Dual Inverted Selective Plane Illumination Microscope

A new dual inverted selective plane illumination microscope from Applied Scientific Instrumentation (Eugene, OR) generates 3d volumes with isotropic resolution (330) nm in all directions, offers axial resolution that is approximately 2x better than confocal or spinning disk systems, features acquisition rates up to 200 images per second or 2-5 volumes per second (roughly 10 times faster than spinning disk microscopes), achieves an approximately 7-10 fold reduction in photobleaching, and uses conventional mounting and glass cover slips. This microscope has multicolor capability and has been tested successfully on cells cultured on cover slips, cells embedded in collagen gels, and nematode and zebrafish embryos.