In 2014 researchers used Stereo Investigator in 698 peer-reviewed papers – citing it nearly three times more than all other stereology systems combined. These researchers often tell us the reasons Stereo Investigator continues to be the most widely used system for unbiased stereology are:
- It has sophisticated integration with all research microscopes and nearly all imaging technologies
- It provides repeatable, unbiased data about neuron populations and regions of interest
- The reliable and knowledgeable technical support and research expertise provided by MBF Bioscience
Professor Mark J. West, co-developer of the Optical Fractionator stereology probe and Professor of Medical Neurobiology at Aarhus University in Denmark, says “Stereo Investigator is the most reliable tool for collecting unbiased stereology data. It’s backed by excellent technical and research support teams at MBF – you can call to ask about stereology probes, tissue preparation, microscope hardware, basically anything regarding your stereology study.”
In 2014, more labs than ever before also used Stereo Investigator to obtain stereology data from image stacks. Researchers captured images with Stereo Investigator using widefield fluorescence, confocal, single-photon, and/or two-photon microscope to acquire image stacks at random sites throughout their tissue specimens. These image stacks, acquired at the microscope in a systematic and random manner, are suitable for stereological analysis.Stereo Investigator is increasingly used with a Zeiss ApoTome structured-illumination device on a widefield fluorescence microscope. This technique gives clear, confocal-like images without having to purchase an expensive confocal microscope. Researchers can improve their images even more by running deconvolution software on the acquired images before performing stereology. In 2014, researchers used Stereo Investigator to discover that postnatal neurogenesis erases memories. Read their paper in Science Magazine.
This past year also brought hints about the future of stereology. MBF Bioscience was awarded an NIH grant to develop a new method for automated cell counting. Soon researchers will no longer need to manually mark each cell to collect data – Stereo Investigator will automatically detect and quantify cells.
Stereo Investigator will continue to evolve to incorporate the latest technology for unbiased stereology, but it will always provide reliable, unbiased stereology data whether you use a brightfield microscope or the latest two-photon microscope.
Then again, the numbers below say it all, Stereo Investigator is the most trusted and productive system for stereology–not only in 2014–but since the advent of computerized stereology:
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Sponsored by MBF Bioscience developers of Stereo Investigator, the world’s most cited stereology system
