Brill-FM
BrillFM – Correlative Brillouin and Fluorescence Microscopy
The BrillFM system is a multimodal imaging platform that combines advanced fluorescence microscopy with Brillouin light-scattering spectroscopy on the same inverted microscope. This enables researchers to relate cellular structures and dynamic biological processes directly to the local biomechanical properties of the same sample.
The fluorescence microscope is based on a Nikon Ti2 platform equipped with a Yokogawa CSU-W1 SoRa spinning-disc confocal system and iLAS2 illumination system for TIRF and photomanipulation. This is integrated with a CellSense Discoverer Brillouin spectrometer, providing non-contact, label-free measurements related to the mechanical properties of cells and tissues.
By combining these technologies, BrillFM is particularly suited to investigating how cellular behaviour and biomechanics interact in living samples, from subcellular structures and organelles through to developing tissues and multicellular organisms.
- Correlative fluorescence and Brillouin imaging
- Label-free investigation of cellular and tissue biomechanics
- Live-cell and live-tissue imaging
- Fast multichannel spinning-disc confocal imaging
- SoRa super-resolution imaging
- TIRF imaging of events at or close to the plasma membrane
- Time-series and 3D imaging
- FRAP, photoactivation and other photomanipulation experiments
- Cell migration, differentiation and developmental biology
- Organelle dynamics and membrane interactions
- Plant and plant–pathogen biomechanics
- Investigation of mechanically heterogeneous tissues and biological materials
- Brillouin spectroscopy and fluorescence microscopy can be performed on the same sample and microscope platform
- Brillouin imaging is optical, label-free and non-contact, making it particularly attractive for living and intact specimens
- SoRa spinning-disc imaging provides fast and sensitive optical sectioning for dynamic samples
- Dual-camera detection supports rapid multichannel fluorescence acquisition
- iLAS2 provides TIRF illumination together with targeted photomanipulation
- Environmental control supports extended live-cell imaging
- Enables spatial and temporal correlation between molecular or cellular behaviour and changes in the local mechanical environment
Specifications
- Nikon Ti2 inverted microscope
- Yokogawa CSU-W1 SoRa spinning-disc confocal
- CellSense Discoverer Brillouin light-scattering spectrometer
- iLAS2 illumination and photomanipulation system
- TIRF microscopy
- Dual Prime BSI sCMOS cameras
- Piezo Z positioning
- Temperature and CO2 environmental control for live-cell imaging
- Multidimensional acquisition in X, Y, Z and time
Objectives
- 4×, 10× and 20× CFI Plan Apo Lambda D (dry)
- 25× CFI Plan Apo Lambda S (silicone immersion)
- 60× CFI Plan Apo Lambda D Oil (NA 1.42)
- 60× CFI Plan Apo Lambda S Silicone (NA 1.30)
- 60× CFI Apo TIRF Oil (NA 1.49)
- 100× CFI Plan Apo Lambda D Oil (NA 1.45)
- 100× CFI Apo TIRF Oil (NA 1.49)
Laser Lines and Detection
Nikon Ti2 SoRa / iLAS2 – Fluorescence Excitation
- 405, 445, 488, 515, 561, 638 and 785 nm
CellSense Discoverer – Brillouin Spectroscopy
- 780 nm dedicated Brillouin laser
Fluorescence Detection
- Three Hamamatsu ORCA-Fusion BT sCMOS cameras
- Two ORCA-Fusion BT cameras on the Yokogawa CSU-W1 SoRa spinning-disc system, enabling simultaneous dual-channel fluorescence acquisition
- One dedicated ORCA-Fusion BT camera for TIRF imaging
- SpectraSplit filter set for multichannel fluorescence imaging
