Confocal Scanning Fluorescence Microscope Nikon Ti-E A1rSi System

Brief Description

Users call this instrument the "confocal microscope". It should be understood, however, that this microscope is build around a "regular microscope" or more appropriately a bright-field light microscope, the Nikon Ti-E, onto which components are added that enable two other modalities of microscopy: wide-field fluorescence microscopy and confocal scanning fluorescence microscopy.

Applications

The "confocal microscope" can be used for live cell imaging applications (fluorescent and non-fluorescent), acquisition of high quality confocal fluorescent images with up to four fluorochromes, rapid z-stack acquisition of confocal images for 3D reconstruction of objects, photobleaching, FRET, and spectral deconvolution of fluorophores with overlapping emission spectra.

Users interested in quickly evaluating the results of their immunofluorescence experiments (did the staining work or not?) can do so using the Nikon A1 in wide-field fluorescence mode, but should consider that it may be more practical and faster to use the Nikon Eclipse 800 for that purpose. Similarly, observations of tissue sections stained by immunoperoxidase or standard histology dyes such as H&E can be performed with the Nikon A1 in bright-field mode, but the Nikon Eclipse 800 is more practical for that purpose and will provide very good pictures.

Finally, the Nikon A1 cannot be used for specimens requiring an upright microscope. These specimens may be examined with the Nikon Eclipse 800, which also enables bright-field, light microscopy.