MBF Bioscience ClearScope light sheet theta microscope

ClearScope from MBF Bioscience is a complete light sheet imaging solution, designed with automation and efficiency in mind to help researchers increase scientific throughput without having to be experts in optics, writing software or hardware control. For those users who want to experiment with imaging parameters and explore innovative ways of imaging cleared tissue specimens, the product’s advanced user mode provides full control over all the hardware components. A basic user mode for simplified operation includes automated light sheet optimisation tools and streamlined workflows.

The microscope provides a combination of speed, 3D resolving power, tissue depth penetration and low phototoxicity that differentiates it from confocal and multiphoton microscopy. The patented Light Sheet Theta Microscopy geometry is suitable for imaging a wide array of samples, from embryos to whole mouse and rat brains up to large slabs of primate brain tissue. Virtually all clearing techniques — including CLARITY, CUBIC, Scale, iDisco, BABB, etc — are compatible with the product via its Intelligent Refractive Index Compensation (IRIC). The modular hardware design allows for scanning of biological structures at a variety of magnifications (4–25x) and laser wavelengths 405/488/561/640 nm standard and customisable to seven lasers.

Specimens that are too large for traditional light sheet imaging, such as human, non-human primates, tissue from expansion microscopy and small specimens, are easily imaged on the system. A maximum specimen size of 11.4 x 7.5 x 1.2 cm fits onto the standard stage, with larger sized tissue of 15 x 10 x 1.2 cm possible on the extended stage. The single field-of-view pixel resolution is 2048 x 2048 pixels and the image digitisation is 16-bit. The peak quantum efficiency is 95% at 560 nm.