CCMI Leica SP2 AOBS - Notes

Random collection of notes from training session. Not intended to be that informative, just an aide memoire perhaps.

Objectives:
Extreme care, don't knock- misaligns even if put down hard
Extreme care, don't scratch - very small scratches show up badly
White ring at top means immersion
Comp ring on 20x/IMM is for oil/glycerol/water/coverslip thickness
Comp ring on 63x 1.2 W:  SW=salt water T=temperature Middle=coverslip thickness
Iris on 63x/1.4 oil should be fully OPEN for max resolution

Detector slit 5nm to 400 nm width range
Lower numbered detectors must be shorter wavelengths

AOBS needs 1 hour warmup for brightest stablest intensity image.
Must launch software to warm up AOBS

Init stage only if need stitching/point visiting
Galvo Z stage 100g max load, accuracy 40 nm, max travel 165 um

Set focus point (top) with up arrow on scope - press and hold (says "set") , release, press once more.
Step on scope changes step size for focus S0 (finest control) ... S3 (coarsest)
Set top button also saves step size.
Do not press first 3 buttons - scope seriously out of whack

Best to lower objective manually before changing

Prism wheel under objectives should be BF for best resolution

Auto gain - looks at middle strip of sample.  Good starting point.

QLUT - Blue = saturated Green=zero (black level)

Click on overlay display and gain/offset knobs cotroll all active PMTs at once.

Z series.
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Find one end, press BEGIN
Find other end, press END
Click SECT to look at number of sections - best step size is half the axial resolution of the objective.

Averaging.
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Integration.  (frame/line average)
Set average to be same as first digit of PMT voltage - gets ball park.
Line average - faster, best for highest resolution.
Have to balance averaging number with bleaching.

Do not use Gallery until data saved to disk.
Save each new series to a new folder.
R click on saved series, export as TIF/AVI.  Cinepak ?best compressor

.lei - leica file.  Contains all scan params, instrsettings etc.
.txt - text version of .lei
R click file, choose properties - can anotate.
R click, save as XML file, print XML file
R click, properties, apply to set instrsettings to old file
Tools, settings, Instr param settings to choose what can be set.

Save image: R click Send To, Experiment, All (snapshot)  - saves to memory folder.


Control knobs - R click, can set explicitly or set sensitivity.

Higher zoom - more bleaching
Do not zoom past half of  XY resolution of objective (e.g. 70 nm for 63x Oil)

Process, change gamma to enhance dimmer objects in image

3D:  3D Visualization, Projections.   Animation: 4 degrees/frame is good.

Lambda scan.
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1 channel. Set to 20 nm wide.
Averaging off
Open pinhole
Set levels
Set lambda begin, end, step as for Z series.
Quantify,Lambda Stack Profile. Make ROI.  R click graph, export to excel  Send to, Document to print
Process, Dye Finder, Spectral dye separation.  Select ROI, save emission spectrum
Tools, Stains - can delete user defined stains

Sequential scan:
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Have to use if using DAPI as too broad emission spectrum.
Procedure:
Off all channels except one
Set intensity - must not saturate
Save beam setup for first channel
Set up for next channel, save beam setup
Repeat for all channels.
In BEAM window, click SEQ, add saved beam setups (or drag to window)
Set mode - line (best temporal res, if sample moves)/frame/stack
GOTCHA - line mode will not work for UV as no AOTF for 405 beam.
Frame avg - most flexible.  Can have different pinhole sizes for different detectors
Colocalization - do sequentially (no chance of crosstalk)


Go faster:
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Change to 512x64 i.e. strip.
Set scan speed higher (dimmer)
Bidirectional (phase problems) (Process, enhance, phase correction for offline)
If scanning too fast for PC display, Tools, Customize, Basic Scan: BURST mode

Process, Editing, Merging, select "ch", check "append"

David 8/6/04