At 12:41 PM 21/01/97 +0000, Michael Binks wrote:
>Dear All,
>
>We have been using an MRC 600 for several years and have recently obtained
>funding to upgrade this equipment. We wish to have capability for "real
>time" Calcium/pH imaging, 3D reconstruction, transmission as well as
>conventional subcellular localisation studies. BioRad have recommended
>their MRC 1024 inverted setup (sub-mount adaptation). Does anyone have any
>experience with this ? Is optical resolution with an inverted (eg Axiovert
>100 TV) likely to be limited compared to an upright with good oil immersion
>lenses ? Is adaptation for use with an upright microscope possible / easy ?
>

Dear Michael,

If you buy the stand that allows coversion from upright to inverted it is a
very simple proceedure to change a Bio-Rad MRC 600, 1000, or 1024 from
upright to inverted and back again (est. 5 min. for an inexperienced
operator). As far as I'm aware there are no optical disadvantages to using
an inverted microscope. Many (perhaps most?) confocals are mounted on
inverted scopes. As far as practicalities of using an oil immersion lens,
this presents no problem at all, the surface tension of the oil is such that
it just stays put on the top of your lens, you just need to turn your slide
so the coverslip points down. For doing live cell work, there are definate
advantages in the inverted configuration, and it is the choice of most
physiologists etc. The only disadvantages of an inverted scope is that some
of your users will not be used to this configuration, but after a few
minutes they should be up to scratch. The other disadvantages is that it is
more difficult to use water immersion lenses, but these problems can be
solved (if you'd like more info on this point please contact me directly as
it has been discussed receantly). You'll probably find that most live cell
work is most easiliy done on the inverted scope, and that very little work
(if any) cannot be done on the inverted. Labs I know where they have the
capability of changing from upright to inverted, find that the confocal
stays on the inverted microscope almost exclusively. I can't comment on the
particular microscope you mention (Axiovert 100 TV) as I've only used
Olympus and Nikon microscopes in conjunction with MRC-500, 600, 1000 and
1024, but I would suggest that the same logic applies.

All the best,

Stephen H. Cody,                                        __    /
Biomedical Confocal Microscopy Research Centre        _/  \__/ \
Department of Pharmacology,                          /          \
University of Western Australia,                    /            \
Nedlands WA 6009,                                   \*  ____     /
Australia.                                           \_/    \_ _/
         email:  [log in to unmask]              __
         Phone:  61 09 346 4569   Fax: 61 09 346 3469         \/