Spinning disk

The Wolfson Bioimaging Facility offers spinning disk microscopy as an alternative form of confocal imaging.

Benefits

Spinning disk microscopes offer an approach to confocal imaging which differs from more commonly used confocal laser scanning (CLSM) systems.

In spinning disk systems, an array of pinholes in a rapidly rotating disk scans many points across the sample in parallel. The pinholes reject out-of-focus fluorescence, providing optical sectioning, a camera captures the resulting image.

This parallel approach enables improved acquisition speeds and lower peak power which can offer advantages over CLSM systems for live imaging applications, reducing photobleaching and phototoxicity.

Microscopes

Our facility offers two Evident spinning disks: the SpinSR and the Spinning disk 2.

  • The Evident IXplore IX83 SpinSR (SpinSR) system incorporates incorporates a Yokogawa CSU-W1 with a SoRa disk, enabling enhanced resolution imaging using optical reassignment.
    The SpinSR default temperature is 37°C. 
  • The Evident IXplore IX85 (Spinning disk 2) includes a wide range of imaging lasers from violet  (405 nm) to near infra-red (730 nm), together with separate lasers and scanner for simultaneous FRAP, photoconversion and ablation (405 nm, 473 nm and 355 nm). 
    The Spinning disk 2 default temperature is 23°C.

 

Both systems offer:

  • 2 Hamamatsu Fusion BT sCMOS cameras
  • Incubator for temperature control
  • CO2 control and hypoxic conditions

 

Equipment

System Model Spinning disk Additional modules

Laser lines

 Room Further information
SpinSR Evident IXplore IX83 SpinSR 50nm confocal and SoRa

Well navigator

 405, 488, 561, 640 nm B10a

Evident IXplore IX83 SpinSR Technical Specifications (PDF, 213kB)
Spinning disk 2 Evident IXplore IX85 50nm confocal

Well navigator, FRAP/Ablation

405, 445, 488, 514,  561, 640, 730 nm.

405 and 473nm (FRAP), 355nm (Ablation)

 B9B

Evident IXplore IX85 Spinning disk 2 Technical Specifications (PDF, 229kB)

 

Advice with Large file handling (PDF, 88kB)

 

Recent papers including data acquired with one of our spinning disk systems: