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Digital Video Microscopy  
   
   
Fast and sensitive CCD Cameras and flashed fluorescence excitation embedded in a digital control setup open new fields in intravital microscopy.  
   

Fast and accurate particle tracking
Fast Ca2+ imaging
Low light imaging
High resolution imaging even with largest FOV
Long term investigations with significantly lower bleaching rates
Flexible adaptation and synchronization to the experimental setup (i.e. heartbeat, breath, neuronal activity/activation...)

 
   
Digital Video Microscope

Setup:
2 CCDs
2 flash lamps
Olympus BX 61 WI
Burleigh Gibraltar stage

Application:
Particle tracking – blood flow
Adhesion and flow characteristics
of leucocytes in small blood vessels

Applicant:
Dr. Markus Sperandio
Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg
(Click to view full scale)  
   
Digital experiment control
  
   
LaVision BioTec‘s digital video microscopes deliver a new overall concept for flexible and adapted image acquisition. Flashed illumination, electronics and delay lines, motorized mechanics, CCD cameras and LaVision BioTec‘s ImSpector Software are all integrated in an digital environment.  
   
CCD Cameras  


Microscopy systems from LaVision BioTec utilize latest generation digital CCD cameras that deliver:

 2 M pixel resolution
55% quantum efficiency
excellent signal to noise ratio
14 bit dynamic
more 30 frames/s at 1600x1200 pixel resolution and
direct access to image data

  
   

Flashed Illumination		  

Fluorescent molecules bleach if they are excited for long periods. Therefore, bleaching is a fundamental problem in fluorescence microscopy. Particularly in intravital microscopy bleaching has to be minimized as specimen have to be observed for long periods.
To overcome this problem – bright light sources/minimized bleaching rate - LaVision BioTec equips digital video microscopes with flash lamps. Flash lamps deliver various advantages compared to continuous Hg burner or Xe lamp.

Advantages of flashed Illumination		  
First, photo bleaching is low as the fluorophores are just excited when the camera grabs the image. LaVision BioTec synchronizes the flash lamps exactly to the digital CCD cameras.
Next, the integrated overall intensity is low even if the flash is very bright. Flash lamps are almost off as the repetition rate is ca. 70 Hz and the flash is less than a one µs.
Last, images of fast objects are sharp because short flashes freeze the motion within the image.
   
Standard Setup  

LaVision BioTec digital video microscope comes with:

Ø  Scientific Microscope (Leica, Nikon, Olympus or Zeiss),
Ø  CCD Camera,
Ø  Fast Filter Wheel,
Ø  Flash Lamp,
Ø  Advanced Computer and
Ø  LaVision BioTec’s ImSpector
   Software.
   
  Upgrades

Each digital video microscope can
be updated with:

Ø  second CCD camera for simultaneous detection of two colors,
Ø  second flash lamp,
Ø  Electronic Delay Lines to synchronize CCDs and Flash Lamps for Particle Tracking purposes,
Ø  Video Cameras/Recorders,
Ø  Advanced 3rd party stages (e.g. Burleigh Gibraltar)
Ø  PiFoc objective lens z-drives,Ø and
Custom made Equipment.
   
   

Application: Immunology

Mouse Erythrocytes

Imaging Parameters: Olympus 20x NA 0.95 CCD: LaVision Imager Pro 1600
Frame Rate: 71Hz

 

Information about the LaVision BioTec Video Microscope:

Brochure

Datasheet
Sample courtesy Markus Sperandio,Universität Heidelberg, Germany      
   

Application: Immunology II

Mouse Leukocytes

Imaging Parameters: Olympus 20x NA 0.95 CCD: LaVision Imager Pro 1600
Frame Rate: 10Hz

 

Application: Immunology III

Mouse Leukocytes

Imaging Parameters: Olympus 20x NA 0.95 CCD: LaVision Imager Pro 1600
Frame Rate: 33Hz

Sample courtesy Markus Sperandio,Universität Heidelberg, Germany   Sample courtesy Markus Sperandio,Universität Heidelberg, Germany