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Evaluation and purchase of confocal microscopes: Numerous factors to consider
Citation:
ZUCKER, R. M. AND M. Chua. Evaluation and purchase of confocal microscopes: Numerous factors to consider. Current Protocols in Cytometry. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, Hoboken, NJ, Chapter 2(Unit 2):16, (2010).
Impact/Purpose:
confocal microscopy purchasing factors
Description:
The purchase of a confocal microscope can be a complex and difficult decision for an individual scientist, group or evaluation committee. This is true even for scientists that have used confocal technology for many years. The task of reaching the optimal decision becomes almost impossible for scientists unfamiliar with confocal technology, who are often required to make recommendations based on their evaluation of an instrument's performance during a demonstration set up by a vendor. We believe that there are many relevant issues in the acquisition process that need to be carefully considered, and many of these are not very apparent during a demonstration. From a vendor's perspective, the demo tries to serve as an evaluation of the performance of the hardware and software, and is carried out by accomplishing the simple task of taking a good image of the investigators sample. The factors of software, instrument reliability, age of machine technology, support, service, and company integrity, commitment of future support & serviceability and price are just some to the variables to address in the purchase decision. Occasionally a scientist will try to solicit advice from a community of users on which machine to buy. Such networking and internet queries typically result in recommendations that convert a very complex question into a simple answer that occupies only a paragraph. Unfortunately, the process of selecting a confocal instrument is never so simple that it can be answered quickly if one evaluates the various parameters and factors. We have undertaken to write this review to assist laboratory investigators with the process of evaluating these complex microscopes. The same approach can also be applied to other major pieces of imaging equipment e.g. flow cytometers, electron microscopes, etc. Equipment continually changes but the questions regarding hardware software, service, support and price will remain relevant issues with all purchase decisions on scientific equipment. We hope by sharing our experience in confocal microscopy we will help guide you to reach a decision that is sound enabling many years of productive service for your laboratory and institution. None the less it is still useful to visit a colleague having a confocal system with equivalent capabilities, and test the performance of the system with typical samples in a controlled environment not under pressure from vendors and other scientists.
