What is the µ-Slide VI 0.5 Glass Bottom?

Six independent channels on a standard 25.5 x 75.5 mm slide footprint. Each channel is 17 mm long and 3.8 mm wide, giving 0.6 cm² of growth area and holding 40 µl, with a further 60 µl in each reservoir. The bottom is No. 1.5H Schott D 263 M borosilicate glass at 170 µm ± 5 µm.

The channel is 0.53 mm, not 0.4 mm

This is the thing to know before you order. The polymer bottom µ-Slide VI 0.4 has a 0.4 mm channel. This one has 0.53 mm. Shear stress at a given flow rate depends on channel height, so a perfusion protocol carried across from the VI 0.4 will not deliver the same shear until you recalculate it. For static culture and immunofluorescence the difference does not matter.

Why glass here

170 µm ± 5 µm is the 1.5H tolerance, tighter than a plain No. 1.5 coverslip and tighter than the 180 µm +10/-5 µm polymer bottom. High NA oil objectives are corrected for a specific coverslip thickness, and TIRF, PALM, STORM and SIM all depend on it. Refractive index 1.523, Abbe number 55.

Where I would not spend the money

If the work is widefield fluorescence, confocal, phase contrast, or flow assays scored at moderate magnification, buy the µ-Slide VI 0.4 instead. It costs less, its polymer optics are good, and it keeps the 0.4 mm channel your existing protocols were written around. Take the glass when a high NA oil objective is going on it and the method depends on coverslip thickness. And if what you actually want is your own substrate under the channels, that is the sticky-Slide VI 0.4, not this.

Key Features

• No. 1.5H glass coverslip bottom, 170 µm ± 5 µm, Schott D 263 M
• Six channels, 0.6 cm² growth area and 40 µl each, 60 µl per reservoir
• Channel 0.53 mm high, 17 mm long, 3.8 mm wide
• Standard 25.5 x 75.5 mm slide footprint
• Sterilized, 15 or 90 individually packed, or 120 at 8 per tray