A simple water-immersion condenser for imaging living brain slices on an inverted microscope

Due to some physical limitations of conventional condensers, inverted compound microscopes are not optimally suited for imaging living brain slices with transmitted light. Herein is described a simple device that converts an inverted microscope into an effective tool for this application by utilizing an objective as a condenser. The device is mounted on a microscope in place of the condenser, is threaded to accept a water immersion objective, and has a slot for a differential interference contrast (DIC) slider. When combined with infrared video techniques, this device allows an inverted microscope to effectively image living cells within thick brain slices in an open perfusion chamber.