Re: Z-imaging with base motor instead of piezo.

Posted by Kurt Thorn on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/Z-imaging-with-base-motor-instead-of-piezo-tp7583864p7583867.html

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The microscope stand motor will generally be much slower than the piezo
insert, both because the long travel range makes it difficult to use a
fast piezo motor and because the mass that's being moved is much
larger.  But the precision of these stages can be quite good. The Nikon
TiE can be driven in steps as small as 25 nm; I'm not sure how accurate
it is at those step sizes, But I imagine it's pretty accuracte. Many
years ago we acquired Z-stacks with a 200 nm spacing with a stepper
motor attached to the fine focus knob of a microscope, and they seemed
quite accurate, so accurate Z motions can be achieved with pretty simple
technology.

Kurt

On 6/18/2015 1:22 AM, Anton Kamnev wrote:

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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]
>
>

--
Kurt Thorn
Associate Professor
Director, Nikon Imaging Center
http://thornlab.ucsf.edu/
http://nic.ucsf.edu/blog/