New Leica Platform Adds Additional Dimension of Information to Confocal Imaging

Designer and manufacturer of microscopes and scientific equipment, Leica Microsystems, has announced the launch of its flagship new confocal microscopy platform, called STELLARIS. The platform aims to improve how scientists are able to capture three-dimensional images of living cells and tissues.

Due to its optimized imaging performance, the new confocal platform gives researchers the power to see more and, as a result, collect more accurate and reliable data to prove hypotheses with precision. The combination of the unique new Power HyD detectors, White Light Laser, and sophisticated software is intended to deliver brighter signals, resulting in images with more contrast and detail. This data is helping researchers observe the inner workings of cellular processes – crucial for research in fields like cancer and neuroscience.

STELLARIS gives access to lifetime-based information in every experiment, in parallel with common intensity imaging approaches. TauSense lifetime-based imaging modes complement a multitude of new ways to explore the function of molecules in their cellular context and help, for example, separate fluorophores even when their emissions fully overlap. Another benefit is that the number of simultaneous detection channels can be expanded by using lifetime-based information. Access to this advanced imaging information takes just one click. The new smart user interface, ImageCompass, ensures that scientists have the productivity to do more, as setting up even complex experiments is now much easier and more intuitive than ever before.

The enhanced sensitivity in the blue-green range (PDE > 55%) improves the detection limits and dynamic range for the most commonly used fluorophores. The extension of the detection range to the Near Infrared (NIR) provides up to 67% more dynamic range compared to current state-of-the-art detectors. The NIR extension allows for additional freedom when selecting dyes and up to three additional colors. The new detector generation in combination with the renowned Leica spectral detection technology and a newly designed beam path to maximize transmission efficiency, enables efficient signal acquisition while valuable samples are afforded the lowest possible exposure to light. Ultimately, this facilitates “gentle” live cell imaging, preserving sample integrity and improving reproducibility of results.

The integrated TauSense is a set of imaging modes based on fluorescence lifetime without the need to add extra dedicated hardware. It can enable scientists to differentiate between specific fluorescence signals and unwanted autofluorescence to improve the quality of the final image and separate fluorophores that could not be previously separated with spectral unmixing.