Olympus 30x and 60x Silicone Oil Objectives Offer Brighter, Higher-Resolution Performance for Live Cell and Time-Lapse Imaging

CENTER VALLEY, PA., October 28, 2010 – Olympus has introduced new 30x and 60x silicone oil objectives, its latest innovation in silicone immersion microscope optics. The new UPLSAPO 30x and UPLSAPO 60x objectives can markedly improve optical performance for live cell confocal, widefield fluorescence, multiphoton, differential interference contrast (DIC) and other applications. The new silicone oil objectives have distinct advantages over both traditional oil and water immersion objectives for deep and long-term imaging. They provide higher resolution and brighter images when imaging within deep samples when compared with oil immersion objectives, and are useful in long-term imaging experiments where, in the past, water evaporation has been an issue.

The new 30x, 1.05 NA, 0.8mm working distance and 60x, 1.3 NA, 0.3mm working distance objectives reduce loss of contrast due to spherical aberration when compared to conventional oil objectives. By reducing the mismatch between the refractive index of the specimen and that of the immersion medium into which the objective is dipped, they provide higher resolution and brightness when imaging into thick samples.

While water immersion lenses are traditionally used to reduce refraction index mismatch, they are not practical for long-term, time-lapse imaging because of evaporation and low viscosity. Glycerol immersion optics have been used as a substitute for water, but glycerol is not ideal because it tends to draw moisture from the air, resulting in changes in refractive index over time. Silicone oil is very stable and does not have these issues, and more closely matches the refractive index (N=1.404) of intracellular components, making these new objectives useful for imaging into cells and also for long-term, time-lapse experiments.

The new objectives also feature a correction collar, enabling the user to correct for the spherical aberration that is present when imaging into a specimen beyond the cover slip. Image resolution and contrast, along with fluorescence performance, are optimized and maintained by adjusting this collar.

For more information on the Olympus 30x NA 1.05 and 60x NA 1.3 silicone oil immersion objectives for live cell applications, contact Olympus America Inc., 3500 Corporate Parkway, Center Valley, PA 18034-0610; phone 1-800-455-8236; visit www.olympusamerica.com/30x or email microscopy@olympus.com

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