Top Brands Producing Tissue Culture Microscopes

The type of microscopy illumination used with tissue culture is often fluorescence or epi-fluorescence, with the instrument built as either an upright or inverted microscope. Incident light excitation is often used to produce fluorescence in the mostly live specimens viewed using this type of microscopy.

Because of the impact tissue culture has both on the theoretical and applied areas of fields such as biology, chemistry, zoology and agriculture, the use of top tissue culture microscope brands is often required. Some of these brands include:

Meiji Techno Co., Ltd.

Meiji Techno is a trusted brand when it comes to microscopy and other optical instruments. In Japan, Meiji Techno is the third largest maker of optical microscopes, including tissue culture microscopy. It began as a contract manufacturer in 1964 producing high quality microscopes, although it only began selling its own products to consumers in 1975. Earlier Meiji Techno microscopy products were mostly educational microscopes, so they do have a strong background on the manufacture of microscopes used for biological and industrial studies.

Meiji Techno produces tissue culture microscopes named as its TC series, which are available in bright field, epi-fluorescence and phase contrast models. Their tissue culture microscopes offer excellent optics quality as well as adaptability. Its TC 5000 series, for example, features a camera port mounted in front of the instrument, with adapters to allow connectivity with CCD/CMOS cameras, digital cameras, 35mm still cameras and video cameras. The TC series feature binocular and trinocular models with a wide field of view and excellent resolution.

Olympus Industrial Micro-Imaging

Olympus tissue culture microscopes are manufactured under stringent ISO 9001 and 14001 standards. This is a Japanese company known for their superior optics and reliable microscopy systems. Its tissue culture microscopes are the product of over 85 years of experience in microscopy manufacturing.

Olympus is one of the top brands that are trusted by professionals and amateurs all over the world. One of its most popular models is the BX40 which features a vertical illuminator using reflected light fluorescence. It also uses 3 filter cubes including green, red and blue.

Another excellent Olympus tissue culture microscope is the IX70, an inverted type microscopy instrument used for primarily for research. This microscope uses a variety of illumination modes including bright field, phase contrast, fluorescence, DIC (differential interference contrast), Hoffman modulation contrast and dark field. A significant attachment often used with the IX70 is the TIRFM-IX illuminator. This is an attachment that features a laser source and also allows for xenon and mercury lamps. This illuminator is often used to supplement available light and provide a better view of the image.

Nikon

Nikon is one of the world’s most recognizable and trusted brands of tissue culture microscopes. Nikon is a Japanese company that has been producing excellent optical instruments for many decades. Its optical system is reliable and durable, characterized by precision and practical design built for convenience and functionality. Its newer tissue microscope models are almost always better than previously produced instruments.

One of the top models from this brand was the Diaphot, an inverted tissue culture microscope designed to process light using a short path. This microscope was especially designed to be used for photomicrography, a capability that is designed into its optical system. It is considered as one of the most reliable tissue culture microscopes around.

Leica

Leica is actually a company composed of several big companies, including American Optical, Bausch & Lomb, Leitz and Wild. This German company is one of the top brands producing tissue culture microscopes manufactured in Germany, China, India and Singapore.

One of its popular tissue culture microscopes is the DM IRB which uses reflected light fluorescence. It uses three filter systems and objective magnifications starting at 5x. It comes with a software to manage digital camera image analysis and the microscope itself is capable of producing high resolution images of up to 1.3 megapixels.

Swift Instruments

Swift tissue culture microscopes are handled by Swift’s Scientific Instrument Division. Most of these microscopes are made in China, including the body and the optics, although some are sourced from Japan. Swift tissue culture microscopes are reliable units and quite long lasting. They are not cheap but that’s only because the instruments are known to be highly durable, with excellent optics and functionality to match.

Swift tissue culture microscopes are purchased along with a limited lifetime warranty, which covers the instrument against any defects in the materials used or in workmanship. The limited warranty does not cover misuse, unauthorized alterations or accidents. In case of parts replacements, it’s almost difficult not to find one that will fit a particular microscope, since Swift manufactures and stores parts for models that have been produced about 50 years ago.