Light Beads Microscopy

Fast volume imaging at 30Hz
MBF Bioscience > Light Beads Microscopy

Product Overview

The Volumetric Calcium Imaging 2-Photon Activity Microscope (vCAm) module revolutionizes neuroscience imaging as MBF’s cutting-edge implementation of Light Beads Microscopy (LBM). This groundbreaking add-on transforms standard two-photon microscopes, enabling researchers to capture complete neural volumes up to 0.5mm in depth in the same time traditional microscopes take to image a single plane. Based on technology developed in Dr. Alipasha Vaziri’s Laboratory of Neurotechnology and Biophysics at Rockefeller University, the vCAm module represents a major breakthrough in high-speed volumetric brain imaging.

 

Key Benefits

Current two-photon scanning microscopy techniques for brain imaging often face challenges in balancing image resolution, acquisition speed, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). These challenges become particularly pronounced during volumetric imaging due to the light-scattering properties of brain tissue.

Light Beads Microscopy (LBM) offers a solution by optimizing spatiotemporal signal acquisition to record data at rates limited by the fluorescence lifetime of neural calcium indicators, such as GCaMP. LBM leverages high-energy femtosecond laser pulses at a relatively low repetition rate (~4.5 MHz to 5 MHz) to enable the highly temporally multiplexed acquisition of up to 30 axial planes within the same timeframe required for traditional two-photon microscopy to capture a single plane. Additionally, LBM enhances SNR by utilizing one excitation pulse per voxel.

  • Wavelength (nm): 900 to 1050
  • Input polarization: vertical
  • Input beam size (mm): 3
  • Required laser frequency (MHz): 4.5 to 5
  • Input height (mm): 100
  • Dimensions (mm): 675x500x120

 

Laser Frequency (MHz) Maximum Number of Planes*
4.5 32
4.7 30
5 28

     *assuming a temporal window of 6.8ns for the demultiplexing channels

Download product sheet here.

News About Light Beads Microscopy

Cited in Peer Reviewed Scientific Publications

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Robust Professional Support

Our service sets us apart, with a team that includes Ph.D. neuroscientists, experts in microscopy, stereology, neuron reconstruction, and image processing.  We’ve also developed a host of additional support services, including:

 

  • Forums
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  • On-Site/Training
    We’ve conducted over 750 remote software installations.
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  • Webinars
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