Technology resources

The Imaging and Optics Facility provides a broad spectrum of imaging and photo-manipulation options in its machine park. Below we list the majority of the available applications. Please contact us or fill out a request form for assitance or project when you need assitance to set up your spcific application for your research project.

Imaging & Optics  instrumentation types

Please also see our equipment page for a short description of the available instrumentation product types:

Fluorophores characterics based applications:

Before applying these technologies, make sure to checkthe required details about your favorite fluorescent proteins and filters on FP-base or Spectraviewer

  • Wavelengts (LAMBDA Λ / lambda λ) scans: When either excitation- (Λ) or emission (λ) spectra are not available, and excitation / emission spectrum scan can be perfomed – using tunable lasers (excitation) and dynamic emision detectors (λ) → Λ / λ scan instrumentation
  • FRET: Fluorescence (Förster or ) resonance energy transfer (FRET) is distance-dependent (10–100 Å) involving an  energy from an excited donor molecular fluorophore to a neighnoring acceptor fluorophore by ‘intermolecular long-range dipole–dipole coupling’. FRET efficiency can be used as a metric of protein configuration or interaction. (let me google that for you)
  • FLIM: Fluorecent Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM) is a technique based on the exponential decay of a fluorescent sample.  Lifetime imaging has many applications including: i) Multi component separation, ii) Autofluorescence removal, iii) Detection of molecular interactions (e.g. FLIM-FRET), iv) Environmental sensing (e.g. pH). More information →  our FLIM resource page – FLIM instrumentation
  • Lifetime-Gated Aquisition: An specific ‘Life-time imaging application’ allowing to seperate emitted singal based on the photon arrival time, e.g. seperating fluorophore signal from autofluorescent signal – often applied in chromoplast containing (plant) samples. (let me google that for you) – FLIM instrumentation

Photo-manipulation:

  • FRAP: Fluorescent recovery After Photobleach (FRAP)
  • Laser ablation & micro-dissection:
  • Photo-patterning applications: i) 2D photopatterning on substrate, ii) Photopatterning on 3D microstructures, iii) Microfabrication, iv) Hydrogel polymerization

Sample preparation

  • Expansion Microscopy: Enhanced imaging of biological specimens with fine details by physically making them bigger through an isotropic chemical expansion process that preserves nanoscale details →  http://expansionmicroscopy.org
  • Refractive index matching: non-toxic medium supplement, such as Iodixanol, can be used for ‘Refractive I (RI) ndex matching in live specimens. Matching RI substantially improves image quality in live-imaged primary cell cultures, planarians, zebrafish and human cerebral organoids (Boothe et al., 2017).

High-Resolution Imaging Applications:

Different super-resolution aplications are able on the follwing facility super-resultion instumentation

Quantitative & Correlative Imaging Applications: