PTB Product News

Universal Imaging Announces MetaMorph 4.0

WEST CHESTER, PA -- Universal Imaging Corporation has announced a major upgrade to MetaMorph, an imaging system for biological and industrial microscopy applications.

In MetaMorph 4.0, the new Auto Focus option is designed to increase the speed and accuracy of experiments. According to Universal Imaging, Auto Focus uses a new algorithm to bring regions of interest into focus within milliseconds when using a piezoelectric focus motor. The company says that with MetaMorph 4.0 and a piezo device -- accurate to within 30 nanometers -- researchers at Stanford University's Howard Hughes Medical Institute reduced the time for 3D acquisitions from 30 seconds to 3 seconds. Auto Focus also compensates for the effects of stage drift during long time-lapse experiments.

MetaMorph 4.0 features include a Multi-Dimensional Acquisition dialog designed to simplify experiments using time-lapse, Z series, and multi-wavelength images. According to the company, this option integrates commands and sets up interactive links between preferences, making it possible to conduct sophisticated experiments without writing complex macros.

Universal Imaging says that MetaMorph 4.0 also allows data from multi-labeled fluorescent probes and color filterwheels to be captured without losing the high resolution and sensitivity of monochrome cameras. The Acquire Multiple Wavelengths feature is designed to give black-and-white cameras the ability to detect Rhodamine and Fluoresceine, or similar fluorescent probe pairs, and to obtain data generated using specialized filter combinations.

Other MetaMorph 4.0 features include: Auto Threshold, a command that thresholds bright objects on dark backgrounds and vice versa; interactive calipers for measuring angle and width of an object; and a Create Segment function, which enables users to create a line with a freehand region tool, then specify the length and width of the region to be measured. Create Segment can then generate regions along the top, bottom, and center of the line. Universal Imaging describes this function as being useful for writing macros that measure brightness and other predetermined statistical parameters in regions of a specimen.

MetaMorph 4.0 is compatible with Windows NT Workstation 4.0, Windows 98, and Windows 95. It is designed to support a variety of hardware systems, including cameras such as the Roper Scientific CoolSnap and Hamamatsu's Orca II, as well as automated microscopes from Nikon, Olympus, Leica, and Zeiss.