Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why do I need a microscope incubator? Won't a heated stage be sufficient?

A: Heated stages are sufficient only for low magnification/N.A., dry objective imaging. This is because small fluctuations in ambient air temperature cause changes in the plane of focus at high magnifications, known as focus drift, causing the sample to move into and out of focus. Furthermore, a lens heater is required if high N.A. immersion objectives are used, since the high thermal conductivity of water/oil coupled with a room-temperature objective causes a drop in temperature of the sample itself (sometimes to almost room temperature itself). Thus, the very cell being imaged is not at physiological temperature, even if the rest of the dish is! However, lens heaters used in combination with heated stages often exhibit precision/stability problems, resulting in uncontrollable focal drift at high magnifications and gradients of temperature across the sample. The advantage of a full microscope enclosure is that all of the imaging components are at the same temperature (sample, objective, and stage). This makes live-cell imaging much easier and more reliable.

Q: How is the microscope incubator made by In Vivo Scientific different from incubators made by other manufactures?

A: Other incubators for live cell microscopy rely on passive, random diffusion of heated air from a single source to maintain the desired temperature setpoint at the sample. In Vivo Scientific incubators are designed and empirically tested to reduce or eliminate these flaws found in other incubators. Instead of relying on passive diffusion of air to warm the incubator/sample, our incubators employ a unique diffusion grid design in combination with both an air input and an air return. This design results in predictable, uniform airflow throughout the chamber, eliminating cool or hot spots within the incubator itself, and vastly improving temperature stability at the sample being imaged. See incubators for more information.

Q: I need the absolute highest level of temperature precision and stability at high magnifications; how should I achieve this?

A: Use an objective insulator in combination with the microscope incubator (see accessories). Even though the objective is being heated by the surrounding air of the incubator, the microscope body represents a very large heat mass which is difficult to maintain at physiological temperatures (this is an inherent problem with all microscope incubators). As a result, the objective may be a few degrees lower in temperature than the sample itself. For most applications, this does not represent a problem; however, the use of our objective insluator eliminates this problem.