Live-cell Spinning Disk Confocal

Model Information

• Enhanced 3i Marianis/Yokogawa Spinning Disk Confocal enhanced with:
  • Fully motorized with ASI xy stage and fast MAD City Labs piezo-driven z positioner (nanometer resolution)
  • Permanent enclosure with a temperature/humidity/CO2 regulated chamber
  • Ultra-sensitive Roper/Photometrics Cascade II, back-illuminated EM-CCD (512x512)
  • Ultra-fast AOTF switching system to control confocal excitation from three high-power solid-state lasers
• Fast enough to catch calcium sparks at astounding 80 fps in living cardiomyocytes!

 

Specifications

• Yokogawa CSU22: High-speed spinning Nipkow disk with microlenses
• Zeiss AxioObserver.Z1 inverted microscope, fully motorized platform
• Three >40mW solid-state lasers at 473, 561 and 658 nm
• 3i Slidebook software for intuitive data acquisition
• Copy of software at workstation for 3D viewing & analysis (also Volocity software for 3D viewing and analysis)

Applications

• Optical sections or image stack with high contrast and definition
• Best for moderate and bright fluorescence
• Low rate photobleaching/ extended cell viability
• Minute details of points and edges
• Simple-to-use, easy software
• Movie loops of 3D displays exportable to QuickTime or Volocity
• Quantitative 3D analysis
• Quantitative colocalization analysis

Examples

Protein in nuclei of Drosophila embryo

Pole cells in Drosophila germarium