High Speed Acquisition and Exceptional Image Quality

Spinning disk confocal imaging is widely accepted as the technique that provides the best results for imaging live cells. This is because of the high optical efficiency of the spinning disk head, which means that a lower level of illumination can be used, reducing photobleaching of fluorochromes and phototoxicity to cells.

• The UltraVIEW VoX includes the CSU-X1 spinning disk head, the latest technology from Yokogawa® . The CSU-X1 has been engineered to provide twice the optical efficiency of the CSU 10 or 22, so that the required laser power is even lower than before, thereby ensuring even better sample protection. Even low intensity emission can be detected and captured using this highly efficient confocal system.
• The system also includes the PerkinElmer ProSync® synchronization technology, which synchronizes the scanning disk speed, camera acquisition, wavelength selection and Z position so that the highest acquisition rates can be achieved with superb image quality.
• Samples are exposed to excitation light only during image capture, to further reduce photobleaching and phototoxicity. This means that cells are less affected by the imaging process and therefore their behavior is closer to the natural state.
• A choice of cooled CCD and EMCCD cameras is available, including the Hamamatsu® 9100-50 EMCCD camera. This option is unique to PerkinElmer and was developed by Hamamatsu using proprietary technology, optimized for live cell imaging. It offers high resolution and high sensitivity, and allows the fastest possible acquisition speeds, so is the optimum choice for high speed, live cell experiments.

The images shown here were taken from an experiment to measure the velocity of red blood cells circulating in a 4 day old zebrafish embryo, using the 3D tracking capabilities of Volocity Quantitation. Objects and tracks can be overlaid to the image data for a better understanding of results. 4 day old Fli1:GFP /GATA1:dsRED transgenic zebrafish embryo. Green - endothelial cells Red - red blood cells. Dr Tim Chico, MRC Centre for Developmental and Biomedical Genetics, University of Sheffield.