A SET of interchangeable modules and accessories to enable users to customise an optical microscope from any major manufacturer has been launched by Siskiyou.
CBH-1.0 beamsplitter lies at the heart of the Siskiyou microscope customisation system
The modular system is based around the CBH-1.0 cube beamsplitter, which sits in the infinity space of a conventional microscope.
The beamsplitter opens access in two orthogonal axes perpendicular to the tube, allowing a range of other optomechanical modules to be attached.
Available accessories include a self-registering slide assembly that allows a 45deg beamsplitter or mirror to be inserted or removed from the tube, without disruption to the optical path.
Alternatively, a second camera can be attached to the microscope, just below the trinocular assembly.
The module also allows any fibre-delivered laser or other light source to be directed or scanned anywhere in the field of view.
Siskiyou also offers an interchangeable objective assembly, which it says delivers superior opto-mechanical registration and alignment to standard objective turrets.
The company says that microscopes from all manufacturers, including Zeiss, Nikon, and Olympus, can be customised this way.
The modules enable a conventional fluorescence microscope to be configured for sophisticated imaging applications at a lower cost than a dedicated instrument.
In particular, they provide a simple means of combining wide field imaging with local fluorescence excitation and probing, in applications from optogenetics to photosynthesis studies.