Offers increased flexibility, for example with the argon ion laser mounted in the centre position, a wide variety of helium neon and solid state lasers can be installed
Nikon Instruments's newly upgraded C1 Digital Eclipse modular confocal microscope system now boasts a new three-laser unit allowing researchers more flexibility in their experimental set-up.
Additional software has also been provided enabling advanced instrument control.
Together with Nikon's CF160 optics and electronic technologies, the new system delivers state of the art resolution, contrast, and fluorescence image brightness.
The new C1 offers increased flexibility in selecting and positioning lasers, for example with the argon ion laser mounted in the centre position, a wide variety of helium neon and solid state lasers can be installed.
Laser intensity can be varied continuously from 0 to 100%, and for experiments that must be repeated under identical imaging conditions, marked stepwise gradations allow for precise repeatable adjustment of power.
New choices in solid-state lasers offered at 408, 440, 561, and 635nm are also available.
New software features enable the ability to merge stacks of fluorescence confocal data with single frame transmission images, permitting exact matching of confocal data frames with DIC section thickness.
Transparency and brightness is, in addition, independently controllable.
Animation features allow movement of steps within a stack over time, or, if preferred, the projection of a stack by either maximum projection or sum projection can be changed over time - in just a few mouse clicks.
A selection of standard macros, including Frap and Fret, is also included.
Ratio fluorescence EZC1 v2.1 allows the display of a live update graph of fluorescence intensity data simultaneously with the display image.
This ensures direct control of the AOM devices in front of gas lasers, and also directly modulates the new solid-state laser selections.
In addition to these new features, the C1 system maintains the largest number of laser types, detection channels, and easily interchanges filters to quickly match fluorescent dyes and probes.
It also supports any imaging technique, including: simultaneous 3-channel confocal fluorescence, confocal fluorescence plus diascopoic DIC, time-lapse recording, and spatial analysis.
The C1 System continues to utilise its intuitive graphical user interface software for multifaceted microscopic analysis ensuring easy installation.
All in account, this system obtains a fluorescence image 3X brighter than previous Nikon models and increases the S/N ratio 7-fold over previous Nikon models.
