Z-imaging with base motor instead of piezo.

Posted by Anton Kamnev on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/Z-imaging-with-base-motor-instead-of-piezo-tp7583864.html

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Dear colleagues,

In our LM core we normally use piezo stage inserts (e.g. PRIOR) for
acquisition of Z-stacks. Those work fast and reliable but very have limited
range (100~400 um). Moreover, stage inserts are often bulky and we
experience a lot of problems fitting large specimens/slides into them.

Obvious solution would be to get rid of piezo inserts and use base motor
instead (which moves objective instead of sample). This would give more
manoeuvre space at the stage and much bigger travel range. Unfortunately
most of base motors are rather slow and often lack required precision.

At the moment I’m looking into purchasing of new scope and thus wondering if
there have been any advance in microscope base manufacturing.

The question is - are there microscope bases which would move objective with
speed and precision matching those of piezo inserts? If so, I would greatly
appreciate if you could share your experience with those.

Sincerely,
Anton.

Anton Kamnev, PhD
Imaging Manager
Mechanochemical Cell Biology Building
Division of Biomedical Cell Biology
Warwick Medical School
The University of Warwick
Coventry, CV4 7AL UK
tel: [phone]
cell: [phone]
email: [hidden email]