BOB™ — Open-Design Upright Microscope

BOB™ Open-Design Upright Microscope

The BOB™ from Sutter Instrument is an open-design upright microscope platform built on a fundamental insight: the only truly essential components of a microscope are an objective and a tube lens. By eliminating the conventional microscope frame and mounting the optical path on a blue optical rail, the BOB makes height adjustment — unheard of in fixed-frame designs — a quick, tool-free operation. Switch from brain-slice recording in the morning to in vivo experiments in the afternoon without rebuilding the rig.

Rail-Mounted, Height-Adjustable Design

The BOB assembles as a single compact unit that clamps onto the blue rail with one rigid, stable connection. Motorized focusing is integrated between the focus arm and the rail, driven electrically without the mechanical backlash of rack-and-pinion systems. Raising the entire microscope body for in vivo work takes only a minute and requires no tools.

Illumination and Contrast

Epifluorescence is built into the basic BOB through an Olympus vertical illuminator. Transmitted-light contrast uses Sutter's TLED LED source and controller with the Olympus OCC (Oblique Coherent Contrast) condenser — or DIC optics for higher-resolution contrast. The TLED controller accepts digital triggering, eliminating mechanical shutters and adding the ability to photostimulate via the trans pathway. When transmitted light is not needed, the LED, condenser focus mechanism and OCC condenser remove as a single sub-assembly, and the shorter trans-light path allows the microscope body to sit significantly lower than on a conventional frame.

Multi-Link Software Integration

When configured with a motorized XY stage or translator with MPC-200 controller, the BOB integrates with Sutter's free Multi-Link™ software. During whole-cell patch recording in slices, Multi-Link coordinates objective and manipulator positions: after finding the target neuron, it retrieves the recording and stimulation pipettes automatically to the same field of view. Relocation to a new stimulation site can be performed while the recording pipette position is locked.

Applications

• Slice electrophysiology — the rigid rail mount provides mechanical stability comparable to fixed-frame upright microscopes. The height adjustment allows the condenser to be positioned optimally for each preparation depth. OCC or DIC contrast makes finding neurons in thick, living slices straightforward.
• Wide-field functional imaging — the Olympus epi-illuminator accommodates standard filter cubes; the TLED controller permits rapid, shutter-free switching between excitation wavelengths for multi-channel calcium or voltage indicator imaging.
• Two-photon retinal imaging and photostimulation — the open frame accepts external scan boxes and beam-steering optics, enabling the BOB to serve as the base for targeted photostimulation experiments or retinal two-photon imaging rigs.