Month: August 2015

This article outlines the most important sensors used in confocal microscopy. By confocal microscopy, we mean “True Confocal Scanning”, i.e. the technique that illuminates and measures one single point only. The aim is not to impart in-depth specialist knowledge, but to give the user a small but clear overview of the differences between the various …

From Light to Mind: Sensors and Measuring Techniques in Confocal Microscopy Read More »

The perfect light source for confocal microscopy should have sufficient intensity, tunable color for simultaneous excitation of a series of samples. The Leica White Light Laser produces a continuous spectral output between the wavelengths of 470 and 670 nm. It allows you to select eight excitation lines from three trillion unique combinations for simultaneous imaging …

Video: The White Light Laser – How to Effectively Excite Multiple Fluorophores with a Single Light Source Read More »

Stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy provides fluorescence imaging with sub-diffraction resolution. Experimentally demonstrated at the end of the 90s, STED microscopy has gained substantial momentum and impact only in the last few years. Indeed, advances in many fields improved its compatibility with everyday biological research. Among them, a fundamental step was represented by the introduction …

Gated STED Microscopy with Time-gated Single-photon Avalanche Diode Read More »

One drawback of stereo microscopes with increased resolving power is that it becomes more difficult to observe and document samples/specimens which are not directly exposed to air, for example, ones embedded in a polymer (e.g. electronic components) or immersed in a liquid (e.g. aquatic organisms). When observing samples immersed in an aqueous solution, fine structures …

How to Correct Aberration in Stereo Microscopy by Using the Right Objective Lenses Read More »

Jutta Maria Bulkescher is the technical coordinator in the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research and Danish Stem Cell Center in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Leica HCS-A matrix screener is an invaluable tool for her facility. "It just gives us the biggest and easiest flexibility we can have to set up different imaging paramters and …

"We can go home and the imaging is done automatically by the Leica HCS A Matrix Screener." Read More »

The widely popular class of quantum-dot molecular labels could so far not be utilized as standard fluorescent probes in STED (stimulated emission depletion) nanoscopy. This is because broad quantum-dot excitation spectra extend deeply into the spectral bands used for STED, thus compromising the transient fluorescence silencing required for attaining super-resolution. Here we report the discovery …

STED Nanoscopy with Fluorescent Quantum Dots Read More »

Joseph Gall takes us through the history of early microscopes and the discovery of the cell. Compound microscopes were invented alongside the telescope in the 17th century; however these microscopes were not widely used until the late 19th century due to optical aberrations. In the meantime, simple microscopes were used throughout the 1700s and 1800s …

Video Talk by Joseph Gall: Early History of Microscopy Read More »

What are the main benefits that you get from using Leica EM sample preparation systems in your workflow? Imène Estève: The main advantage is that we are able to prepare and polish a large surface, free of any cracks from hardening or mechanical artefacts in the range of a couple of millimeters, where with the …

A Good Place for Materials Scientists and Mineralogists to prepare their EM Samples Read More »

The performance of optical instruments can be affected during their use by a number of environmental factors, for example, high temperature and humidity typically found in tropical climates. These factors depend on the place of use, e.g. laboratory, workshop, factory, etc., and the geographic location. Individual factors can cause a variety of effects on instrument …

Microscopes Put to the Test with Severe Conditions: ISO Standard for Resistance of Optical Instruments to Fungus and Mold Growth Read More »