What is the µ-Dish 35 mm, high?

A 35 mm cell culture dish with a #1.5 ibidi Polymer Coverslip bottom, 180 µm thick, where an ordinary dish has a thick moulded base. Growth area 3.5 cm², working volume 2 ml, observation area 21 mm across, and a lid shaped to hold evaporation down.

This is the dish most ibidi orders start from. Almost everything else in the 35 mm range is this dish with one thing changed. A glass bottom is 81158. A printed grid is 81166 and 81148. A Bioinert surface for spheroids is 81150. A silicone insert already fitted is 81176, 80366, 80466 and 80486. Four compartments is 80416.

Polymer bottom or glass

The polymer coverslip has a refractive index of 1.52 and an Abbe number of 56, with very low birefringence and low autofluorescence. That is what makes phase contrast and DIC work properly on a plastic dish. For TIRF, single molecule detection and most super-resolution, buy the Glass Bottom version, 81158, instead. Its glass is No. 1.5H at 170 µm ± 5 µm, and the tighter tolerance is exactly what those methods need.

ibiTreat or uncoated

81156 is ibiTreat, tissue culture treated, and adherent cells attach with no further coating. 81151 is uncoated and hydrophobic, and cells will barely attach unless you coat it yourself. Buy the uncoated one when you are applying your own matrix and want to control it, not otherwise.

Where I would not spend the money

If the work never goes above 10x and never involves fluorescence, an ordinary plastic 35 mm dish costs a fraction of this and does the job. The coverslip bottom earns its price when the objective is high NA or the signal is dim. That is my opinion and your imaging tells you whether it applies.

Key Features

• #1.5 ibidi Polymer Coverslip bottom, 180 µm (+10/-5 µm)
• Growth area 3.5 cm², coating area 4.1 cm², 2 ml working volume
• Observation area 21 mm, lid designed to reduce evaporation
• ibiTreat (81156) or uncoated (81151)
• Sterilized, 60 or 400 per box, 36 month shelf life