The Bottom Line
Setting up multiplexed time-lapse experiments has become much easier than previous traditional setups with an inverted microscope in a dark room on a vibration table with a plexi enclosure and heated stage. The ability to do many parallel time lapse experiments in a multiwall plate means one can vary things like seeding density and be assured of an appropriate result. By not having to remove and replace the cell culture from incubator to microscope for time lapse images, the culture experiences a much more stable environment. We can generate 96 or 384 multi-channel time lapse movies overnight and over the weekend, so our lab is always producing data. The ability to acquire images anywhere within the physical limits of the stage and focus makes randomly located FOVs easy and assembling these into a worklist for time lapse allows flexibility in labware and sample type. Since we have our own analysis pipeline, it is nice not to have to pay for unused features. We need very large FOVs and the ability to generate a 10 x 10 (100 image) tiles array is powerful. For high quality and high magnification time lapse microscopy, the images and hence the videos produced are exactly what we need. Give the smaller imaging companies a chance, you will have closer interactions and more influence on improvements.