In-Focus (Meyers instruments) software is an integral departmental research software for obtaining one-framed 3D images of Drosophila (fruit fly), Xenopus (frog) and Mus musculus (mice) transfected mutants. Our automated Leica Z16 APO with a Leica DFC300 FX camera is connected to a Dell computer with ImagePro Plus (ver 6.1) and In-Focus (ver 1.75) software. The ImagePro Plus and In-Focus operate together to acquire a series of 2-dimensional images (a Z-stack) as the motorized stereohead vertically travels at programmed distances while focusing and capturing different planes of a specimen. The resulting Z-stack can then be processed into single-framed 3D composite called an Extended View (TIFF file) or played as a movie (SEQ or AVI file). New users find the newest In-Focus version easy to use as the software prompts the user through setting the focus plane distance on the specimen and then quickly acquires the image series. The newest ImagePro Plus also quickly aligns either the entire series or selected focus planes from the series into a sharp image. One satisfied post-doc who is familiar with the older In-Focus versions described the newest In-Focus ease of use and imaging capabilities as "It rocks."

Jodie Polan, MS Microscopy Laboratory Coordinator
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Department
UT M D Anderson Cancer Research Center