Fluxion Bioscience’s BioFlux 1000Z system for live cell imaging was launched in December. The system simulates physiological environments while performing in vitro cell-based assays utilizing microfluidic channels to drive the flow across the cellular sample. Unlike the BioFlux 1000, which is used with a Nikon microscope, this model is built around the Zeiss AxioObserver microscopy platform.

The BioFlux 1000Z targets a panel of in vitro cell-based assays, including cell adhesion, platelet adhesion, stem cell differentiation, migration, invasion and chemotaxis, said Fluxion Biosciences Program Director Michael Schwartz. “The way that we have positioned the product is that we’re typically selling it to labs and pharmaceutical companies that do one or more of those assays, so the fact that it’s really versatile is a real selling point for the system. It’s not just a one-assay kind of system,” he said.

The Zeiss inverted microscope has a definite focus module that is helpful for long-term imaging and maintaining focus stability over time-lapse experiments, Mr. Schwartz said. It also has a PlasDIC module for differential contrast imaging. The partnership between Zeiss and Fluxion was formed when Zeiss expressed interest in selling its equipment through companies like Fluxion. “We think that the optics are really top-notch,” Mr. Schwartz told IBO. The system allows up to 96 parallel endpoint assays to be performed at one time.