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  • Köhler Illumination

    In microscopy, we aim to produce a sharply-defined, magnified image of our sample in our detector or our eyes. The sample requires illumination for us to see it – but how do we avoid simply seeing a sharply-defined, magnified image of the LED, bulb filament or arc lamp of our light source? Instead, we require even, uniform illumination of our sample, free from structures and patterns, no matter what light source we use.

  • Programmable Scan Mode

    Applications such as light-sheet microscopy and spinning disk confocal microscopy often utilize rolling shutter readout of CMOS sensors to enhance image quality. Programmable Scan Mode (PSM) allows additional control over the rolling shutter and readout, such as adding delays to groups of rows and changing the readout direction. PSM can be found on our Prime and Kinetix families of CMOS cameras.

  • Mesolens

    Since the invention of the microscope, optics have been optimized to match the performance of the human eye. The relationship between field of view (FOV), magnification and numerical aperture (NA) has changed little in the past decades, with magnification typically being given by 30-60x the numerical aperture.

  • Two-Photon Microscopy

    Two-photon microscopy is a technique that avoids the limitations of traditional fluorescence microscopy. Typical fluorescence microscopy involves using illumination of a specific wavelength in order to excite fluorophores within a sample. However, standard widefield epifluorescence imaging also collects fluorescence from outside the focal plane, resulting in background illumination and image degradation.

  • Anatomy Of A Microscope

    At its core, a typical microscope is essentially a box designed to hold two lenses in precise positions so that light can be accurately magnified from the sample to the detector. The first of these two lenses is the objective lens, which is located close to the sample, moves when the focus dial is turned and has useful information such as magnification written on its side.

  • Filters

    The light microscope remains one of the most used tools for research, particularly in the fields of biological or biophysical sciences and offers a means to observe the dynamics of cellular processes. A critical component of these methods lies in obtaining the best possible sample representation, whilst simultaneously minimizing specimen damage, artifacts, and uncertainty.

  • Phase-Contrast Microscopy

    Light microscopy offers a powerful technique for label-free imaging of biological samples such as cells. Label-free imaging is particularly well-placed for understanding more about cells as they are free of any modifications that could potentially alter structure, function or behavior.

  • Mizar Tilt

    Conventional fluorescence microscopy uses high-intensity light to illuminate the sample but this excites all fluorophores in the light path, not just the plane of interest. The result is that light emitted from outside the focal plane contributes to the image.

  • OpenSPIM

    Conventional fluorescence microscopy uses high intensity light to illuminate the sample but this excites all fluorophores in the light path, not just the plane of interest. The result is that light emitted from outside the focal plane contributes to the image.

  • Analysis Programs For High Content Imaging

    High-content imaging (HCI) involves a powerful imaging system paired with smart analysis software, in order to parse hundreds of thousands of dense images into quantifiable data. As HCI involves maximizing the data output, HCI experiments can involve imaging millions of cells with multi-parameter analysis, resulting in the need for efficient, often automated, smart specialized analysis software.

  • Resolution and Numerical Aperture

    An often-asked question in imaging is whether two objects are in the same or separate places. Resolution, the ability to tell two nearby features apart, is a key parameter of microscope optics that becomes more challenging at smaller length scales.

  • Introduction To High Content Imaging

    High content imaging (HCI) is an area of imaging where the aim is to maximize data capture. Any kind of imaging can be high-content if the objective is to obtain as much data as feasibly possible, regardless of imaging system, sample, magnification, fluorophores, and camera used. This makes specifics in HCI difficult to define, but in general, HCI involves performing normal imaging thousands or millions of times in order to maximize data capture effectively.