The bh DCS-120 MACRO system records FLIM of centimeter-size objects. The system uses the scan head of the DCS-120 confocal scanning FLIM system, with a telecentric lens in place of the scan lens. The object is placed directly in the image plane of this lens. The maximum scan field has a diameter of 15 mm. Images are recorded at a maximum resolution of 2048 x 2028 pixels, still resolving the decay curves in the pixels with 256 time channels.
Both optical zoom (by different scan amplitude) or digital zoom (by extracting a selected area from the data of a larger field) can be applied to the images. Two ps diode lasers, with wavelengths from 375 nm to 785 nm, or a super-continuum laser with a acousto-optical filter are used for excitation. Scanning is performed by a fast galvanometer scanner. Frame times are from 40 ms to 2 seconds, depending on the resolution and the optical zoom. The photons returned from the sample are detected in two wavelength or polarisation channels by HPM-100-40 or HPM-100-50 hybrid detectors. The lifetime images are recorded by two parallel SPC-150 TCSPC-FLIM modules.
The system uses bh’s SPCM 64 bit data acquisition software and SPCImage data analysis software. It is able to record FLIM simultaneously in the two detection channels, FLIM with excitation-wavelength multiplexing, FLIM time-series, temporal mosaic FLIM of fast physiological processes, FLITS down to millisecond resolution, and FLIM simultaneously with PLIM. 16 channel multi-wavelength FLIM with the MW-FLIM GaAsP detector is available as an option.
For more information please see bh TCSPC Handbook and Handbook of the DCS-120 confocal scanning FLIM systems.
Left: FLIM image of a wasp. Scanning and recording with 2048 x 2048 pixels, 256 time channels per pixel. Excitation wavelength 470 nm, detection wavelength 495 to 700 nm. Right: DCS-120 Macro FLIM System.