Light-sheet Microscopy

Light-sheet fluorescence microscopy is an optical sectioning technique which uses a very thin beam or sheet of excitation light to illuminate a specimen.  Fluorescent light emitted by labels within the sample is captured on a camera to create an image.  By moving the light-sheet through the volume of the sample it is possible to acquire a 3D dataset which can be viewed and analysed as a rendered volume.  Light-sheet microscopy benefits from speed and sensitivity, which means that it is well-suited to imaging large 3D specimens and living specimens that are sensitive to light.

The Imaging Facility has two different light-sheet microscopes.  Our Leica Viventis Deep system is designed to image live specimens in aqueous buffer, whereas our Miltenyi UltraMicroscope is designed to image samples that have been chemically fixed and optically cleared.  Having two systems means that the Facility can apply light-sheet microscopy to a wide variety of samples.

Our Systems: