Jan 11 2013
The Olympus VS120 virtual slide scanning system has earned three top awards at the second International Scanner Contest (ISC), which took place in Berlin last autumn. The VS120 system creates virtual microscope slides – high-resolution digital images of complete specimens that can be electronically stored on a centralserver for simultaneous viewing anywhere in the world, at a range of magnifications.
The VS120 earned First Place awards in the important categories of Color and Precision, Fluorescence 20x and Fluorescence 40x. The awards are significant because color fidelity and precision are fundamental for all life science applications where analysis may depend on both structural and color interpretation. In addition, high-resolution fluorescence scanning has become one of the most important applications in research whole slide imaging.
The modular VS120 is designed to provide outstanding performance for fluorescence microscopy, combined with precise color rendition and scanning. Fluorescence imaging is used with virtual slide systems in a wide variety of fields including neuroscience, pre-clinical toxicology and cancer research. It is a powerful application for researchers due to the nearly limitless number of possible magnifications of the entireslide; the benefits of permanent storage without deterioration in comparison to glass slides; and the fact that virtual microscopy allows every focal layer and color channel to be reviewed or recolored for better signal separation. In addition, digital images can be shared easily with fellow researchers over the Internet.
The VS120 is the only microscope-based virtual slide system that allows automated multi-channel fluorescence scanning at 2x, 10x, 20x and 40x magnifications. In addition to brightfield and fluorescence illumination, the system also handles darkfield imaging, which is useful for unstained neuroscience specimens.
The ISC awards were announced at the 24th European Congress of Pathology in Prague in September. The ISC was organized by the Charité Universitäts medizin Berlin in collaboration with several other institutions, and is held every two years. The VS120 also earned two awards at the first ISC, which took place in Berlin in 2010.