Looking to purchase an in vitro electrophysiology rig setup and advised to try Scientifica all-in-one module system. Does anyone have a view point on how well it works versus conventional setups? Is it worth the extra money? What about the Scientifica LASU system? All advice/ comments welcome
I currently use one of their slice scope rigs. It is an olympus scope with scientifica manipulators. The lab has had the rig for 5 years and I have been using it for the last 2 years.
Pros: I have been very impressed with the manipulators. They are very sensitive and I've never noticed any drifting of the tip. The condenser is easy to adjust. The objective controls are sensitive.
Cons: Switching between objectives feels clunky and often requires I move the objective out of the way to avoid my chamber or temperature probe. I had a lot of issues setting up the software assisted manipulator B following of manipulator A (while I control A).
The LASU system looks interesting, but my experiments have no practical use for it. It looks expensive unless you absolutely know you'll be doing experiments that will benefit from it. I use a Cool LED set up on the rig because I only need optogenetic stimulation at the direct center of my field.
I haven't used that system. I guess it depends on what type of experiments you are hoping to do. We use a conventional Olympus scope, with an Excite LED system.. We use Shutter micromanipulators, which have been amazing... we have used the same microdrives for over 10 years, and they have been flawless, and the company is great to work with.. Excite has a great LED system for optogenetics, at a reasonable price.. It can be triggered with various pClamp protocols.. we have ours hooked up to a master 9 stimulator, which allows stimulation methods to be almost limitless..
I would imagine that the all in one system is great, but depending on your experiments, you could get away with something cheaper that is just as good, mechanically!
Hi Rhi, we just got one although I haven't really used it. It's in another lab. It depends what you used before. We have almost exclusively Olympus rigs so it's just a better version of those. Having motorized stage would definitely be a plus and probably worth the money (although you could just buy a motorised stage for a conventional Olympus BW51). It's pretty stripped back so if you want to have multiple electrodes set up there's quite a bit more space around the microscope. I've always heard pretty good things about them for people who have bought them, I suppose you just have to see what the price difference is :-)
