ZEISS Lightsheet 7
Light-Sheet Multiview Imaging of Living and Cleared Specimens
Light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) is ideal for fast and gentle imaging of whole living model organisms, tissues and cells as they develop – over extended periods of time. What’s more, use ZEISS Lightsheet 7 to image large optically cleared specimens in toto – with subcellular resolution. Dedicated optics, sample chambers and holders allow adaption to the refractive index of your chosen clearing method.
Observe Live Processes
Fast and Sensitively
High quantum efficiency detectors enable observations of the fastest processes at the lowest illumination light levels. You'll get a real-life view of your samples without the adverse effects of excitation light on their biology. A special sample chamber provides heating, cooling and CO2 to maintain the perfect environment for your experiments.
Caption: Development of Arabidopsis flowers. Courtesy of Riha lab, CEITEC, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Repu
Image Large Specimens
In your Preferred Clearing Solution
Which optical clearing method you choose will depend on the tissue, your fluorescent labels, and the size of the sample. Lightsheet 7 is designed to match all these conditions. Image specimens at up to 2 cm in size at any refractive index between 1.33 and 1.58, and in almost all clearing solutions. Acquire overview images and data with subcellular resolution – whether you work with optically cleared organoids, spheroids, organs, brains or other specimens.
Video: C57 BL6J mouse perfused with PBS, CellTracker™ CM-DiI Dye, and 4% PFA. Cleared using iDISCO+ protocol, final RIMS is Ethyl Cinnamate. Sample Courtesy of: Erin Diel – Harvard University; Harvard Center for Biological Imaging Room 2052, 16 Divinity Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Achieve Best Image Quality
For Diverse Applications
Take your LSFM imaging a step further to tackle a broad range of applications. Special optics and sample chambers let you adjust to the perfect refractive index. Smart software tools help you adjust imaging parameters, such as light sheet and sample positions, zoom settings, tiles and positions, as well as data processing parameters. Add the patented Pivot Scan technology and get artifact-free optical sections with best image quality.
Take a Look Inside ZEISS Lightsheet 7
The Principle of Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy
LSFM splits fluorescence excitation and detection into two separate light paths, with the axis of illumination perpendicular to the detection axis. That means you can illuminate a single thin section of the sample at one time, generating an inherent optical section by exciting only fluorescence from the in-focus plane. No pinhole or image processing is required. Light from the in-focus plane is collected on the pixels of a camera, rather than pixel by pixel as, for example, in confocal or other laser scanning microscopes. Parallelization of the image collection on a camera-based detector lets you collect images faster and with less excitation light than you would with many other microscope techniques. This makes 3D imaging extremely fast and very light efficient.
The de-coupling of the detection optics from the illumination optics enables fluorescence excitation with dedicated lenses at low numerical aperture, without sacrificing detection resolution and sensitivity. This makes LSFM ideal for imaging of samples at the millimeter scale, such as developing organisms or large cleared tissue samples.
The Patented Pivot Scanner
Delivers Homogeneous Illumination
When the light sheet is passing through the sample, some structures of the specimen, e.g., nuclei, will absorb or scatter the excitation light. This will cast shadows along the illumination axis, as you see in the left figure. This effect occurs in all fluorescence microscopes, but the illumination axis in light sheet fluorescence microscopy is perpendicular to the observation axis and so this effect is more obvious.
In Lightsheet 7, a patented Pivot Scanner alters the angle of the light sheet upwards and downwards during image acquisition. By altering the illumination angle, the shadows will be cast in different directions and excitation light will also reach regions behind opaque structures, as you see in right figure. This is a perfect way to acquire artifact-free images and to improve downstream processing and analysis steps.