NEED to look deep into a biological sample, without resorting to sectioning it first? Olympus says it has the answer with its new Scaleview 25x microscope objective lens. Developed in conjunction with the Riken Institute in Japan, the lens makes it easier to create accurate 3D structural representations of intact samples of brain tissue.
A section of mouse hippocampus seen by the Olympus Scaleview 25x
One trick the new objective employs is to have a much longer working distance than typical microscope lenses, operating at 4mm distance from the sample. This counters the typical problems of light scattering and tissue opacity encountered when making images of brain samples.
Olympus’s Scaleview-A2 clearing agent plays an important role in rendering the sample nearly translucent, while maintaining fluorescence signals. Because the objective is matched to the refractive index of of the clearing agent, image sharpness and brightness are preserved.
The company says that, when used as part of the FluoView FV1000MPE multiphoton microscope system, the Scaleview 25x objective makes it possible to peer deeper into samples than ever before.
Here at the Lab Homepage, we think Olympus deserves a special mention for creating one of the longest product names in laboratory history. Although known informally as the Scaleview 25x, the lens is officially designated the Olympus XLPLN25XSVMP Scaleview. You don’t need a magnifying glass to read that one.