BD Pathway bioimaging systems

What objectives can I use on the BD Pathway™ high-content bioimager?

The system is supplied with an Olympus Plan fluo 0.75 NA, 20x objective and the following optional objectives can be used:

• Olympus PLAPO2X Objective
  (Plan Apochromat; NA 0.08; 6.20 mm WD)
• Olympus UPLAPO4X Objective
  (Plan Apochromat; NA 0.16; 13.0 mm WD)
• Olympus UPLFL4X Objective
  (Universal Plan Fluorite; NA 0.13; 17.0 mm WD; 2.9 x 1.6 mm xyFOV)
• Olympus UPLAPO10X Objective
  (Universal Plan Apochromat; NA 0.4; 3.1 mm WD; 640 x 840 µm xyFOV)
• Olympus UAPO20X/340 Objective
  (Universal Apochromat; NA 0.75; 0.55 mm WD; 420 x 320 µm xyFOV)
  Note: delivered with BD Pathway bioimager
• Olympus LUCPLFLN 20X Objective
  (Semi-Plan Apochromat; NA 0.4; 6.9 mm WD)
  Note: Long working distance lens
• Olympus UAPO40X3/340 Objective
  (Universal Apochromat; NA 0.9; 0.2 mm WD; 210 x 155 µm xyFOV)
• Olympus LUCPLFLN 40X Objective
  (Semi-Plan Apochromate; NA 0.6; 2.4-7 mm WD)
  Note: Long working distance lens
• Olympus PLAPO60X (oil) Objective
  (Plan Apochromat; NA 1.4; 0.15 mm WD)

When do you use the different working distance objectives made available with the BD Pathway high-content bioimager?

Use the following general guidelines:

• High-NA objectives provide better images but don't work for all plates or plate coatings. These short working distance lenses need a thin bottom plate with cells close to the objective.
• Long working distance objectives allow more flexibility in plate type, but are not as good in terms of light throughput (bad for dim specimens) or image resolution.

For more information, refer to this list:

• UPLAPO series: The UPLAPO series of Universal Plan Apochromatic objectives feature high numerical apertures combined with maximum aberration correction. In addition to brightfield observation, they offer an optimal combination of resolution, and contrast for fluorescence, DIC and darkfield observations.
• PLAPO series: Designed for unsurpassed resolution and contrast, these Plan Apochromat objectives keep chromatic aberration down to an absolute minimum. Precision manufacturing allows the PLAPO series to deliver maximum optical performance.
• UPLFL series: Cost-effective Universal Semi-Apochromat objectives deliver superb resolution and contrast with any microscopic technique such as brightfield, fluorescence, DIC, and darkfield.
• UAPO/340 series: This objective series has enhanced transmission for UV excitation at 340 nm, making them particularly effective for use with fluorescent probes such as fura-2, indo-2, and others for Calcium Ratio Imaging or Intracellular PH measurement. With their high transmission and numerical aperture, these objectives provide the maximum performance in fluorescence microscopy.
• LCPLFl series: Plan Semi-Apochromat Long Working Distance Objectives offers excellent contrast and resolution in brightfield, DIC, and fluorescence. Plan objectives (i.e. whenever the abbreviation PLA is part of the objective description), an industry standard, refers to objectives with high resolution and contrast with flat field correction.

Can I use oil immersion objectives?

Oil immersion objectives can be used with cover glass slides or cover glass Petri dishes. However, they cannot be used with plates.