News • Ultra-thin and polished

Next-generation objectives push boundaries of microscopy

Olympus has broken down barriers to imaging quality with the launch of its next-generation objectives.

Photo
Source: Olympus

The breakthrough polishing technique enables the company to produce ultra-thin lenses that overcome the traditional trade-off between numerical aperture (NA), flatness and chromatic correction – enabling all three parameters to be significantly improved. Olympus has harnessed this proprietary technology to deliver high-performance X Line objectives for clinical and research applications as well as UPLAPO-HR objectives, the world’s first plan-corrected apochromat objectives with a NA of 1.5 for total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy and super resolution applications. The new objectives will deliver significant improvements to a plethora of research and clinical applications without the need to change or upgrade imaging systems.

Traditional lenses force manufacturers to choose to optimize either image flatness or chromic aberration or the NA, which contributes to bright and high-resolution images. Olympus’ X Line objectives negate this trade-off – delivering market-leading image quality where each of these three pillars of quality is as solid as the others. The resulting high and uniform image quality across the entire field of view (FOV) benefits accurate diagnoses, large FOV imaging, multicolor imaging, image stitching and quantitative image analysis.

Recommended article

Photo

Sponsored • Competition

Olympus Image of the Year – Celebrating art in science

Olympus’ Image of the Year Award for light microscopy in Europe recognizes the very best in life science imaging. Inspired by the beauty and breadth of images submitted for Image of the Year 2017, Olympus is now continuing its quest for the best light microscopy art in 2018. For the chance to win one of three prizes, applicants can submit life science light microscopy images to…

NA describes a lens’s ability to capture light, meaning that high-NA lenses yield higher resolution and require shorter exposure times, minimizing phototoxicity. The ultra-thin lenses at the core of X Line objectives produce NAs up to 1.45 – a value normally found only in specialized objectives. X Line objectives are able to combine these high NAs with a market-leading chromatic aberration correction range of 400–1000 nm and excellent image flatness. Chromatic correction prevents wavelength-dependent shifting of colors along the X, Y and Z axis, enabling color accuracy, high-precision multicolor colocalization and measurement. Image flatness ensures that the whole field of view is in focus – benefiting all users, but in particular those that use image stitching and quantitative image analysis.

Some might say that it’s just a lens, but objectives really lie at the heart of every microscope, determining the quality of the complete imaging system and the accuracy of any downstream data analysis

Jan Barghaan

Users of both high-end and low-end microscopy systems can easily boost the image quality of their microscopy system by switching to X Line. Ensuring broad compatibility with different systems, X Line objectives provide these benefits without changing the mount or parfocalizing distance, making it easy to upgrade this easily overlooked part of a microscope. “Some might say that it’s just a lens, but objectives really lie at the heart of every microscope, determining the quality of the complete imaging system and the accuracy of any downstream data analysis,” explained Jan Barghaan, marketing manager at Olympus Europa. “If your raw image isn’t great, you can post-process as much as you want, but you’ll never reach the quality of high-performance objectives. With this new range of objectives, Olympus not only improves raw image quality, but also helps to acquire more meaningful data, delivering enormous benefits to every microscope user.”

As a pioneer in TIRF microscopy, Olympus has also applied its unique lens manufacturing technique to the design of specialized lenses, optimized for TIRF microscopy and super resolution applications. These UPLAPO-HR objectives are the only plan-corrected apochromat objectives on the market with a NA of 1.5. This combination creates bright, high-resolution images that also have the high flatness essential for TIRF and super resolution applications – providing high-quality imaging as well as reliable data for accurate calculations.

07.06.2019

Related articles

Photo

Sponsored • Products of the Month

Enhance your Microscopy Workflow

Did you know that changing microscopy camera can make a real difference to your microscopy workflow? Packed full of smart features to make your imaging faster and easier, Olympus’ new DP23 and DP28…

Photo

Sponsored • Product of the Month

Make Your Application Digital – with the EP50 Stand-alone Network Camera

Bring your application into the digital world and combine the new Olympus EP50 camera with our wide range of microscopes. Add the accesoires you need and choose the kit that fits your requirements.…

Photo

Sponsored • Product of the month

Faster decision making with Olympus’ intelligent DP74 camera

Accelerate your workflow with the intelligent, high-resolution DP74 brightfield and fluorescence camera from Olympus. Histologists and pathologists face intense, rushed workloads where every minute…

Related products

Subscribe to Newsletter