At 12:06 AM 9/11/00 -0700, you wrote:
>Rajani Maiya wrote:
>
> > I have been trying to do some time lapse imaging on live cells using an
> > Olympus IX-70 Confocal Microscope.The biggest problem I have had so far
> > is that the stage shifts Z everytime I scan..and hence there is a subtle
> > change in the shape of the cell  each time I scan.This is a brand new
> > microscope .I was wndering if this is a problem with the microscope or
> > if there are some techniques to stabilize the stage.
> > I would appreciate any useful suggestions to help me solve this problem.
>
>Did you think ours is less stable because its old ? ;-)
>I actually talked to our service guy about that. Unfortunately it will take
>a while til they will come here.....
>It seems to be a common problem of inverted microscopes that the nosepiece
>(with the objectives) has some drift.  He told me a number of things to do
>to check out whether its that or the stage. Haven't done that yet.
>The most important thing is to wait at least 15 minutes after you put your
>sample on togive the objective and the oil time to get into some stable
>state.  Does the shape look different in every single image or just after
>30 minutes?
>Is that the microscope in pharmacy? The 2-photon?
>
>Barbara
>
>------------


The focus drift could be temperature as Michael Cammer pointed out in his
email.

We are using the IX-70 and motorized the system (X, Y, Z) and we do daily
basis time-lapse recording and also digital deconvolution. The motorized
system helps a lot to maintain the focus.

If you talk to the company representatives, they will come and adjust the
gear system and that will reduce the drift if it's not due to temperature
porblems.

ammasi




Ammasi Periasamy, Ph.D.
Director, W.M. Keck Center for Cellular Imaging (KCCI)
University of Virginia
Department of Biology, Gilmer Hall
Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA..
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
http://www.cci.virginia.edu/
Tel: (804) 243-7602; Lab.: (804) 982-4869; Fax: (804) 982-5210