According to The Scientist magazine, the Leica TCS SP5 X supercontinuum confocal microscope is one of the most innovative products on the life science market.
The US magazine had asked a panel of four scientists from various North American research institutions to choose the best product innovations of 2008.
In its latest issue, The Scientist has presented the 10 winners, which included the Leica TCS SP5 X.
The confocal microscope integrates a white light laser that provides users with the full spectrum of wavelengths between 470 and 670nm for examining bacteria cultures, for example.
'Besides paying tribute to microscope technology in general, this award acknowledges the entire imaging system of Leica Microsystems with all its technical facets,' said product manager Scott Young.
The panel said that the the ability of the Leica TCS SP5 X to readily vary laser lines across broad regions of the spectrum has major implications.
It enables the use of previously inaccessible fluorophores, provides tremendous simplification for imaging systems, and could be very valuable for multiplex imaging applications.
Leica Microsystems combines an AOBS (acousto-optical beam splitter) for the excitation light and SP detector for various fluorescent dyes.
This system allows the best use of the white light spectrum for confocal microscopy, without loss of light and with maximum sensitivity.
