Flexible and fully automatic acquisition of brightfield and fluorescence sample images

December 17, 2012 Stuttgart, Germany, Jena/San Francisco, USA

At the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology held in San Francisco this year, Carl Zeiss Microscopy Division released a digital slide scanning system-Axio Scan.Z1. This automated microscopy system can help researchers perform fully automated high-speed brightfield and fluorescence scanning of fixed tissue sections and cell samples.

Thanks to the "tray" design concept of the sample holder, Axio Scan.Z1 can scan all specimen areas on the slide-including the edge of the slide. It only takes a few minutes to automatically calibrate the slide scanner system to obtain high-quality digital virtual slide images. The system can scan 100 slides at a time. When shooting fluorescent samples, the high-speed filter wheel can be switched in just 50 milliseconds. High-sensitivity scientific-grade cameras combined with high-precision calibrated optical path design can obtain high-quality images. The system is equipped with Colibri.2 UV-free LED fluorescent light source, a device that uses oblique illumination to find the focal plane, and the ring aperture illumination method (Ring Aperture Contrast) ensures maximum protection of the sample.

"The Zeiss digital slice scanning system supports scientists in the repeated acquisition of large sample images, such as histological analysis in Alzheimer's and cancer research. The scope of application in this field can be extended from basic research to pharmaceutical industry projects", Carl Zeiss Axio Scan Said Dr. Thorsten Heupel, Product Manager of .Z1.

Axio Scan.Z1 is operated by Carl Zeiss’s ZEN imaging software. ZEN not only allows users to automatically work with predefined setting parameters, but also allows users to independently set individual parameters in different steps. The design of the user interface is specially designed for the workflow in the research field.

The virtual slide data is placed in a database that can be connected to the Internet: ZEN Browser. In addition to the operation of the system's own computer, users can access, view, and share their images and data online with colleagues or organize entire projects-even when they are out, they can easily implement the above functions. There is also a free application software for Iphone and Ipad to achieve the above functions.

Users can decide at the beginning how many microscope slides to use, which inspection method and the type of camera they want to use, and as the subject develops, Axio Scan.Z1 can be easily upgraded.

(Source: Zeiss Optical Instruments (Shanghai) International Trade Co., Ltd.)