Company Announcements

Leica Microsystems and KAUST inaugurated in March the Center of Excellence for Optical Microscopy. The Center includes an SP8 confocal platform with super-resolution and light sheet capabilities, the first of its kind to be installed in the Middle East.

In April, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Leica Microsystems entered into a technology collaboration to develop an integrated and comprehensive cryo-tomography workflow for life sciences, integrating cryo-EM and light microscopy.

Leica Microsystems announced in May a new collaboration with Israel’s Bar-Ilan University to promote and establish Bar-Ilan as a new reference site for its products and workflows. Leica Microsystems’ TCS SP8 STED 3X super-resolution system and several confocal microscopes will be part of the collaboration.

In May, Leica Microsystems and the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA have established the Leica Microsystems Center of Excellence. It features Leica confocal microscopy technology, including 3D STED, digital light sheet, super-resolution and multiphoton imaging systems.

In April, ZEISS held a groundbreaking for the Innovation Hub@KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) in Germany, which it will share with KIT and Nanoscribe as well as start-ups. The 129,000 ft² (12,000 m2) of flexible space represents an investment of €30 million ($36 million).

ZEISS announced in April the opening of the ZEISS Microscopy APAC Support Center in Shanghai, China, with over 7,535 ft² (700 m²) of building space and 16 staff members.

In April, TESCAN ORSAY acquired EO Elektronen-Optik-Service, its German distributor.

In April, Park Systems established a subsidiary in Mexico, based in Mexico City, to serve Mexico and Latin America.

JEOL opened in April the JEOL Center for Nanoscale Solutions at UC Irvine’s Materials Research Institute. It is home to the first US installation of the JEOL GRAND ARM TEM. The facility also has a JEM­2800 TEM/STEM and JEM­2100F TEM.

In May, the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Light Microscopy Core Facility was designated a Nikon Center of Excellence, 1 of 8 such Centers in the US. The university will receive discounts on Nikon products and be able to beta test new Nikon systems.

Product Introductions

Leica Microsystems launched in March the LIGHTNING detection package for scientific imaging, available for its TCS SP8 confocal laser scanning microscope systems. Operating in real time, the package expands imaging capabilities both in the classic confocal range and beyond the diffraction limit down to 120 nm.

In March, Leica Microsystems introduced the SP8 FALCON (FAst Lifetime CONtrast) integrated lifetime contrast microscope, stating it records lifetime contrast 10 times faster than previous solutions. Lifetime imaging can be easily combined with other modalities.

Luxendo, a Bruker company, announced in March the extension of the InVi SPIM (Single-Plane Illumination Microscopy) system to include full incubation capabilities, as well as flexible illumination and detection optics.

JEOL debuted in May the JEOL Monochromated ARM200F (Atomic Resolution Microscope) with EELS, featuring the development of a unique Spot­-in­-Spot­-out double Wein filter monochromator, which produces a round probe on the specimen plane. It achieves sub-30 meV energy resolution at 200 kV and less than 15 meV while operating at 30 kV.

In May, ZEISS released the ZEISS ZEN Connect software module, which enables users to analyze data in a wider context, connecting large field of view images with the highest-resolution details. The software is available for the company’s optical, confocal, X-ray, electron and ion microscopes, and is recommended for correlation of ZEISS LSM 800 and ZEISS GeminiSEM. It is available on a 60-day free trial basis.

Thermo Fisher Scientfic introduced in May the Thermo Scientific Prisma SEM platform, which incorporates extensive automation and a user friendly interface that make it easy to learn and operate in routine industrial applications, while preserving the flexibility needed in a research or academic setting.

 Sales and Orders of Note

The Edinburgh Super­Resolution Imaging Consortium (ESRIC), a joint initiative between Heriot ­Watt University and the University of Edinburgh, announced in May the installation of a £1.2 million ($1.6 million) Leica Microsystems STED microscope, the first of its type in Scotland.