Optical sectioning in real time

Conventional wide field fluorescent imaging is hindered by the detection of out of focus light above and below the specimen plane being examined. This has limited traditional fluorescent microscopes to a Z-direction resolution of approximately 1 µm. This limitation has spurred the adoption of the laser scanning microscope (LSM) into examination of subcellular biology with the capability of Z-resolutions below 0.5 µm.

Now with the introduction of the Apotome, Carl Zeiss brings the same advantages to the conventional wide field fluorescence microscope. The Apotome, an optical sectioning device operating on the established principles of structural illumination, takes 2D and 3D imaging to another level.

The Apotome is capable of Z-resolutions below 0.5 µm, more than twice the optical resolution of the conventional wide field 'scope and the equivalent of many LSMs without the limitations of restricted laser lines and laser maintenance.

The Apotome takes an 8-channel Zeiss conventional wide field fluorescent microscope and turns it into an 8-channel optical sectioning device capable of sub-micron resolutions in the Z-direction as well as increased resolution in the x-y direction.

Because the Apotome operates using conventional fluorescent filters, it can work with any fluorophore from UV to near-IR opening up a world of multicolour imaging, and unlike 3D-deconvolution the Apotome processes and displays a high-resolution optical section in real time without the need for mathematical processing.

The Apotome is available for both upright (Axiolmager Z1, Axioplan 2IE) and inverted (AxioObserver Z1, Axiovert 200M) microscopes from Carl Zeiss.