Nikon Releases Innovative Laser Application System for Inverted Research Microscopes

Nikon, Inc. is pleased to introduce the new Ti-LAPP, an innovative new laser application system designed for Nikon's inverted research microscopes, the ECLIPSE Ti. With more than 32 different configurations spanning a wide variety of applications, the Ti-LAPP system provides researchers with unparalleled flexibility and modularity. The system will debut at the 43rd Society for Neuroscience Meeting, taking place November 9-13 in San Diego.

The Ti-LAPP system provides modular illumination modalities ranging from simple epi-fluorescence, to total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF), photobleaching and digital micromirror device-mediated photoactivation. This modularity enables users the freedom to custom combine different imaging modalities to suit their needs. The system works seamlessly with Nikon's popular NIS-Elements software, as well. By providing multiple modes of imaging on the same microscope, the Ti-LAPP system offers ease of experimentation as well as time and money saved, since users will no longer need to purchase multiple microscopes or systems to support different modes.

"Optical imaging techniques have evolved rapidly beyond just qualitative visualization. The Ti-LAPP system responds to those advances in imaging technologies and probes that further enable researchers to quantitatively address biological questions," said Stephen Ross, Ph.D, General Manager of Product and Marketing for Nikon Instruments, Inc. "This is the first system providing researchers with the ability to combine multiple imaging techniques with ease on the same imaging platform, as well as the freedom to make additional modifications to those configurations as research and experiments evolve and change."

The main features of the Nikon Ti-LAPP system include:

• Modular illuminators for incredible flexibility and expandability. The Ti-LAPP system modularizes illumination modalities, including epi-fluorescence, total internal reflection fluorescence, photobleaching and photoactivation. Individual modules can be combined to provide a fully-customized imaging system for the user. The modularity and flexibility of the LAPP system also provides for future expandability and modification as the needs of the user change.
• Combination with Nikon Ti provides ultimate versatility. The stratum structure of Nikon's inverted research microscope, the ECLIPSE Ti, enables even more complex combinations of illumination modules. By utilizing two illumination layers, the system can accommodate up to five different illumination modules - epi-fluorescence, manual TIRF, fully-motorized and auto-alignment TIRF, manual FRAP and DMD.
• New H-TIRF module for high performance TIRF illumination. The H-TIRF module provides auto-alignment for TIRF and auto-adjustment of incident angles for optimizing the evanescent field depth. The auto-alignment and adjustments can be made independently for each wavelength and experiment, and the settings can be saved and re-used for consistent results.
• New digital micromirror device module for user-defined ROI based photostimulation. This module enables multi-point simultaneous photoactivation at user-defined positions as well as precision patterning of illumination, capabilities that are of great utility in the emerging field of optogenetics.

The new Nikon Ti-LAPP system will be available in Spring 2014.

Press release avilable from http://www.globenewswire.com/