ILLUMINATING MICROSCOPY
Coherent CellX is a universal light engine — now with fiber delivery system — engineered for microscopy.
January 16, 2024 by Coherent
Microscopy closely resembles an art form, where delivering the appropriate amount of energy to biological samples represents a fragile equilibrium. Too little, and the details may remain hidden. Too much, and there's a risk of damaging the subject of observation. The field demands a precision that only application-specific solutions can deliver.
Today, we’re extending our leadership in laser systems for life sciences by introducing Coherent CellX our purpose-built, turnkey laser engine for microscopy.
Originally designed for flow cytometry, our extended CellX platform now supports three applications: flow cytometry, free-space applications, and introducing a fiber delivery system engineered for microscopy.
CellX for microscopy has been designed to offer a common 0.7 mm beam diameter across all four wavelengths (405 nm, 488 nm, 561nm, and 640 nm), addressing a fundamental challenge in microscopy where different laser colors naturally focus at varying degrees. Integrating beam steering and telescope adjustments in CellX allows meticulous control over divergence.
The innovative design of CellX extends to its fiber launch, providing a 4-laser array (each laser at 100 mW) into a fiber with the adjustments to optimize and maintain power transmission to the application.
In fields like neuroscience, where precise, high-resolution imaging is paramount, optimizing and maintaining power transmission through a fiber is invaluable. CellX with fiber ensures that the power and clarity of laser light are not diminished in transmission, allowing scientists to illuminate and observe neural structures with unprecedented detail and clarity.
CellX: The Turnkey Microscopy Solution
CellX microscopy light engine significantly reduces the engineering burden necessary for customization and accelerates the journey from concept to market with certified performance, ensuring streamlined light coupling into fibers by standardizing beam diameters at 0.7 mm across all wavelengths.
Capable of managing expanding beam diameters for longer wavelengths, CellX provides an exceptionally consistent focus spot profile, crucial for accurate particle and blood cell measurement. An objective lens, specifically designed to focus beams into the flow cell, enhances its precision, positioning CellX as a versatile 4-laser engine solution to manage the beam adjustments, beam combining, and the focus into the application.
To ensure effective imaging, our new microscopy laser engine features fiber delivery options for a collimated beam output or an FC/APC output. Perfect for microscopy applications, the fiber delivery efficiently channels combined laser power directly into the microscope input, enhancing the imaging process.
The application-specific engineering of CellX for microscopy ensures best-in-class performance, including advanced control, thermal management, and packaging, freeing life science teams from assembling separate components like multiple lasers, power supplies, telescopes, and beam combiners. This out-of-the-box platform is especially valuable in microscopy, where many colleges, scientific organizations, and universities often build systems themselves as they lack turnkey solutions like the expanded CellX platform.
Precision's New Dawn: Steering Microscopy Toward the Light
CellX for microscopy introduces a transformative approach to laser light delivery in microscopy and other applications where precise light positioning is paramount. Recognizing that many setups cannot accommodate heat-generating equipment near sensitive samples, CellX's fiber delivery system keeps it simple. his system allows the transport of laser light directly to the application point, effectively managing heat by keeping the laser sources under the microscope chassis.
Ensuring the microscope remains exclusively focused on the subject of interest, the design offers the convenience of simply plugging in the fiber – a feature that caters not only to microscopy but also to a broader range of applications requiring laser light at remote locations.
With CellX, you get access to the adjustments to the laser beam and the fiber launch to optimize the performance on demand.
"Powered by OBIS lasers, CellX brings certified quality and dependability to an adjustable beam combiner, so all four lasers work for your application's performance. Fiber delivery is challenging for a combined 400 mW input for reliable power output over time. Coherent fiber delivery is rated to handle this power with fiber design using endcaps and moth-eye technology for superior power handling and reliability."
- Daniel Callen, Coherent Sr. Product Manager, Lasers
A Trio of Laser Engines Helps Researchers Shine
The Coherent CellX microscopy laser engine radiates excellence by combining the best lasers in the market into a ready-to-use solution that delivers the specialized wavelength control, geometry alignment, and beam coupling needed for demanding microscopy life science applications.
Our new product completes the portfolio of CellX platforms – flow cytometry, free-space applications, and microscopy – for all use cases in multi-wavelength applications. Engineered with users in mind, our application-specific designs exemplify Coherent's commitment to simplifying workflows for researchers, so their breakthroughs reach the people who need them faster.
Learn more about CellX, Galaxy, and our full portfolio of laser engines.
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