Ray,

The rules are the same for either upright or inverted systems:  you either
need long working distance objectives or, for dishes, "dipping objectives"
(those which can actually be dipped into the growing solution).  These
objectives are very expensive (the last prices I heard were on the order of
$6K-9K) but apparently very successful.  If you go this route, I would
suggest a short training course on cleaning optics (20 minutes) to avoid
contamination between the work of one researcher and another and to keep
the objectives healthy.  I've visited some very prestigous facilities where
the objectives were caked with salt and nearly unusable.

Hope this was helpful.

Best regards,
Barbara Foster,President
Microscopy/Microscopy Education
125 Paridon Street Suite 102
Springfield, MA 01118-2130
PH: 413-746-6931  FX: 413-746-9311 email: [log in to unmask]
Website: www.MME-Microscopy.com/education

America's first national consortium of microscopy specialists offering
customized on-site training in all areas of microscopy, image analysis, and
sample preparation
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

At 01:58 PM 8/14/00 -0500, ray hester wrote:
>Hi,
>
>We will soon acquire a Leica TCS SP2 confocal laser scanning system coupled
>to an upright microscope [after many years of using the Meridian ACAS (an
>inverted system) and being spoiled by the capability of an inverted scope to
>scan almost any type of culture dish] to accomodate users who want to place
>the objective immediately adjacent to viable vessels/tissue as well as to
>gain additional depth of focus into these materials.
>
>We would very much appreciate hearing from anyone who has a TCS SP and who
>would share with us their experiences using this system to analyze viable
>tissue/cells and what culture dishes they have found to work best with it.
>
>Ray
>
>Raymond B. Hester, Ph.D.
>Research Cytometry Laboratory
>CSAB 357, Biotechnical Services
>University of South Alabama
>Mobile, AL 36688
>Voice:    (334) 460-6029
>FAX:      (334) 460-6073
>E-mail:   [log in to unmask]
>
>