Nikon Ti2-W1 spinning disk confocal
Please note that the Ti2-W1 system is not yet available, as further work needs to be carried out in the room where it is located. However, it is fully functional and will probably be ready for use in March 2024.
The Ti2-W1 is a Nikon based spinning disk system using a Yokogawa W1 scanhead attached to a Ti2 inverted research microscope.
Newly installed Nikon Ti2-Wi confocal
image: Christian Ackermann
Spinning Disc Units from Yokogawa are very efficient because a second disk with microlenses is mounted opposite the disk with thousands of pinholes. These microlenses ensure that a large portion of the laser radiation passes through each pinhole and can be utilized for excitation. The images are then captured with CMOS or CCD cameras, which have a much higher quantum efficiency than the detectors of point scanning confocals. All these factors together make spinning disk systems particularly suitable for live imaging, as phototoxicity and photobleaching are greatly reduced.
The W1 system offers 6 laser lines: 405nm, 445nm, 488nm, 514nm, 561nm and 647nm. Image acquisition can be performed with single emission filters (high specificity) or in a triggered mode with fast laser switching through a 4-band filter (DAPI, FITC, TRITC, Cy5) or a 3-band filter (CFP, YFP, mCherry) - this mode is faster but less specific.
Two cameras are available:
- Zyla 4.2P (CMOS camera, 2048 x 2048 pixels with a size of 6.5μm, QE up to 82%).
- Andor iXon DU-888U3 #BV (EMCCD camera, 1024 x 1024 pixels with a size of 13μm, QE 95% at about 550nm).
Additional features: On-stage environmental chamber from TokaiHit (temperature/CO2 control). Fast z-stacks can be obtained with piezo driven stage-insert (range 100μm), additional to the normal z-motor of the Ti2 microscope.
Objectives
- Nikon Plan Apo λ 10x NA 0.45 (WD 4mm)
- Nikon Plan Apo λ 20x NA 0.75 (WD 1mm)
- Nikon Apo LWD 20x WI λS NA 0.95 (WD 0.95mm)
- Nikon Plan Apo IR 60x NA 1.27 (WD 0.16-0.18mm)
- Nikon Plan Apo λ 60x Oil NA 1.4 (WD 0.13mm)
- Nikon Plan Apo λ 100x Oil NA 1.45 (WD 0.13mm)
