InCyt Standard IMTM (click image to enlarge and get detailed specs)
Complete Turnkey System
The InCyt Standard ImTM Imaging System includes everything needed for calcium and other single excitation and ratiometric fluorophore experiments. The system includes: an inverted epi-fluorescence/phase contrast microscope, low-light level integrating CCD camera, computer controlled filter changer, Xenon UV/VIS arc lamp, image processing computer and data acquisition/analysis software.
Ease-of-use
The InCyt Standard ImTM Imaging System was designed in a biomedical research laboratory by scientists for scientists. Menu selection appears in the sequence in which experiments are performed. Esoteric options that add complexity and are rarely used have been eliminated from the menus. The software follows standard Windows graphical-user-interface-protocol. The hardware has been tested for reliability and ruggedness, as well as, simplicity of set up and operation. New users can learn to use the system and be doing their first experiment in a few hours.
Data Collection, Analysis & Presentation
Data can be measured continuously on as many as 50 pre-selected regions of interest. The results can displayed in real time or images can be saved for post hoc analysis. Saved images can be played back as an animated sequence—ideal for analysis of sub-cellular responses, intercellular communication and heterogeneity among the individual cells in a population. Ion concentration within cells can be converted to color using standard or custom pseudo-color tables. Image sequences can be presented as a montage with user-defined annotation for presentation and publication. Data generated by InCyt Standard ImTM are stored in a standard TIFF format and data files are stored as ASCII text.
Specifications
| Camera | DVC 340M Monochrome Integrating 12-bit CCD with Binning Capabilities |
| Excitation Light Source | 175 watt Xenon arc lamp for both UV and visible light excitation. Variable intensity |
| Filter Changer | Sutter Wheel Filter Changer |
| Image Resolution | 640 x 480 pixels |
| CPU | Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo Processor E4600 (2.4GHz, 2M, 800MHz FSB) |
| RAM | 2GB SDRAM,667MHz |
| Hard Drives | 80GB/160GB SATA 3.0Gb/s and 8MB DataBurst Cache |
| DVD ROM | 16X DVD +/- R/W |
| Operating System | Windows XP |
| Monitor | 17" SVGA |
| Maximum Speed | 4 ratiometric points per second 140 single-wavelength points per second |
| Object Definition | Specify up to 50 user-defined regions for separate analysis |
| Data Collection Options | (1) Graph ion concentration in each cell during experiment. (2) Save images for later analysis and animated playback |
| Image Format | TIFF |
| Data Storage Format | Tab-delimited ASCII |
| Calibration | From standard solutions or formula |
| Ions | Works with hundreds of fluorescent dyes for measuring: Ca2+, pH, Na+, K+, Mg+2, H2O2, cyclic ADP Ribose, etc. |
Data Presentation