Microscopes

Tender description

Confocal microscopy systems at the Birmingham Advanced Light Microscopy (BALM) facility contribute very significantly to the research life and output across the LES, MDS and colleges. Confocal microscopy and Imaging are standard techniques in use by any modern research institution addressing questions into cell biology and related disciplines (molecular cell biology, cell signalling and trafficking, developmental biology, neurobiology, plant biology, etc.). The upgrade to a new Zeiss LSM 900 is becoming crucial for routine, daily work, thus we urgently require such upgrade in order for the research community to continue to deliver 4* publications, which will lead to the award of more grants, train Graduate Master’ and PhD students, and attract new recruits to the colleges. The University of Birmingham has a requirement of a Confocal Microscope that requires a number of features that are unique, or unique in combination, that are essential for current and future work. The equipment will augment the following equipment from Carl Zeiss LSM 900 with Airyscan 2. The modular nature of all these microscopes allows us to interchange a number of critical components and also to share an even larger pool of compatible accessories, protocols and ancillary components across all 3 Zeiss LSM systems at the University of Birmingham. This flexibility is essential for the researchers who use the systems for 2 reasons: firstly, they can readily move between instruments, while maintaining bespoke sample mounting or specific environmental or optical components and secondly, they have the maximum capability to reconfigure the equipment for novel projects at short notice. The ZEISS Airyscan detector’s unique and patented design has an optical resolution corresponding to 0.2 AU pinhole diameter and efficiency corresponding to 1.25 AU and thus demonstrates superior resolution and sensitivity compared to a standard confocal microscope. The Airsyscan is not a software based deconvolution technique, but a built in detector based high resolution hardware component of the LSM 900. Only some of these features exist in competitor instruments but none can meet all these technical requirements. Several of these features are protected by EU patents and also in US, JP and DE. 1.7x Resolution improvement over traditional LSM (Super resolution imaging on confocal) 5x more spatial info than traditional LSM 120 m xy, 350 nm z resolution with 488 nm excitation and 63x objective in a single slice (no Z-acquisition required) Gentle Live Cell Super resolution: 4x improvement in SNR over GaAsP PMT @1AU Super resolution with scattering samples at depths beyond 10 um No fluorophore limitations No objective limitations Affordability (can be added to LSM configurations, dedicated SR system not required) Speed: up to 4x (LSM 900) usable speed improvement over standard confocal from line parallelization in multiplexing modes. Resolution/signal-to-noise/sensitivity enhancement with multipoint detection. The latter unique technical point is critical to the users at the BALM facility. In summary, the optical resolution of a confocal microscope is improved the more the pinhole is closed. However, the loss of signal will require ever more aggressive imaging conditions (e.g. higher laser power, longer pixel dwell time, averaging, etc.). No other system can match the ability for approaching super-resolution capability beyond standard confocal limits without the requirement for any specialised modification of sample preparation/presentation, or a compromise in image acquisition speed (FPS) or sensitivity (SNR), OR significant post-acquisition image processing. No other system can match the ability to optically increase SNR simultaneously without increasing the overall light dosage and/or acquisition time without loss of high frequency information i.e. the pinhole must remain open at 1 AU or higher at all times.