Hello Cindy

A year or so ago I went through all the ins and out of deconvolution and
the helpful list discussion should all be on the archive.

We use deconvolution mostly for processing image that have been obtained
from preparations that have too many labelling channels for our 3
channel confocal. We have found that deconvolved images of dye-filled
and immunolabelled neurons in moderately thick preparations really are
comparable to confocal images of the same preps. We've also used
deconvolution a bit for images of live tissues and it really does do a
good job. Also remember that for some things, you can use deconvolution
on your confocal images to extract even more info from the data sets.

I won't go into the debate about which deconvolution system is best -
there are several really good systems out there, including DeltaVision,
Huygens (both on SGIs) and AutoDeblur (NT system), which have there
various advantages and disadvantages. All are expensive (as far as
routine software goes) but they are all a lot cheaper than a confocal!

However, I do think you need to understand a bit about how the
deconvolution systems work and as someone else said, I think, it can
take a bit more time to get your images with the deconvolution. The
other thing that I reckon you need for deconvolution is an accurate
Z-axis focus controller for your microscope, so you can tell the
programs the distance between the optical sections - this need to be
factored into the cost - good stage focussing systems come from Prior
and Ludl / LEP and I'm sure there are others...

Hope that helps

IAN


Cynthia Forehand wrote:
>
> Hi,
> We are considering the purchase of a deconvolution/reconstruction
> microscope for a mulituser facility. The users have a variety of needs, but
> common themes are intracellular signaling in live cells, time lapse studies
> of growing axons and and embryos, calcium and chloride imaging and the
> ablity to combine electrophysiological measurements with intracellular
> imaging. We are specifically considering the DeltaVision system from
> Applied Precision. We'd appreciate any input considering the ease of use
> and management of this system or similar ones, and discussion of the
> relative merits of deconvolution/reconstruction microscopy vs laser
> confocal microscopy for our needs.
> Sincerely,
> Cindy Forehand
>
> Dr. Cindy Forehand
> Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology
> D410 Given Building
> University of Vermont
> Burlington, VT  05405
> (802) 656-8060

--
Professor Ian Gibbins
Anatomy & Histology
Flinders University of South Australia
GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001
Australia

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