Company Announcements

Leica Microsystems expanded and formalized its partnership with the Bordeaux Imaging Center, part of the Neuroscience Institute of Bordeaux, in July.

In September, Leica Microsystems opened the Leica Microsystems Imaging Center, its first center in San Francisco, California.

In July, JH Technologies announced it will distribute Leica Nano Technology’s electron microscopy sample preparation product line in 13 western and eastern states in the US.

LIG Nanowise, a developer of super-resolution microscopy technology, completed a £2.6 million ($3.4 million) seed funding round in July. The financing was led by venture capital firm Phoenix Bridge.

In its second quarter filing, Bruker disclosed a purchase price $15.0 million for JPK Instruments (see IBO 7/15/18) and potential earn-outs.

In August, Prior Scientific opened an office in Suzhou, China.

In September, HORIBA and Oxford Instruments terminated their OEM arrangement for the sales and maintenance of Oxford Instruments’ EMAX Series of EDS  instruments in Japan and Asia.

Thermo Fisher Scientific and the UK’s Diamond Light Source announced in September the launch of new cryo-EM capability for use in the life sciences industry. Thermo Fisher will provide two new dedicated microscopes and cryo-EM services designed exclusively for the pharmaceutical industry. New instruments being installed include a Thermo Scientific Glacios Cryo TEM and Krios Cryo-TEM.

In September, the University of California, San Diego opened the Nikon Imaging Center, the third such center in North America. Nikon has provided UC San Diego with over $2.5 million worth of its products.

Product Introductions

In July, Oxford Instruments introduced the Ultim Max 65 mm² and 40 mm² silicon drift detectors for SEM-EDS, which join three existing models in the series.

Asylum Research released in July the Variable Field Module (VFM4) accessory for its MFP-3D AFM, enabling measurements under applied in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic fields in order to better understand their effects on nanoscale magnetic domain structure.

In July, MMI, which provides technologies for microscopy-based single cell isolation, debuted the MMI CellTools 5.0 software platform. Featuring a new interface style and automated handling steps, it is designed to control a microscope platform and MMI tools.

In August, Leica Microsystems introduced the ARTOS 3D ultramicrotome (ARray TOmography Solution for 3D imaging applications). The ARTOS 3D solution automatically produces serial bands of consistent sections for array tomographic reconstruction of sample volumes at the nanometer range. Transparent carrier materials can also be used, allowing for use with correlative microscopy.

Nikon Instruments launched in August the N-SIM S Super Resolution Microscope, incorporating the ECLIPSE Ti2­E Inverted Research Microscope, for imaging of live cells. It features high-­speed imaging of approximately 0.067 sec/frame.

In August, Nikon Instruments debuted the A1 HD25/AIR HD25 confocal microscope with a 25 mm field of view, calling it the world’s largest field of view, and an imaging speed of up to 720 fps.

In August, CAMECA introduced the SxFive-TACTIS electron probe microanalyer with touchscreen interface. It features additional BSE detection, a fully integrated EDS hyper-mapping module, and the capability to acquire real-time WDS and EDS x-ray images.

Thermo Fisher Scientific debuted in August the Thermo Scientific Lumis EBSD detector, stating that it collects more than 2.2 megapixels, the largest number of pixels of any EBSD detection on the market.

In August, Thermo Fisher Scientific introduced the new Phenom Pharos desktop SEM with a a field emission gun, a first for the company.

Thermo Fisher Scientific launched in August the Thermo Scientific S-CORR probe corrector for its Themis Z S/TEM, featuring an improved probe size and shape.

In August, ZEISS debuted the APEER cloud-based digital microscopy platform for automatic image processing in the cloud that can be used for 3D reconstructions, staining and segmenting.

Filmetric announced in September the extension of the cloud-based ProfilmOnline, its free 3D surface-image analyzer, to AFM and other scanning probe applications. It is designed for analyzing images from 3D profilometers and 2D microscopes.

In September, Olympus introduced in the US the NoviSight 3D Cell Analysis Software for use with its confocal laser scanning microscopes. Its 3D cell analysis technology has the ability to analyze 3D cell cultures down to the nuclei.

Sales and Orders of Note

In September, the University of Exeter’s Bioimaging Centre installed Leica Microsystems’ TCS SP8 FALCON microscope for fast fluorescence lifetime imaging and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy.

The BBC reported in September that the Scottish Centre for Macromolecular Imaging now houses the JEOL Cryo ARM 300, the system’s first installation in Scotland.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported in September that the University of Sydney’s Sydney Microscopy and Microanalysis has installed Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Thermo Scientific Themis Z TEM.