>
> Dear colleagues,
>
> I'm very new to the confocal microscopy list, and hope that my post still
> fits the theme.
>
> I'm an imaging manager at the Warwick Medical School (UK). Currently I'm
> looking into upgrade of our regular cell culture microscope (Nikon TMS)
> which is great for checking the cells but missing digital camera and is not
> able to do fluorescence.
>
> Since most of the time in the mammalian cell culture room only very course
> and fast check of cell morphology and transfection efficiency is required I
> think there's no reason to install 20k bulky fluorescent microscope. Quick
> search showed that there are nice all-in-one solutions available on the
> market (e.g. EVOS® FL Digital Fluorescence Microscope from EMS). I am not
> sure though if they sell those in the UK.
>
> I guess what I'm looking for is:
> small inverted microscope
> 10~30x long wd objectives (at lest 2 mm)
> phase contrast option
> long wd condenser (at least 60 mm)
> colored digital camera
> LED fluorescent light source
> filter cubes for DAPI, GFP, mCherry
> build in PC with software for image capture (with option to save image to
> usb device).
>
> Did anyone came across neat and cheap solution to the routine microscopy in
> cell culture room?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Anton.

[Keith Morris]

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Hi Anton,

We looked at the Evos which is a nice integrated inverted fluorescence
microscope, ideal for checking transfection and all run via an iPad type
screen. Only problem is that it is £30k for the simpler model, and the
motorised scanning stage version is nearer £45k. They are available in the
UK and James Watson ([hidden email]) of Invitrogen/Life
Technologies kindly demo'd us both microscopes here in Oxford. Price was the
main issue I guess, as we already have a massive Nikon T2000U inverted
research microscope which, although far more complex to use, is more
flexible and offers even better resolution - although at around £70k so it
should. That said at the same time as the Evos demo, a group here purchased
an ex-demo full sized manual inverted Nikon fluorescence research microscope
for around £25k, so there are bargains to be had. We also had a demo of the
far cheaper Invitrogen Floid  integrated inverted fluorescence microscope
system that only cost £6-7k but our advanced users simply weren’t happy with
the image quality (it might be perfectly fine for your live cell basic
transfection checking though).

Although we never followed it up, we did see some decent budget Leica
inverted fluorescence microscopes, that were quite small. They were shown to
us by Microscope Services Limited, a small company set up by Alan Todd in
Oxford, a microscopist of many years experience, so you could try them  for
ideas.

In the end we decided we are happy to continue using the large Nikon
fluorescence research microscope offered as a core facility to all our cell
culture users, which as well as a B&W fluorescence camera, has extras like a
5MP colour camera, Nikon NISElements, and motorised stage/focus for those
with fixed sections. We have a 'glove policy' covering use of live cells in
the microscope room, and users brings their live cells over from all over
the building to check fluorescence and transfection efficiency. The manual
open top XY stage can image cells in any type of culture vessel and we have
a selection of Nikon ELWD air objectives (4x to 60x) to focus through the
base of thick plastic culture vessels. We could have used the cheaper Evos
or possibly Floid system on a lab desktop in the core to serve the same
centralised transfection check function, although that couldn't have been
upgraded in the future as user's needs change. Our cell culture rooms all
have a basic microscope, i.e. the Nikon TMS like you, that just offers phase
contrast to check cell numbers/growth. It would be great to have an Evos in
each of our many cell culture labs, but it would be an expensive investment.

Good luck with the search.

Regards

Keith

Evos and Floid:

http://www.invitrogen.com/site/us/en/home/Products-and-Services/Applications
/Cell-Analysis/Cellular-Imaging/cell-imaging-systems/FLoid-Cell-Imaging-Stat
ion.html

http://products.invitrogen.com/ivgn/product/AMAFD1000?ICID=search-product


Alan Todd's company:

http://www.microscopeservices.co.uk


Our Nikon T2000U:

http://www.well.ox.ac.uk/nikon-microscope


There's also these UK sites that offer budget microscopes:

http://www.brunelmicroscopes.co.uk

http://www.gxoptical.com/html/microscopes

i.e. GXOpticals GXMXDY-1 fluorescence system for £9.2k (microscope only,
without camera/PC).  They are well respected companies, but I've only used
their far cheaper basic microscopes for schools.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Dr Keith J Morris
Cellular Imaging Core,
The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics,
Roosevelt Drive,
Oxford,
OX3 7BN,
United Kingdom.

Tel:  +44   ( 0 ) 1865  287568
Email:   [hidden email]
Webpage: www.well.ox.ac.uk/microscopy-facilities



-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[hidden email]] On
Behalf Of Anton Kamnev
Sent: 27 June 2013 11:12
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Microscope for routine cell culture room needs

*****
To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
*****

Dear colleagues,

I'm very new to the confocal microscopy list, and hope that my post still
fits the theme.

I'm an imaging manager at the Warwick Medical School (UK). Currently I'm
looking into upgrade of our regular cell culture microscope (Nikon TMS)
which is great for checking the cells but missing digital camera and is not
able to do fluorescence.

Since most of the time in the mammalian cell culture room only very course
and fast check of cell morphology and transfection efficiency is required I
think there's no reason to install 20k bulky fluorescent microscope. Quick
search showed that there are nice all-in-one solutions available on the
market (e.g. EVOS® FL Digital Fluorescence Microscope from EMS). I am not
sure though if they sell those in the UK.

I guess what I'm looking for is:
small inverted microscope
10~30x long wd objectives (at lest 2 mm) phase contrast option long wd
condenser (at least 60 mm) colored digital camera LED fluorescent light
source filter cubes for DAPI, GFP, mCherry build in PC with software for
image capture (with option to save image to usb device).

Did anyone came across neat and cheap solution to the routine microscopy in
cell culture room?

Thanks in advance,
Anton.