WARF: P99237US
Photon-Sorting Spectroscopic Microscope System

INVENTORS

•

John White

Scanning optical microscopes, such as confocal microscopes, are of increasing importance for looking at living cells and other biological structures. By using fluorescent molecules like GFP (green fluorescent protein), it is possible to locate, track and differentiate cells and cellular structures using scanning fluorescence microscopy. The preferred microscope for studying living samples is a multi-photon excitation fluorescence laser-scanning microscope (MPELSM), because it is less phototoxic than the alternatives. One drawback to the current commercial MPELSM is the significant cost of the equipment. A UW-Madison researcher has developed a novel spectroscopic microscope system that is well suited for multi-photon spectral imaging for analysis of specimens containing one or more types of fluorophores. The microscope is projected to cost a fraction of what current commercial MPELSM do because it takes advantage of new digital components and integrates the controls between many parts of the system.

• Fluorescence microscopy of living samples

• Collects the desired signal in the presence of background noise with a high degree of accuracy and when multiple or endogenous fluorophores are used
• Avoids the need for complicated and expensive filters to separate fluorophore signals
• Allows real-time analysis of living specimens
• Fluorophore exposure to the excitation light is kept to a moderate level.
• May also carry out simultaneous fluorescence lifetime imaging
• Very high photon counting rates are possible
• Can utilize more than three times the emitted fluorescent photons of a comparable confocal microscope

For current licensing status, please contact our team at licensing@warf.org or phone 608.262.4924. (Clicking this link will open a contact form in a popup window. If you have problems viewing the form, try disabling your popup blocker software.)