Confocal microscopy is an optical sectioning technique which removes out-of-focus light by using a pinhole in the detection light path. This creates an image with improved contrast and ability to resolve finer detail. By acquring a series of optical sections through a specimen it is possible to create a three dimensional model of the sample.
The Imaging Facility has a number of different confocal microscopes including three point-scanning systems and one spinning disk system. Different experiments require different approaches, but generally speaking, point-scanning confocal microscopy offers the greatest flexibility whereas spinning disk confocal microscopy is the preferred option for live cell imaging.
Point-scanning confocal with galvo and resonance scanners
3x HyD-S 2x HyD-X detectors
405 nm, 488 nm & white light (440-790 nm) lasers
Full spectral detection
Stage-top incubator (temp and CO2)
Falcon FLIM, FCS
405, 440, 488, 515, 561, 635 nm lasers
2x GaAsP PMTs, 2x standard PMTs
Stage-top incubation (temperature and CO2)
Piezo stage
Point-scanning confocal
405, 488, 561 & 633 nm excitation
2x standard PMTs, 1x 32 channel spectral GaAsP detector
Spectral deconvolution
Spinning disk confocal
50 um pinhole and SoRa disk options
405, 440, 488, 515, 561 and 640 nm lasers
2x Hamamatsu Fusion Cameras
4-channel FRAP laser unit