Super Resolution Microscopes

Abberior Facility Line STED Microscope

• Super-resolution STED microscope capable of lateral resolution ~40 nm and axial resolution ~80 nm.
• Suitable for super-resolution imaging in cultured cells, tissue slices, and other preparations.
• Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (FLIM) for FRET and other new measurements.
• Core hardware for image acquisition
  • • Laser lines: 405, 485, 561 and 640 nm for imaging and a pulsed STED laser at 775nm.
    • Detection via 3 photon-counting APDs and 1 Matrix detector for effective removal of background signals.
    • Inverted Olympus IX83 with 10x (dry), 20x (dry), 40x (dry), 60x (silicone oil) and 60x (oil) objectives for a broad range of applications, motorized stage, and Z drift compensation.
• Capable of imaging fixed and live samples.
  • • Okolab stage-top incubator for temperature and CO2 control for live-cell imaging.
    • A range of sample holders is available.
    • STED-capable live-cell stains are available for a variety of intracellular targets.
• Unique accessories to increase resolution, decrease photobleaching, and:
  • • Adaptive optics to correct for spherical aberrations and compensate for sample-induced aberrations.
    • Adaptive Illumination that facilitates high resolution and low-light gentle imaging of live-cells.
    • Novel approaches called DyMIN and RESCue that reduce the total light power delivered to the sample during image scanning.

 

Applications

• Nanoscale Super-Resolution Imaging (STED) facilitating resolution down to 30–50 nm. Enables visualization of sub-diffraction structures like cytoskeleton (actin, microtubules), synaptic vesicles and organelle sub-compartments.
• Time-Resolved & Lifetime-Enhanced Imaging (Time-Bin / Gating) improves resolution and contrast by filtering the background, enabling lifetime-based separation of signals, and also can reduce autofluorescence and enhance signal specificity.
• Deep Tissue & Aberration-Corrected Imaging using the adaptive optics.
• Live-Cell STED Imaging (Advanced Applications) 

Zeiss LSM 880 with Airyscan

• Point scanning confocal on an upright Zeiss Examiner microscope stand.
• Offers high sensitivity, enhanced resolution in x, y and z and high image-acquisition speed.
• Equipped with Zeiss Airyscan and Fast Airyscan detector, which can improve the signal to noise ratio (4-8x) and increase resolution 1.7x
• Definite Focus to prevent focal drift.
• Equipped with 7 laser lines (355, 458/488/514 nm (Argon), 561 nm, 594 nm, and 633 nm) and a motorized stage and software for automated tiling and stitching.
• A 34-channel GaAsP-PMT array detector enables precise spectral imaging.
• Wide range of objective lenses to meet diverse imaging needs in biological research.

 

Applications

• Superresolution Imaging with the Airyscan provides a lateral resolution of about 140nm and an axial resolution of 400nm. 
• Tile scanning of large tissue section samples.

Nikon NSTORM

The Nikon NSTORM microscope can perform STORM, DNA-PAINT, and TIRF imaging along with correlative confocal and super-resolution imaging. This enables colocalization and protein interaction studies at the nanometer scale.

• Combined resonant galvanometer point scanning confocal and Nikon NSTORM Single molecule localization microscope capable of ~20nm resolution. 
• Inverted Ti2 stand with 10, 20X dry, 10X LWD Water immersion, and 40X, 60X immersion Oil and 100X Silicone objectives. 
• Motorized stage and software for automated tiling and stitching.
• 6 laser lines: 405, 445, 488, 514, 561, and 647.
• Princeton Instruments ProEM camera.

Applications

• Single-Molecule Localization (STORM/PALM) achieves ~20–30 nm resolution and resolves structures beyond the diffraction limit. Ideal for nanoscale organization of proteins and complexes.
•  Membrane & Surface Imaging (TIRF/STORM), facilitating high-contrast imaging at the cell membrane. Aids in the study of receptor dynamics, endocytosis/exocytosis, and/or cell adhesion complexes.
• 3D Localization Microscopy: Axial (z-axis) resolution with specialized optics enabling 3D reconstruction of nanoscale structures.

Nikon W1 spinning disk

• High-speed spinning disk confocal on Nikon Ti2 inverted microscope, designed for rapid fluorescence imaging.
• Provides enhanced signal-to-noise ratio, ultra-wide field of view, and improved light efficiency.
• Together with the GATACA Live-SR unit, it provides super-resolution capability with a maximum resolution of 105nm. 
• Enables gentle imaging with reduced phototoxicity and photobleaching, ideal for live samples.
• Equipped with a stage-top incubation chamber for imaging live samples.
• Motorized stage and software for automated tiling, stitching, and reconstruction
• 7 laser lines for multicolor imaging (list them out)
• Dual Hamamatsu sCMOS camera for simultaneous two-channel imaging.
• Availability of two pinhole sizes (50um and 25um) to cover a wider range of objective magnifications. 
• Equipped with Digital Micromirror Device (DMD)  for high-speed, patterned photo-stimulation, enabling precise optogenetics, photo-activation, and FRAP (Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching).
• Availability of TIRF optics to enable high-contrast, surface-specific imaging of samples within 100-200 nm of the coverslip, minimizing background fluorescence. 
• NIS-Elements General Analysis 3 (GA3) to create customized, automated imaging and quantification workflows.