On Sat, May 8, 2010 at 8:02 AM, George McNamara
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> * fluorescence microscopy should be done in semi-darkness - the overhead
> fluorescent lighting is mostly useful to find stuff that has fallen on the
> floor

I agree.  In one of our inverted systems the condenser on top does a
lovely job of focusing the overhead lighting onto the sample when you
don't want it to. @:-)  It adds significant noise to our confocal
images so the lights directly over the microscope are turned off.  We
have offset lights that are outside the angle of acceptance of the
condenser.  This allows dim lighting in the area without the light
getting into the microscope.

> * lasers - I believe lasers are best kept in a cool room, 20 C.
> Unfortunately, many users find 20 C cold (not perfectly correlated to body
> mass index, but not bad approximation). Might be a bit less of an issue when
> the lasers are in their own cooling box. Your field service engineers may
> not like this but one option is to put the lasers in an adjacent room, with
> its own cooling.

Our users wear sweaters under their lab coats. @:-)  21 or 22 C is
usually good enough for the lasers without completely freezing the
user.

> * multiphoton microscope - "do not look at laser with remaining eye" - MP
> lasers and potentially high power CW lasers (especially if EasySTED is
> implemented on everyone's current generation confocal's - PubMed 20173926)
> have the potential to end up in someone's eye. this would be bad. Whether
> curtains, baffles, or (dare I imagine it?) well trained users, you want to
> avoid blinding someone. See the laser -> eye damage track record at US DoE
> national physics labs for proof that this is an issue.

Training is key.  We also step the power of our laser down early in
the optical path so any potentially exposed beam is not enough to burn
things/start fires.


> * lots of power on the walls, and the right kind of power (i.e. 220 V for
> certain confocal systems). Come to think of it, the laser room would also be
> a great place for one or more big UPS's for the facility (for one thing,
> help reduce noise - see also next item).

You can never have enough power outlets.  I agree that having 220 here
and there is also very handy.  We have one laser system that could be
configured at purchase to run either from 120 or 220 and it is placed
in a spot where either socket was available.  We configured it to run
at 220 so that we wouldn't load down our available 120 line.  This
left the 120 free for the microscope hardware with plenty of amps to
spare.

> *** Don't forget about VIP tours! For one thing, this amply justifies big
> flat screen monitor(s) at each station. Also, that the rooms be designed to
> be quiet - HVAC is especially a problem here - most research labs are very
> noisy.

I've taken to placing two monitors at each workstation.  One large
widescreen for displaying images, then a smaller (i.e. cheaper)
secondary monitor for things like displaying buttons and controls.
Note that not all vendor software will support multiple monitors,
although most do these days.  For systems with any exposed laser
beams, make sure you have enough laser goggles on hand to show a few
people the system at a time.  I find three or four pairs to be enough
for most VIP situations.

Craig



>
> Best wishes,
>
> George