Mightex Polygon1000 pattern illuminators

Mightex’s Polygon1000 pattern illuminators provide precise spatiotemporal control of light with subcellular resolution, making them suitable illumination tools for life science research. Coming in two versatile models, they are said to be compatible with any microscope.

The Polygon1000-G is a flexible solution for patterned illumination, as it can be used with any light source (350–700 nm) that accepts a 3 mm core light guide. It thus provides future flexibility for different wavelengths and light sources, depending on the user’s application. Key applications include neuroscience optogenetics, cell biology optogenetics, photoactivation and photoconversion.

The Polygon1000-DL is a flexible solution for large-field-of-view or high-power patterned illumination applications; it can be used with any fibre-coupled light source (400–700 nm), such as high-power lasers. It has been designed for high-power applications, such as in vivo optogenetics. Key applications include in vivo optogenetics, cortex-wide optogenetics and photoactivation.

Compared to the Polygon400 series, Polygon1000 comes with features such as: an 82% increase in illumination field of view; finer pixel resolution within larger field of view; 1.65 times faster pattern of switching speeds; 4 ms uploading speed per frame; and 45% increase in optical power density at the specimen level.

Increased maximum frame rate means better temporal resolution for advanced physiologically relevant experiments and virtually simultaneous two-colour illumination of distinct ROIs. Faster uploading time enables the product to perform real-time pattern illumination for closed-loop experiments (faster than HDMI refresh rates — 60/120 Hz). A large chip and improved optics are said to enhance transmission efficiency, enabling the device to achieve increased power density at the specimen level and giving the researcher more room for intensity control.