Measure Cell Fluorescence without a Microscope

One way of measuring the fluorescence of cultured cells often described in the literature is on a coverslip inserted into a conventional fluorescence cuvette.

However the practical difficulties of securely and accurately aligning the coverslip combine to make the technique difficult and imprecise. It is also virtually impossible to mix the cell contents because the coverslip is resting on the bottom of the cell.

A newly developed coverslip holder from Starna overcomes these problems. With this device, standard (11 x 22 mm) coverslips can be easily and reproducibly located in a fluorescence cuvette in a defined orientation 45º to the excitation beam. The coverslip is mounted so that it is located centrally in the optical beam, typically at 15mm from the base of the cuvette. In this position there is space below the coverslip for a small stirrer bar to facilitate mixing the cell contents.

In addition the design allows for solution introduction using a syringe injection port or media exchange for perifusion experiments. The holder is manufactured in inert black PET (polyethethylene terephthalate).