Optical Sectioning in Widefield Fluorescence Microscopy
ZEISS Apotome 3​

Optical sectioning with ZEISS Apotome 3 allows you to efficiently minimize out-of-focus light. Create crisp images and 3D renderings, even of thicker specimen, while your microscope remains just as easy to operate as always. Go one step further with Apotome Plus and achieve confocal-like image quality with your widefield microscope.

✓ Reliable optical sections thanks to structured illumination

✓ Based on linear approaches and peer-reviewed algorithms

✓ 3D structural analysis with resolution down to 180 nm

PURCHASE
Content
Main ManuHow It WorksHighlightsProduct FeaturesApplicationsDownloads
Get Support
Content
Main ManuHow It WorksHighlightsProduct FeaturesApplicationsDownloads
Get Support
ZEISS Apotome 3 with Apotome Plus
See How It Works

✓ Peer-reviewed Algorithms

Linear Approaches for True Optical Sections

Purely software-based methods require either prior knowledge of the sample (AI based methods) or rely on complex algorithms that have not been peer-reviewed. Users must trust that these black-box solutions do not falsify information when “enhancing” the image. ZEISS Apotome 3 uses the information from the structured illumination combined with documented algorithms to create a crisp optical section you can trust.

Caption: Cortical neurons (left: Widefield; right: Apotome 3). Courtesy of L. Behrendt, Leibniz-Institute on Aging – Fritz-Lipmann-Institut e.V. (FLI), Germany.

✓ Confocal-like Image Quality

180 nm Resolution with Apotome Plus

Resolve details that were not visible before with your widefield microscope: With Apotome Plus, you can obtain structural information at lateral resolution down to 180 nm. The combination of structured illumination with state-of-the-art image processing substantially improves the signal-to-noise ratio and resolution in x, y, and z.

Caption: 35 μm sagittal section of adult mouse brain, imaged with ZEISS Axio Observer and ZEISS Apotome, processed with Apotome Plus. Sample courtesy of University of California, Davis / NIH NeuroMab Facility.

✓ Free Choice of Light Source and Dyes

It’s Your Decision, Not the Technology’s

Your experiments often evolve in complexity and requirements. That’s why you need adaptable equipment. Use Apotome 3 with metal halide lamps, economic white light LEDs, or the gentle, multi-color Colibri illumination system. Whether you work with DAPI, Alexa488, Rhodamin, Cy5, or with vital dyes such as GFP or mCherry – Apotome 3 adapts to your fluorophores and light source, creating the sharp and brilliant images you expect.
INQUIRE

Your Flexible Choice of Components

Customize Your Microscope by Combining Apotome 3 with the Accessories Required for Your Research

  • Microscope

    • Axio Observer series (inverted research microscope)​​
    • Axio Imager 2 series (upright research microscope)​​
    • Axio Zoom.V16 (zoom microscope)​​
    • Simple upgrading of existing systems
    VIEW

  • Cameras

    • Monochrome, low-noise ZEISS
    • Axiocam​ camera models​​
    • Selected 3rd-party cameras



    VIEW

  • Illumination

    • Viluma 5/7/9 (LED)​​
    • Xylis LED (white light LED)​​
    • HBO (mercury vapor lamp)​​
    • HXP 120 C (metal halide)


    VIEW

  • Recommended Objective Classes

    • C-Apochromat​​
    • Plan-Apochromat​​
    • EC Plan-Neofluar



    INQUIRE
1 4
Your Insight into the Technology Behind It​

Quantitative Optical Sectioning

True Optical Sections Using Structured Illumination

Light from outside the focal plane needs to be suppressed to extract the in-focus image information. Optical sectioning using structured illumination allows you to efficiently minimize out-of-focus light to create crisp images and 3D renderings.

The Apotome 3

Operation Principle

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. A true optical section with higher contrast and resolution is calculated.


A: Widefield image. B – D: Raw images acquired with different grid positions. E: Resulting image; out-of-focus light is efficiently removed by the structured illumination.

ZEISS Apotome 3 at Work

ZEISS

Apotome 3 at Work

Cortical neurons stained for DNA, microtubules and microtubule-associated proteins. Courtesy of L. Behrendt, Leibniz-Institute on Aging – Fritz-Lipmann-Institut e.V. (FLI), Germany.

ZEISS

Apotome 3 at Work

Transgenic zebrafish larvae at 4 days post fertilization staining for: Glial fibrillary acidic protein, acetylated Tubulin, GFP and DNA. Embedded in 1.2% low melt agarose. Courtesy of H. Reuter, Leibniz-Institute on Aging – Fritz-Lipmann-Institut e.V. (FLI), Germ

ZEISS

Apotome 3 at Work

Bovine pulmonal arterial endothelial (BPAE) cells having nuclei stained with DAPI, F-actin with Alexa 488 phalloidin and mitochondria with MitoTracker Red CMXRos. Compared to the widefield image, Apotome removes out of focus light creating a crisp optical section. Apotome Plus further improves image quality and resolution resolving even finer structures.

DOWNLOADS

Product info

  • Zeiss Apotome 3

    Optical sectioning in fluorescence imaging for your widefield microscope.


    DOWNLOAD

  • ZEISS Apotome 3 - Flyer

    Hardware-based, Quantitative Optical Sectioning with Well Documented Algorithms.


    DOWNLOAD
1 2