The PC version of IPLab, originally developed and marketed by Scanalytics and now part of BD Biosciences, is a sophisticated piece of software designed to integrate the functions of microscope, camera and motorized stage control and provide image acquisition and analysis capabilities. We have been using the PC version of IPLab for the past 4 years and have been mostly happy with its performance. We tested several other software options and deemed that IPLab provided us with the necessary functionality and cost effectiveness we were seeking at the time of purchase.
Our current microscope setup includes an Olympus IX-81 microscope equipped with standard epi-fluorescence and an Olympus disc spinning unit (DSU) for the acquisition of confocal-like images. Attached to our microscope are a Prior motorized stage and a Qimaging Retiga EXi camera for image acquisition. In general, IPLab software has integrated well, but not seamlessly, into our current microscope hardware environment.
The IPLab software itself is easy-to-use and highly customizable. The ability to generate any number of shortcut icons that can be placed in a large tool bar is particularly useful. Additional icons can be created and programmed, which allows the integration of multiple functions into a single mouse click. The Multi Dimensional and 6D acquire functions permit the user to perform XY acquisitions using a motorized stage, time lapse and Z-stacks with user-defined filter sets. Post-acquisition capabilities include the generation of a single stacked image from a Z-stack series and a unique 3D Axial Projection function that can generate XZ projections based on a hand-drawn line. Other capabilities including 3D rendering, multiple measurement parameters and particle analysis are also built-in.
One of the significant drawbacks of the PC version of IPLab is the lack of support and development beyond the current iteration (version 4.0). Unfortunately, this translates to dealing with the bugs inherent in the software without the prospect they will be resolved. A potential alternative is to use the supported Mac Version of IPLab, which was bought by BioVision technologies and renamed iVision-Mac.
We have found IPLab to be an excellent piece of software for our specific image acquisition and analysis needs. IPLab is very intuitive and sophisticated and has several built-in image analysis features that set it apart from other mainstream software. Given the lack of support and development of the PC version I would encourage research labs that use Mac-based image acquisition to consider this software.
Project Scientist
Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
University of California, Santa Barbara