Olympus FV1000 with multi-photon

This upright microscope platform serves dual duty, both as a conventional and 2 (or multi) photon laser scanning confocal system.

For conventional confocal, the system is equipped with 5 continuous wave (CW) lasers at: 405nm, 440nm, 473nm, 559nm, 635nm.

For 2-photon excitation applications, the Spectra-Physics MaiTai HP pulsed laser delivers tuneable wavelengths from 690 to 1000nm. Peak power, at 800nm, exceeds 3W. The DeepSee head on the MaiTai pre-chirps the beam & compensates for pulse dispersion through the optics.

The large stage plate, with motorized (but removable) stage assembly, can be raised or lowered to accommodate a variety of specimens, including large objects. There is sufficient working space to the left of the stage for ancillary experimental equipment, be it environmental mechanics or electrophysiological apparatuses.

For conventional (and some 2P) applications, the system offers fluorescence spectral analysis via the grating gated detectors. Although straightforward for regular confocal, it is a bit more complicated to perform spectral analysis from 2P excitation, but often accomplished.

The system boasts a SIM scan head, thus allowing simultaneous imaging while a separate pair of scan galvo’s articulate beams used for photo-bleaching or photo-activation. Thus, accurate diffusion dynamic data can be captured due to there being no time break between bleach/activation events and imaging. Imaging is continuous, and activation or bleach recovery data retain the continuous time synch of the imaging galvo’s.

The array of objectives are considerable: