Common Applications
| Confocal: | Confocal imaging is a fluorescence microscopy technique that optically sections the specimens preventing out of light from reaching the detector. This yields clear high contrast images, and together with the ability to acquire images sequentially at multiple positions the entire sample can be reconstructed in 3D. |
| Spectral Unmixing: | Conventionally, imaging multiple fluorophores i the same sample requires careful selection to ensure crosstalk and/or bleedthrough do not lead to confusion between the signals. This can greatly restrict the number of probes available to you. Spectral unmixing is a technique that uses information about the spectral profile of each fluorophore to mathematically separate the overlapping signals. |
| Super Resolution (Airyscan): | The Airyscan detector consists of a hexagonal array of 32 GaAsP/PMT detector elements that have the light collection efficiency of a 1.25 AU pinhole (up to 50% more light collected than with a 1 AU pinhole). Each detector element functions similarly to a single, small (0.2 AU) pinhole, which enables the generation of higher (1.7 x) resolution images with improved signal-to-noise ratio than a standard confocal. The Fast mode can be used to increase acquisition speed to up to 13 fps by elongating the excitation beam to acquire 4 lines of image at once, without sacrificing resolution or signal-to-noise |
| FLIM | Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy is not only observing where fluorescence light is emitted within the sample, but also measuring the characteristic time delay between excitation and the detection of the emitted light. Changes in the time it takes for a fluorophore to emit light after excitation (Fluorescence Lifetime) can be indicative of molecular interactions, and changing environmental conditions |
| Multi-photon | Multiphoton excitation is the use of lower energy wavelengths to excite a fluorophore by requiring multiple photons to coincide to provide the required excitation energy. This yields two main advantages. Firstly the higher density of photons at the focal point effectively restricts excitation to this region, preventing bleaching of regions out of the focal plane. Secondly, the longer wavelengths scatter less through tissue improving excitation penetration depths. |
