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A Microscope Built By Your Needs

Posted in: Microscopy and Imaging

Bitesize Bio were delighted to be invited to the launch of Olympus’ new BX3 microscope range in Hamburg last week. What we found there was a remarkably powerful, adaptable and user-friendly system that is a must-see if you are considering purchasing a new microscopy system.

Introduced were the BX43 system for clinical applications, the BX46, designed for ergonomic comfort and fast sample handling in the clinical setting, and the BX53 and BX63 systems for research usergroups.

Each system was designed in response to intensive consultation with microscope users from across the spectrum of clinical and research disciplines, and each slots into the BX3 array of modular components to provide a huge number of options that can be combined to suit the exact needs, current or future, of any lab.

Ergonomic and efficient
At first glance, the most striking feature of the BX3 system is the flexibility of the workstation setup and user interface, designed to increase user comfort and workflow efficiency.

The BX3 microscopes are available with the world’s first fully adjustable observation tube, which allows the user to set the microscope to suit his/her sitting position, rather than adapting to the microscope setup. And further to that, the microscopes can easily be switched between right and left-handed microscope setups to suit individual users.
But if you don’t like the traditional approach of sitting over the microscope, the system offers two other innovative solutions.

The first, and my personal favorite, is a virtual controller that takes you away from the microscope and lets you view the sample on the computer screen while using detached stage and focus controls that can be positioned anywhere on the workstation.

And the second, designed for the iPhone generation, is a touchscreen panel that contains all of the microscope controls, with the sample again being viewed on the computer screen.

The BX46 also boasts an ultra low stage (only 128mm above the work surface), low torque x/y controls and a nosepiece focus. These features are designed for clinical screeners to ensure that their every movement is minimal in terms of distance and force. This minimizes the effort and musculoskeletal stress the user experiences through repetitive sample loading, and therefore increases screening efficiency.
Optics

For efficient operation in the clinical setting, the BX3 range offers a low-energy LED lamp that lasts for up to 20,000 hours and offers color fidelity equivalent to a halogen lamp. And for a fluorescent imaging a unique fly-eye array provides enhanced illumination intensity and homogeneity.

A recurring feature in the BX3 system is user-friendly operation and on this point, we particularly liked two new features; the ability to exchange filter blocks quickly and easily in the filter wheel without the need for tools, and the new wide-range condenser, which accommodates magnifications for 2-100x, without requiring a swing-top lens.

Software and Automation

But for us, the most impressive aspect of the BX3 system is the possibilities it offers for workflow automation. Objectives, filter wheels, focus controls and shutter controls are motorized and nosepiece and mirror turret modules, which enable automatic recording magnification and setting information. All of these features, along with a nosepiece focus/fixed stage for enhanced focusing and sample stability, are packed into the top-of-the-range BX63 research microscope but can be optionally added in any combination to the other microscopes in the range.

These controls can be utilized by the hot-off-the-press labSens (for clinical applications) and cellSens (research applications) software packages that are part of the BX3 system, to facilitate automated image acquisition, from the simple stuff, through to things like extended focal imaging, time lapse imaging and multi-position image acquisition.

Advanced documentation, post-processing and statistical analysis are also part of the package, and through Olympus’ NetCam facility, there is even the possibility to share live images with colleagues over the internet.

For more information on this powerful and flexible system contact Katja Ansmann at microscopy [at] olympus-europa.com

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