Microscopy

The imaging core is an advanced microscopy facility for all UA researchers, with an emphasis on serving the immediate needs and future demands of biomedical and translational scientists. The core is established after the acquisition of several multimodal Nikon microscopy platforms, described below. The direct and immediate benefits of the core include top-level microscopy, cutting-edge image analysis, and priority access to Nikon’s technical expertise for service and customized development of experimental pipelines. 

In addition, the core is a model of academic collaboration. The facility provides a space for innovation, collaboration and education, to support a broader advancement of microscopy by building an ‘imaging culture’ on campus. In addition to the instrumentation, the imaging core provides on-site workshops and lectures to promote microscopy skills on campus, and is a central platform for introducing new and emerging imaging technologies.

The following instruments will be available at the Center of Excellence:

N-STORM Super-resolution Microscope, which could achieve a tenfold increase in resolution over traditional microscopes using Stochastic Optical reconstruction Microscopy. This instrument allows single-molecule imaging and is used for molecular characterization in cells and in vitro.

AxR Confocal Microscope, which is a laser scanning confocal microscope with a large field of view and enhanced pixel density allowing collection of data from a wide sample area and deep regions in tissue. Additionally, with its high sensitivity it allows high speed scanning with reduced phototoxicity, suitable for live cell imaging.

AxR MP Multiphoton Confocal Microscope, which allows acquisition high resolution, large field of view images deep within living organism at high speed. This system is dedicated for intravital imaging with an open platform that can accommodate small animals.

CSU-W1 SoRa Spinning Disk Super Resolution by Optical Pixel Reassignment, which allows 2X resolution improvement over traditional widefield, simultaneous enhanced resolution and confocal sectioning, and it would easily switch between normal confocal and SoRa mode.

CREST X-Light V2 Spinning Disk Confocal, which allows high speed confocal imaging for cells, tissues and live-samples.

BioPipeline Slide Imaging System, which provides an automated slide imaging and images analysis routines for medium to high-throughput histological analysis.