Toshiba Imaging has announced that the high-sensitivity IK-TF7 3CCD camera has been integrated into the Micron III retinal imaging microscope developed by Phoenix Research Labs.
The system is an advanced retinal microscope for mice and rats that is claimed to be enabling new modalities in high-resolution imaging for in-vivo eye research.
Testing and diagnostic research includes white light imaging mice and rats, fluorescein angiography, diabetic retinopathy, retinoblastoma, choroidal neovascularisation, retinitis pigmentosa, and anterior segment slit-lamp.
Live animal fluorescent studies such as green fluorescent protein (GFP) and yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) are also made possible with the advanced Micron III system.
The Toshiba IK-TF7 three-chip, progressive-scan colour camera is integrated into the Micron III.
Features include: high resolution (1,024 x 768pixels), small pixel size (4.65 x 4.65 microns) and a colour reproduction that is enhanced with a colour-shading feature.
These features are claimed to make this camera especially useful in retinal microscopy imaging.
The camera design utilises Toshiba's prism block colour technology, which permits the accurate capture of fast-moving colour items under test, such as the retinal movement in rats and mice.
The compact camera can image up to 90 frames per second and is said to eliminate image jitter through the incorporation of three 1/9in progressive scan CCDs.
The co-site sampling arrangement of the CCD sensors also eliminates RGB shift, making image capture more accurate with this progressive scan camera.
Other features, such as partial scanning capability, a field removable/replaceable infrared (IR) filter, the on-screen and RS-232C set-up, asynchronous reset, long-term integration, and shutter speeds from 1/100 to 1/100,000 seconds, make this imager ideal for retinal research, scientific experiments, and other machine vision applications.
