The confocal SP8 microscope located in Silver 721 B is now fitted with a UV laser with excitation wavelength at 405 nm (output power 50 mW) and a tunable Argon laser (output power 65 mW) with wavelengths of excitation at 476, 485, 496 and 514 nm. This upgrade, in addition to the existing white light laser (WLL) that allows choice of excitation wavelengths anywhere between 460 to 660 nm, extends the choice of dyes that can be used to stain the samples. Fluorescent dyes such as DAPI or Hoechst that are excited by the ultraviolet light can now be used. The 405 nm laser can be modulated digitally (DMOD) allowing acquisition of high speed images. Although the Argon laser excitation lines overlap with the WLL, the new Argon laser offers a few additional benefits. The narrow bandwidth and high power of Argon laser allow selective excitation of specific dyes and imaging samples with a few mm thickness. It also has a long lifetime and is more suitable choice for longer duration imaging experiments. The new lasers have been integrated with the instrument with minimal changes to the user interface and users can image their samples by using a single laser or any combination of the lasers through the LASX software. The upgrade also included a stagetop incubator system from Okolab that allows users to image biological samples such as cells or microorganisms in a controlled environment. It allows temperature, humidity and CO2 conditioning; with a temperature range from 25 oC to 60 oC, premixed CO2/Air flow rate in the range of 0.2 to 0.8 L/min and humidity control up to a maximum of 85%. More about the incubator can be found out in this link Oko UNO Stage Inc Set CO2 Inv SuperZ. This upgrade was made possible thanks to Dr. Daniela Buccella’s effort and financial support from Dean’s office.
