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Who We Are
VayTek offers Advanced Image Processing Systems, including both hardware and software for:
- Microscopy
- Industrial Inspection
- Medical Imaging
- Quality Control
- Non-Destructive Testing
- Deconvolution of Confocal Images
- 3D Volume Visualization and Measurement
VayTek, Inc.
305 West Lowe Ave.
Fairfield, IA
Tel 641-472-2227
Fax 641-472-8131
Email vaytek@vaytek.com
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frog oocyte data, courtesty D. Gard
Processed with VoxBlast, movie.
VayTek, Inc.
305 West Lowe Ave.
Fairfield, IA
Tel 641-472-2227
Fax 641-472-8131
Email vaytek@vaytek.com
Copyright
All information on this World Wide
Web site is copyrighted and may be reproduced only with permission
from VayTek, Inc.
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"Genetic mosaic analysis reveals that the bulb region of anagen hair follicles contains several active multipotent stem cells. The digital 3-dimensional reconstruction of these follicles with VayTek's VoxBlast allowed us to address largely unanswered questions in the field of mammalian stem biology that have been articulated and pursued by Mintz and coworkers. How many active stem cells participate in the generation of a particular structure? In structures that are supplied by more than one oligo- or multipotent stem cell, is the fraction contribution of each stem cell to the structure fixed, or does the activity of a given stem cell fluctuate over time?" See the Application Note: Active Stem Cell Participation in the Generation and Maintenance of an Epithelium Raphael Kopan, Associate Professor |
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"We have used (and continue to use) VoxBlast here in the Confocal Imaging Facility at Monash University for several projects that require volume visualization and analysis. I find it a great programme with easy to implement rendering and visualization features, and users get good results after a reasonably short training session. This is a good package, and I watch with interest as it continues to get better. Moreover, the software development team and tech support is amenable to interaction with users both regarding needed features and assistance with application problems." -- Dr. Ian S. Harper, Confocal Imaging Facility,
Department of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Australia Image courtesy of Doctors Ian S. Harper, Yuping Yuan and Shaun Jackson (see Journal of Biological Chemistry 274:36241-36251, 1999) See application note for more information on CHO research; and see VoxBlast movie of ureteric tree of a rat kidney for further examples of work by Dr. Harper and his team. |
 Michael P. Zumpano, Ph.D. |
Michael Zumpano has a Ph.D. in Anthropology from SUNY Buffalo. He completed a two year post-doctoral fellowship at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy. Dr. Zumpano currently holds an assistant professor rank and teaches gross anatomy and neuroanatomy at The New York Chiropractic College in Seneca Falls, NY.
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"I
use "I wanted to thank you directly for the continuing help and effort you have afforded me in trying to get my DMRXA set up for deconvolution. If I had it to do all over again, I would have paid closer attention to your original warnings about automated scopes, but I guess I fell in love with the optics on this scope-- and we all know what love can do to logic! In any case, your and Karl's efforts have been fantastic, and I wanted to let you know that they haven't gone unappreciated. If you would like to include my name on a list of people that can provide reference for the quality and service of Vaytek, please do so. Again, thank you!"
William G. Kelly, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biology
Biology Department, Emory University
1510 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30322
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"VayTek's VoxBlast is easy to use and has an opacity setting that lets me see inside the data set. Without this feature some structures would not be visible." -- Lance Rodenkirch, Lab Manager, W.M. Keck Neural Imaging Lab, Madison, Wisconsin See application note for more information and images pertaining to Lance's research. |
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"VayTek has been an excellent resource for our lab. VayTek digital imaging software gives us deconvolution and 3Dimensional reconstruction capabilities. Work in our lab centers on understanding glia, fundamental cells within the brain. VayTek has helped to integrate hardware and software for our demanding research needs. -- Richard Kraig, Ph. D., M.D.; Department of Neurology, University of Chicago. For more information, see these application
notes: |
"VayTek's deconvolution
and 3D reconstruction software has been at the core of our advanced
light microscope imaging facility since 1994. The scientists
at VayTek understand our research needs, and they have the expertise
to put a whole system together." -- Don Phipps, Orange County
Water District, Biotechnology Research Department. For more information,
see this application note: Digital Deconvolution/3D
Image Reconstruction System, Orange County Water District
Biotechnology Research Department. -- Don Phipps |
Customer Comments: We used VayTek's
Stable Table throughout our 8-day 2000 course in Biological
Atomic Force Microscopy at Johns Hopkins. We used it with two
different Atomic Force Microscopes: a Digital Instruments Multimode
and a Digital Instruments Bioscope. The Stable Table definitely
helped reduce vibration noise in both cases. For the Multimode,
it helped some, but not as much as we would have liked. It seemed
to work much better with the Bioscope. One of our instructors,
Dr. Kevin Costa, uses a Stable Table for his work, which is primarily
cellular imaging and mechanics with a DI Bioscope. The bearings
were too stiff for the Multimode, because it is a fairly light
instrument. [Note from
VayTek: Bearings may be adjusted for the weight of the instrument.] The Bioscope, however, is mounted on an inverted
optical microscope, and the whole setup ends up weighing more
than 50 pounds. We ended up adding weight (dumbells, actually)
to the Stable Table when using it with the Multimode. We added
enough weight so that the table was floating freely. The vibration
isolation system we use is quite simple, but seems to provide
by far the best results: a 400 pound marble block suspended from
an I-beam in the ceiling by bungee cords. In our experience,
this system works better than any other vibration isolation system,
including active piezoelectric systems. Of course, its not exactly
portable. One of the things we liked about the Stable Table
was its small size and portability. It was quite easy to move
it around from lab to lab and to different instruments, and didn't
take up much space. -- Alex Hodges, Johns Hopkins
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"Viewing living (not fixed) cells and looking at changes in morphology, organelle distribution, DNA content and physiological responses simultaneously is unprecedented." -- Brain R. Wamhoff, Dept. of Physiology, Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, Columbia, MO, USA. See the application note for more images and more information. |
"...VoxBlast knocked my socks off. . . .The 3D images tell me things I didn't know before, and confirm things I suspected, but couldn't show to others. . . The end results you get with VoxBlast are fun. It's so much fun, I can sit here for hours doing it." -- David Gard, Ph.D., Biology Department, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT. See VoxsBlast-generated movie.
"Your website is the best "informational"
site on the subject I have seen to date."
Rosemary Walsh, Manager, The Electron
Microscope Facility for the Life Sciences, Penn State University,
University Park, PA 16802
M.C., Pioneer Hi-Bred , Johnston, IA says, "We opted for VayTek's system based on. . .
- Flexibility -VayTek does not force the end user to buy a complete
system. Within limits, the choice of the computer, microscope,
camera, and ancillary equipment is the researcher's preference."
- Price
- selling well below the other competitors.
- Speed
- Using the zero or nearest-neighbor algorithms, I am able to
deconvolve stacks of 12-bit grayscale images in seconds compared
to minutes from the competition.
- Quality Images - I work with plant cells which are notorious for
their auto-fluorescence, and VayTek's MicroTome software does
an excellent job in cleaning them up.
- 3D Rendering - for the price, VoxBlast, VayTek's 3D visualization program, has no equal."
Confocal Listserver Questions and Answers,
Comparing VoxBlast to Voxel View:
On the basis of cost vs. performance, what Windows or Mac software
would fulfill needs for
1) for volume surface rendering and rotation, and
2) for volume rendering combined with the ability to calculate
volumes and distances between points on a surface?
"We use both Voxel View from Vital Images, on SGI platforms, and VoxBlast (Vaytek Systems) on PCs. VoxelView is certainly more user friendly and is easier for a beginner to get started with, but VoxBlast is very powerful and in our experience people get to love it once they know it." -- Dr. Guy Cox, University of Sydney , NSW 2006, Australia
Does anyone out there have any experience/comments on the software package for volume rendering VoxBlast for Win95? Thanks for any tips.
"I use it and like it. I also have Voxel-View on the Silicon Graphics. Voxel-view has the slicker interface but VoxBlast is more versatile once you get into it. VoxBlast also reads a much wider range of file formats. Of course PC hardware has its limitations and if you are getting VoxBlast you should be thinking of a very highly specified PC - we use a Pentium 166 with 128MB RAM." -- Dr. Guy Cox, University of Sydney , NSW 2006,Australia
"In addition to the high quality images we were
impressed by the flexibility of VayTek's software and its usefulness
for many types of applications. After almost two years
of comparisons of cameras, computers, and especially, software
we think we have made the right choice in terms of a high quality
system with the flexibility that we need for multiple users."
-- T.T. and S.B., University of Missouri , St. Louis, MO
"VayTek's MicroTome software
is absolutely key to my work. The need is to have some
method of removing out-of-focus haze whether that is laser scanning
confocal or MicroTome, the digital approach. The MicroTome software
works great for me! Is is so economical in comparison and the
images I get are comparable. But there is no comparison in terms
of the cost. There is no way I could do the research I'm doing
if this product didn't exist." -- G.G., Infectious Diseases,
VA Medical Center, Omaha, NE
"MicroTome does the job
where the scanning confocal does not. It has to do with
light sensitivity. You can see certain images with VayTek's MicroTome
software where you can't see anything at all with scanning confocal."
-- S.R., Columbia University, New York, NY
Richard Baird uses VayTek's software, MicroTome, extensively at Washington University, Central Institute for the Deaf, 4560 Clayton Ave, St. Louis MO 63110