Department of Pathology: Confocal Facility

Guidelines for use of the Confocal Facility:

1. Sign up for use of the confocal in the "sign-up log" book in advance and list the microscope features you plan to use during your session. It is imperative that you cancel your session if you are unable to use the instrument. (Sign up log is located in Room 330)

User must sign up for formal training in advance of instrument use. Training will be followed by supervised sessions. Additional training sessions will be announced this spring.

2. At time of use, fill out the "Confocal Use Log" (Next to computer in confocal facility). Until certified for independent use, all users of the facility must turn on/off the instrument under supervision. All users (regardless of experience), will be required to obtain verification that the confocal microscope was left in appropriate condition by checking out with one of the facility maintenance members. Please contact individuals higher on the list before proceeding to those lower on the list:

1. Kelly Jordan-Sciutto, PhD; room 312; 215-898-4196
2. Cagla Akay, MD; room 312; 215-898-4514
3. Mike White, PhD; room 312; 215-898-4514

3. The Mercury lamp MUST be turned ON before the computer or Lasers. (Turning the lamp on after the laser control unit is already on can DAMAGE the laser control unit.) The lamp must remain on for at least 1 hour, and if turned off, must remain off for at least 1 hour. Therefore, please check with the log book before turning off at the end of your session.

4. Before using the confocal independently, you must be trained by one of the facility maintenance members and have logged a minimum of 5 supervised sessions.

5. Use of DIC will require additional training. Ability to use this microscope feature proficiently must be demonstrated to facility maintenance members before unsupervised use is permitted.

6. Acquired data files are not to be left on the computer desktop. Data can be transferred via:

• Personal External Hard
• Zip Drive
• CD

Every Friday, the computer will be cleaned of any extraneous files. You will not be notified in advance of these deletions.

7. Use of Oil: Oil is only to be used on the 60X oil and 100X oil objectives (Note: There is a 60X water objective – NO OIL IS TO BE USED WITH THIS OBJECTIVE). Once you begin using oil on a slide, you cannot return to using the 4, 10 or 40X air objectives for that slide. Oil must be cleaned from the 60X and 100X objectives after use with the lens paper provided. Only Nikon Oil can be used on this scope. It is specifically designed for use with the purchased objectives. Use of other oils can damage the objectives.

8. HOURS OF OPERATION:
During the training period, hours are limited to the availability of the trainer. Once a user demonstrates proficiency, hours are at the discretion of the user. When using the confocal after hours, please be sure to log in and out, turn off the confocal when finished, and clean any oil from the objectives if used.

9. Users need to contact Dr. Kelly Jordan-Sciutto or Dr. Bruce J. Shenker prior to first time use to set up a user account for the computer and software. Please provide a user ID and password. For the immediate future, we ask that you have only one ID per lab.

10. If demand exceeds instrument capacity, priority will be given to people doing optical sectioning as there are several fluorescent microscopes available for basic fluorescence analyses.