National Institute for Biological Standards and Control has chosen a new confocal system which it says is well suited to its cellular studies conducted as part of its standardisation work
The centralised imaging resource for the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control has just chosen a new TCS SP2 AOBS confocal system from Leica Microsystems.
Dr Roland Fleck, senior scientist in cell biology and imaging, explained: "The new confocal system is well suited to the range of cellular studies that are a part of our standardisation work and we chose the AOBS system for its flexibility in a diverse research environment.
We are also installing a vibration free table, specifically for time-lapse studies, because we feel that it is worth spending a bit extra to get the very best out of the system." "The new confocal will be used alongside our existing imaging systems including the transmission and scanning electron microscopes, and will help to enhance the quality of our data.
For example, if we start to see something under fluorescence using the confocal, then we can localise it with far more detail and accuracy using the electron microscope.
There are also certain advantages of using the confocal in terms of specimen preparation because, unlike the electron microscope, the material can be viewed live without any fixation." "We decided on the Leica system because of the quality of the objectives and the integration of microscope and scanhead, and we have been very happy with the support offered by Leica, its engineers and its applications specialists"
