The system is comprised of a Zeiss Axiovert 200 (inverted) microscope with 4 objectives (10x Plan Neofluar, 0.3NA, 20x Plan Apo, 0.8NA; 40x Plan Neofluar , 1.3NA; 63x Plan Apo, 1.4NA).  Epifluorescence illumination is with a 100 watt Hg lamp.  Filters for viewing blue, green and red dyes are standard.

For confocal imaging, the system has 5 lasers with excitation lines at 405, 458, 477, 488, 514, 543, 594 and 633nm.  Excitation wavelength and intensity is controlled via an acoustical optical tunable filter (AOTF).  Emission light can be selected using standard emission filters or adjustable bandpass "windows" using the Meta device.  The Meta device is an optical grating that spreads the emission wavelengths across an array of 32 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs).  Each PMT collects 10.7 nm of emission wavelength.  Essentially all available visible and far red fluorochromes can be imaged with this system.

Capabilities of the system include methods to distinguish widely overlapping fluorescent spectra (spectral fingerprinting and linear unmixing), time lapse, ratio measurements of ion concentration, FRAP and FRET.  In addition, the microscope comes with a scanning stage, allowing panorama-type images to be collected, as well as reproducible and repetitive visits to multiple locations within a specimen.  A separate PMT is available for simultaneous transmitted light imaging with fluorescent imaging. 

An initial, free training session of 2 hrs will familiarize you with the operation of the system, but additional tutoring will be needed to become an independent user.  Scheduling and reservation of time on the system occurs through an online calendar (see "Calendar" button above) and the current cost to use the system is $25/hr. A stand-alone computer in room 517 has a full copy of the software, with which image processing and analysis can be done at no charge. A thoughtful attribute of the system is the "Reuse" button found when an image is open in the software.  When this button is selected, all parameters that were used to capture the image are reset into the hardware, allowing easy setup of repetative imaging tasks.