ZEISS LSM 880 with Airyscan

Confocal imaging has grown to become the standard choice for most fluorescence microscopy applications. The optical sectioning ability of a confocal imaging system has been brought about by placing a field stop, the pinhole. This application note looks into the details of the recent development and market introduction of the Airyscan detector from ZEISS. Where traditional pinhole and detector design have been reworked to offer greatly improved resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

This application note describes how the ZEISS Airyscan can improve resolution and Signal-to-Noise in cryo-fluorescence microscopy, it allows the user to record high-quality cryo- fluorescence data even without immersion optics, thanks to its novel confocal detection scheme.

In this application note ZEISS introduce the features and benefits of the Airyscan detector concept for confocal laser scanning microscopy (LSM). With this feature additional light and spatial information can be collected, improving the spatial resolution and signal to noise ratio.

This application note explains how the Airyscan detector hardware is implemented and describe how the resolution and SNR increase is achieved and how it compares to traditional laser scanning microscopy imaging. Over the last 25 years the technique of confocal imaging has grown to become the standard choice for most fluorescence microscopy applications. The increase in utilization of confocal imaging systems in basic biomedical research can be attributed to the ability of a confocal imaging system to produce optically sectioned images with high contrast while providing acquisition versatility to address many sample and application demands. Over time, novel approaches and options to increase image contrast and instrument versatility have been developed but creating the optical section has not changed.

A major limitation for correlative cryo-fluorescence microscopy is the current unavailability of cryo-immersion optics that could yield a higher numerical aperture. In this application note, combining ZEISS LSM 880 with Airyscan and cryo-fluorescent imaging, allowed data to be obtained with a significant increase in resolution and signal-to-noise compared to standard confocal images under cryoconditions.

Airyscanning is a technique based on confocal laser scanning microscopy. This white paper introduces a detector concept that drastically improves signal by utilizing light that otherwise is rejected by the confocal pinhole. Learn how the Airyscanning principle is put to work technically as an add-on to ZEISS LSM 880 and how Airyscan technology compares to structured illumination microscopy.

Confocal laser scanning microscopy is the recognized standard for 3D fluorescence microscopy. This application note describes how Airyscanning releases the full potential of a confocal microscope, achieving resolutions comparable to an extremely small pinhole but with a much better signal-to-noise ratio. It combines excellent optical sectioning performance with flexible scanning strategies for imaging and photomanipulation, making it the method of choice for a vast range of applications.

In this video, Neeraj Gohad, Carl Zeiss Microscopy, discusses the benefits of Zeiss LSM 880 with Airyscan, which can be utilized for live cell imaging. These include 4x faster imaging speed, as well as the production dynamic and super resolution images.

Hear Johannes Amon accept the #MyNeuroVote 2016 award on behalf of ZEISS Microscopy for the ZEISS Fast module for LSM 880 with Airyscan. Over 500 neuroscientists voted from a shortlist of nominated research products at the 46th Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, in San Diego, USA.

Dr Uros Krzic, application consultant at Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH, describes how the ZEISS Airyscan with fast acquisition mode facilitates sensitive, high resolution confocal microscopy that is ideal for imaging transient events.

Dr Rosy Manser, Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH, Germany, discusses new X-Ray Microscopy applications enabled by the latest ZEISS technology, including the imaging of unstained tissue using the ZEISS VERSA XRM. Also, learn how the technology can be used as part of a correlative microscopy workflow.

In this video, Christian Götze, Head of Development at arivis AG, explains a new approach to look at the large data acquired with microscopes. ZEISS and arivis partnered to create a prototype which allows you to render and visualize terabytes of volume data with the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. You get a deeper insight into very complex brain structures and intuitively understand your data. You can virtually step into your sample, fly through a brain, past brain cells and analyze the image from every angle, and from inside.

Discover how Dr Josh Morgan, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Lichtman Lab at Harvard University, is trying to understand how the nervous system works by looking at how neurons organize their synapses with one another. All behavior in animals depends on cells talking to each other via specific connections, sending out long processes and forming synapses with each other. Understanding the pattern of those connections is one way of understanding animal behavior. Using large scale electron microscopy to reconstruct neural circuits allows you to see every cell and synapse in a circuit and find how they’re wired to one another.

Watch this video to hear Dr Abhinav Singh, Research Associate in Systems Neurophysiology Lab at University of Manchester explain the problem of population coding. When information about the external world is received via sensory signalling, it is transformed by our brain. Exactly how this transformation happens is unknown. Dr Singh is looking into how spikes in the pre-frontal cortex encode information about rule learning, and also discusses the fantastic viewpoint virtual reality offers in data analysis.

Watch this video to discover how Airyscan technology from ZEISS allows better signal-to-noise, resolution and image collection speed. Image areas lost in traditional confocal microscopy with super resolution - even single molecules!

Watch this video to hear Dr. Ralf Engelmann, Product Manager for LSM880 and Airyscan at ZEISS, explain how the LSM880 allows you to extract more information from your samples, allowing higher throughput and in turn, allowed you to image more samples. Extend the sensitivity of your instrument further with Airyscan technology, which allows imaging of areas lost in traditional confocal microscopy with super resolution - you can even image single molecules!

Learn how Airyscan technology, incorporated in the ZEISS LSM 880 Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope, can increase the resolution, sensitivity and speed of your imaging. The multifunctional Airyscan detector enables detection of 5x smaller confocal volume compared to traditional confocal microscopy, making it ideal for a broad range of applications, including live cell and tissue imaging.

Prof. Silke Christiansen describes how she explores the mechanical properties of bone to help better treat osteoporosis and highlights the technological advances enabling new insights

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Dr Ben Prosser discusses his mechanobiology research, recently published in Science

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