Tech Exchange with Cairn Research

In our last Tech Exchange before the summer break, Alex Corbett, University of Exeter, will speak about "Imaging at scale: Ultrahigh throughput imaging with the Cairn Multiscope", a system he developed in collaboration with Cairn Research Ltd.

Abstract

The Exeter Multiscope: When designing an imaging system, a trade-off has to be made between magnification and field of view. To read out images from 96 well plates typically means a choice between a low resolution, low magnification image of the entire plate or mechanically moving a high magnification objective to each well, compromising temporal resolution. The Exeter Multiscope (based on the RAP microscope design: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.56426) avoids this trade off by forming a high magnification imaging path around each individual well. Using a parabolic mirror to converge the light from all imaging paths onto the same camera, it is possible to read out an entire plate at cellular resolution in less than a second. In this presentation we exploit the optical properties of micro-LEDs to track phase changes in biological samples ranging from cells to whole embryos.