Dear Confocalists,

   I just saw the LSR Ultraview a few days ago.  It scans much faster than
video rate, but the image output is through a CCD camera and is therefore
restricted to the speeds of the CCD.  So the actual acquisition rate
therefore depends on the specific CCD used.  By using smaller frame sizes
and binning pixels, it should be possible to go significantly faster than
video rate-- which may be useful in looking at calcium/neural activity.
   I saw some images of calcium sparks, taken by their representative,
that were acquired at rates up to 26 frames per second--and they looked good.
For physiology, the critical factor is the collection efficiency of
emitted photons, but I didn't have a good way to evaluate this during
their demo (eventually I will want to try one of my own preparations
on their machine, but I didn't have a prep available at the time).
The physiology software seemed quite flexible and helpful.  One of my
biggest concerns was a lack of neutral density filters, since in doing
physiology we often attenuate the laser by 90% or more.  It appears
that a neutral density can be placed in the light path, but I'm not
sure if that requires something else be taken out (like the exciter
or barrier filter?)  If the Ultraview folks are listening, perhaps
they can comment on this.  Another issue, was that they weren't able
to calibrate their length measurements during the demo, which is
understandable, but it prevented me from more carefully assessing
their xy and z resolution using the specimens that were on hand.
    All of this said, the images looked great and I was impressed with
their calcium-spark movies.  If anyone out there is attending the
Neurosciences meeting, I think it's worthwhile to take a look at the
Ultraview-- additional opinions and observations would be greatly
appreciated (Alas, I will not be at the meeting).

Best Regards,

Don

Donald M. O'Malley
Assistant Professor
Dept. Biology
414 Mugar Hall
Northeastern University
Boston, MA 02115

phone: 617-373-2284
fax: 617-373-3724
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