| Microscopes |
| Models | Upright: Axio Imager.M1, Axio Imager.Z1.m, Axioskop FS 2 MOT;
inverted: Axio Observer (Side Port) |
| Z drive | Smallest Z-increment
Axio Imager.Z1m : 10 nm
Axio Imager.M1: 25 nm
Axio Observer : 50 nm
Axioshop 2 FS : 100 nm
fast piezo objective focus attachment (option) |
| XY stage (option) | Motorized XY scanning stage, with Mark & Find (xyz) and Tile Scan
(mosaic scan) functions, smallest increment 1 µm (Axio Observer) or 0.2 µm (Axio Imager) |
| Accessories | Digital microscope camera AxioCam, incubation chambers, micromanipulators, etc. |
Scanning module |
| Scanner | Two independent galvanometric scanning mirrors providing ultrashort line and frame flyback times |
| Scanning resolution | 4x1 to 2048x2048 pixels, also for several channels, continuous adjustment |
| Scanning speed | 13 x 2 speed stages;
up to 5 frames/s with 512x512 pixels (max. 77 frames/s with 512x32 pixels);
min. 0.38 ms for a line of 512 pixels |
| Scanning zoom | 0.7x to 40x, digital, variable in steps of 0.1 |
| Scanning rotation | Free 360 degrees rotation, variable in steps of 1 degree, free xy offset |
| Scanning field | 18 mm diagonal field (max.) in the intermediate image plane, homogeneous illumination |
| Pinholes | Up to four adjustable pinholes with variable diameter for every confocal channel |
| Detection | Up to four confocal fluorescence/reflection channels with short, efficient beam paths, all equipped with highly sensitive PhotoMultiplier Tubes (PMT)
Option: transmitted-light channel with PMT;
Option: monitor diode for measuring the excitation intensity
Option: Non Descanned Detection (NDD) for two photon imaging –
up to 4 detectors for both epifluorescence/transmission fluorescence ;
max. 2 channels in epifluorescence and max. 2 channels in transmission |
| Data depth | Selectable between 8 bit and 12 bit |
Laser Module |
| VIS laser module | Polarization-preserving single-mode fiber, temperature-stabilized VIS-AOTF for simultaneous intensity control of all laser lines,
switching time < 5 µs;
AOTF reprogramming via the LSM software;
Ar laser (458, 477, 488, 514 nm) 30 mW;
HeNe laser (543 nm) 1 mW;
HeNe laser (633 nm) 5 mW
(end-of-lifetime specification) |
| Multiphoton (option) | Direct coupling of pulsed TiSa lasers into the scanning module;
various models and manufactorers are supported.
Fast change of laser intensity by means of AOM.
Objectives optimized for use in the NIR range |
Electronics Module |
| LSM 510 Control | Control of the microscope, the VIS and TiSa laser module, the scanning module and further accessories.
Monitoring of data acquisition and synchronization by Realtime Electronics.
Data exchange between Realtime Electronics and computer via Gigabit Ethernet interface. |
| Computer | High-end PC with ample RAM and hard disk storage capacity, ergonomic high-resolution TFT flat-panel display, many accessories;
Windows XP operating system with multi-user capability |
Standard Software |
| System configuration | Convenient control and configuration of all motorized microscope functions, of the laser and scanning modules;
saving and restoration of application-specific configurations |
| ReUse function | Restoration of acquisition parameters per mouse click |
| Acquisition modes | Spot, Line/Spline, Frame, Z Stack, Time Series and combinations: xy, xyz, xyt, xyzt, xz, xt, xzt, Spot-t.
On-line computation and presentation of ratio images.
Averaging and summation (linewise or framewise, configurable).
Step Scan (for higher frame rates, configurable) |
| Auto-Z function | On-line adaptation of Z Stack acquisition parameters for uniform brightness distribution |
| Crop function | Convenient selection of scanning ranges (zoom, offset, rotation simultaneously) |
| RealROI scan | Scanning of up to 99 ROIs (regions of interest) of any shape, with pixel-accurate laser blanking |
| ROI bleach | Localized photobleaching of up to 99 bleaching ROIs for applications such as FRAP (Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching) or uncaging. Use of different scan speeds for bleaching and imaging, use of different laser lines for different ROIs. |
| Spline scan | Scanning along a freehand defined line |
| Multitracking | Acquisition of multiple fluorescences; fast change of excitation lines minimizes signal crosstalk |
| Image display | Orthogonal view (xy, xz, yz in a single presentation), cut view (3D section made under a freely definable spatial angle), 2.5D view for time series of line scans, projections (stereo, maximum, transparent) for single frames and series (animations), depth coding (pseudo-color presentation of height information). Brightness and contrast adjustments; off-line interpolation for Z Stacks, selection and modification of color lookup tables (LUT), drawing functions for documentation |
| Image analysis | Advanced tools for colocalization and histogramm analysis with individual parameters and options, profile measurement of straight lines and curves of any shape, measurement of lenghts, angles, areas, intensities, etc. |
| Image processing | Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, ratio, shift, filters (low-pass, median, high-pass, etc.; user-definable) |
| Image archiving, export, import | LSM image database with convenient functions for managing images together with their acquisition parameters;
Multiprint function for creating assembled image and data views;
more than 20 file formats (TIF, BMP, JPG, PSD, PCX, GIF, AVI,
Quicktime ...) for compatibility with all common image processing programs |
Software Options |
| LSM Image VisArt | Fast 3D and 4D reconstruction and animation
(shadow projection, transparency projection, surface rendering) |
| 3D Deconvolution | Image restoration based on computed point spread functions
(nearest neighbor, maximum likelihood, constraint iterative) |
| Multiple Time Series | Complex time series with change of application-specific configurations, autofocus and bleaching functions |
| 3D for LSM | 3D reconstruction, thresholding, processing and measurement (surface, volume, particle count) |
| Physiology | Analysis of time series, graphical mean-of-ROI analysis, online and offline display and calibration of ion concentrations |
| Topography | Visualization of 3D surfaces (fast rendering modes) plus measurement functions (roughness, waviness, surface areas, volumes) |
| VBA Macro Editor | Edit and execution of routines for automation of scanning and analysis functions |
| Visual Macro Editor | Creation and editing of macros with representative icons for programming routine procedures. |
| FRAP | Menu guidance for recording FRAP (Fluorescence Recovery after Photobleaching) experiments. |
| FRET | Acqusition of FRET (Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer) image data, followed by analysis and calculation of FRET efficiency. Software supports the Acceptor Photobleaching and Sensitized Emission methods. |
Image Browser |
| Free Software | Display, editing, archiving, print and export/import of LSM 5 images |
Subject to change