Apotome & Apotome PLUS
Widefield microscopes utilizing fluorescence imaging have become a cornerstone in life science research, offering unprecedented insights into cellular and subcellular processes.
However, traditional widefield microscopy captures light from several planes of the sample, both in-focus and out-of-focus, which can result in blurred images with reduced contrast and resolution.
This is where the importance of the optical sectioning technique comes into play as a cost-effective alternative to confocal microscopy.
Optical sectioning is a technique that selectively extracts information from a specific plane within the specimen. By removing out-of-focus light, optical sectioning significantly improves the clarity and resolution of the resulting images, enabling researchers to visualize intricate details of biological samples.
Reliable optical sections through structured illumination
ZEISS Apotome 3 uses a grid to generate a pattern of intensity differences. If out-of-focus light is present at a certain region of the sample, the grid becomes invisible.
After the fluorescence of a grid position is acquired, the grid moves to the next position. Using linear approaches and well documented algorithms allow you to calculate reliable optical sections from the individual images.
What’s New with Apotome Plus?
Apotome Plus is a new method for processing Apotome data, designed to achieve the highest image quality. By applying joint deconvolution, resolution, signal-to-noise ratio, and overall image quality are significantly improved.
A Closer Look at Reliability
The images below show a comparison of a widefield image, a background-subtracted image processed using a software algorithm, and an image acquired with ZEISS Apotome. While the background-subtracted image displays high contrast that is visually appealing, it can mislead the viewer — features are missing, and structures appear entirely different. Without knowing the true image, it’s nearly impossible to realize this. Apotome uses structured illumination information combined with documented algorithms to create a crisp optical section you can trust.
For more information, please visit the manufacturer's website: ZEISS Apotome 3
