Western College of Veterinary Medicine

About

The Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) Image Centre is located in a suite of rooms on the veterinary college’s second floor, with the main lab located in Room 2208.

We are a fee-for-service facility and provide electron and light microscopy services. The Image Centre has two dedicated technicians who maintain the scopes and work with researchers who are using this facility.

The centre's technicians can help you with the following: 

  • assist with your grant applications
  • discuss the capabilities of the available equipment
  • help you plan your sampling protocols to optimize your results
  • fix your samples
  • prepare your samples for the microscope
  • help show you how to use the scopes to do your own work or to do the work for you

Equipment

Electron microscopes

Light microscopes

Virtual microscope

IHC stainer

Image analysis workstation

  • AutoQuant for deconvolution and quantitative image analyses
  • Imaris for 3D rendering and quantitative image analyses
  • cellSens for deconvolution and quantitative image analyses
  • ImageJ/Fiji for various image analyses

Ultrasound imaging system

Sample preparation

  • Sputter Coater (Quorum Q150T ES)
  • Ultramicrotomes (Leica Ultracut UCT and Reichert Ultracut E)

Plate reader and microscope

Fees

Fee schedule for members of USask community

Updated, August 1, 2022* | Fees are subject to change without notice

TEM  $55 per hour
SEM $55 per hour
TEM tissue processing from fixation to Epon or LR white embedding $220 first, $32 each additional
Semithin sectioning and tol blue staining $26 per block (for difficult samples, additional $70 per hour after 30 minutes)
Ultrathin sectioning including two grids $36 per block (for difficult samples, additional $70 per hour after 30 minutes)
Extra ultrathins, sectioned at the same time $3 per plain grid or $4 per formvar coated grid
Lifting paraffin sections to Epon blocks and cutting ultrathin sections $120 per slide
Immunogold for TEM (single lebelling, up to 12 grids/run) $140 per run
Grid staining with one dye $43 per run including four grids. $5 each additional, up to six for LC, 12 for UA
Negative staining $15 per grid
Particle prep for TEM $12 per grid
SEM tissue processing including fixation, dehydration, and critical point drying or HMDS drying $220 first, $32 each additional
Mounting samples for SEM $60 per hour tech time plus $1 per sample for consumables
Leica confocal $30 per hour
Olympus TIRF  $30 per hour
Setting up live-cell stage on Olympus $30 per run
CO2 for live-cell imaging $2 per hour for pure CO2, $5 per hour for pre-mixed CO2, up to $20 per day
Cytation 5 $20 per hour
Cytation 5 software only $7 per hour or contact the centre for extended usage
Sputter coating $43 per run
Glow discharge $30 per run
Carbon coating $47 per run
Tech assistance or training (instrument time is charged separately) $60 per hour

*Note: Fees for external academic or not-for-profit organizations are 1.5 times the rate for USask community members. Fees for industry clients are 2.5 times the rate for USask community members.