Simply Confocal

The personal confocal imaging unit • Pre-filtered excitation • Lower background and improved signal:noise • Fast excitation shutter control • Minimize illumination, protect against photobleaching and toxicity Andor’s Revolution DSD is an innovative hybrid of spinning disk technology and structured illumination. This unique approach is laser-free and delivers a budget friendly confocal solution to your laboratory, offering less dependency on laser based solutions that are often restricted to core facilities. A simple device, which can even be added to an existing fluorescence microscope in your...

DSD System Configuration The building blocks of our DSD system allow you to configure everything from an upgrade of your existing epi-fluorescence microscope to a fully configured live specimen imaging workstation. Andor’s goal is to provide support in meeting your needs. Please contact us with special requests. DSD Baseline Configuration Includes: • Integrated high resolution cooled CCD camera • DSD 600 differential spinning disk unit operating at 600rpm for confocal imaging • Andor AMH Metal Halide motorized light source • Choice of interchangeable filters • iQ image acquisition and control...

Imaris delivers all the necessary functionality for visualization, segmentation and interpretation of multidimensional datasets. By combining speed, precision, and intuitive ease-of-use, Imaris provides a complete set of features for handling multi-channel image sets of any size up to 50 gigabytes. Andor iQ is our flagship live cell imaging software, designed with flexibility and power in mind. iQ (image and Quantify) occupies a central role in our Revolution product range and provides optimized control of Andor’s Clara CCD camera. iQ also provides support for a wide range of automation hardware,...

MicroPoint Laser Illumination and Ablation Specifically designed for researchers utilizing deconvolution and 3D imaging, the APZ-X00 offers 100 µm, 200 µm, 250 µm, and 500 µm travel models. The APZ-X00 provides rapid and precise movement of the specimen container. The 250 and 500 µm versions can accept a micro-plate insert for multi-well scanning. MicroPoint is a pulsed laser delivery system with bio and industrial imaging applications. It is available in manual and galvo-steered versions and delivers 337 nm pulses from a Nitrogen pulsed laser (~3ns, 70 μJ) via optical fiber to a dye cell resonator....

Principle of Operation Andor’s Revolution DSD utilizes a unique spinning disk implementation. The patented optical design of the DSD has a structured illumination pattern (SIP) built into the spinning disk to modulate the illumination field. In detection the DSD uses this unique double-sided disk design (Figure 1) to exploit both transmitted (T) and reflected (R) fluorescence emission images to differentiate between in-focus and out-of-focus information. Computer subtraction of these images (T-R) creates a confocal result and provides the name “differential spinning disk”1. Structured illumination...

Application Note Real-Time Observation of Nanotube Disassembly Prof. Dr. Ben L. Feringa and Dr. Wesley R. Browne from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, are using synthetic chemistry to create new light-responsive nanoscale structures that could one day find use in applications such as smart materials and drug delivery. The photoreactivity of the structures being developed places the Andor Revolution DSD confocal microscope as a key asset in studying the dynamic properties of the materials in real time. Scientists in the field of nanotechnology strive to create smart nano and microscale...

Application Note Imaging Intracellular pH in Living Cells Intracellular pH is important in many functions that take place in a cell. For example, pH affects protein structure and the function of lysosomes, mitochondria, and other organelles. Changes in energy metabolism also often correlate with pH changes, and so scientists would like to monitor ATP and pH in a cell simultaneously. The Andor Revolution DSD confocal microscope is helping Dr. Gary Yellen’s lab at Harvard Medical School develop genetically encoded fluorescent sensors for monitoring metabolism of single cells. “We are interested...

Technical Note Filter Exchange and Calibration DAPI, FITC, Texas Red DAPI, FITC, TRITC, Cy5 Andor’s unique design of the Revolution system allows the DSD to remain fixed to the microscope and the camera fixed to the DSD during filter turret switching. This removes any requirement to re-align the optical and mechanical assembly. The filter turrets, shown right, contain the excitation, dichroic, and emission filters for the DSD. Excitation & Emission Filter Pairs Centre/FWHM 2 Rapid Filter Turret Exchange Turret Name Changing the Filter Turret - Step by Step The images below show the actions required...

Technical Note Optical Sectioning and Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) Spinning at 6000 rpm, the disk produces a dynamic SIP that is projected into the specimen focal plane where it is in sharp focus. At increasing defocus the SIP loses contrast and eventually becomes impossible to differentiate from the general widefield or out of focus fluorescence. The manner in which the confocal signal, C, changes with focus position, z, is known as the axial response function. A convenient way to describe the axial response function is by its full-width-half-maximum or FWHM as illustrated in graph A below. Figure...

Andor Customer Support Andor products are regularly used in critical applications and we can provide a variety of customer support services to maximise the return on your investment and ensure that your product continues to operate at its optimum performance. Andor has customer support teams located across North America, Asia and Europe, allowing us to provide local technical assistance and advice. Requests for support can be made at any time by contacting our technical support team at andor.com/support. Andor offers a variety of support under the following format: • On-site product specialists...