USB 3.0 With larger sensor sizes and higher resolutions pushing data rates up, the USB 3.0 interface is being used more widely for its ease of use and high data transfer speeds. USB 3.0 overcomes many of the limitations of Camera Link, which include the need for a capture card or a frame grabber inside of the PC, or having to have bulky cabling. ‘[Camera Link] is very difficult to work with − nobody wants to use desktops anymore,’ said John Phillips, product manager at Pleora. ‘We can see this if we go to any computing market study; people are buying laptops or tablets, there is not a lot of growth in buying desktops.’ To take advantage of the USB 3.0 interface,


Pleora has developed a device − the iPort CL- U3 − which can convert Camera Link Base or Medium to USB 3.0 so it can be plugged into any USB port. It was designed to improve the ease-of-use for existing owners of Camera Link cameras, and to provide more flexibility to customers who may want to purchase a Camera Link camera but do not want a frame grabber or bulky cables. ‘A lot of the cameras that are used in the life sciences and microscopy market still to this day are Camera Link, either because the cameras are legacy cameras which the user has bought a few years ago and they still want to keep, or because the sensors they want to use are only available inside of cameras that have Camera Link outputs,’ Phillips noted. ‘Both of those scenarios we see all of the time.’


Matrox Design Assistant vision software


It’s hardware independent.


The ImagEM X2-1K camera from Hamamatsu contains an EMCCD sensor that can image in low-light conditions down to fewer than 10 photons per pixel between the sample and background


Multi-wavelength imaging is another technique for detecting two different dyes on a sample


image is subsequently overlaid over the colour one. However, the process can create some challenges, according to Giacobone: ‘Tere may be issues because the two cameras may not be aligned perfectly, so you may have to align the two images manually aſterwards and this may be time-consuming in some cases,’ he said. ‘And then there is the inconvenience of manually switching this optical path, an operation which may need to be repeated hundreds of times for a complete study.’ Overcoming these


challenges, Olympus’ DP80 camera combines a colour and a monochrome sensor, with control soſtware to switch between the sensors


Imaging different dyes simultaneously Another requirement for scientists working in fluorescence microscopy is to carry out both colour documentation and fluorescent detection simultaneously. Tis is needed when, for example, histological stains and fluorescent dyes are used on the same sample, or, when a live subject has been altered to produce fluorescence. ‘You might have a living organism where the genes have been triggered to express green fluorescence protein. So, you not only need to image its real life colours but you also want to see where these fluorescence expressing genes are located,’ explained Olympus’ Giacobone. Tese types of research scenarios require two


cameras on the microscope; a colour one as well as a camera that is sensitive to fluorescence. Traditionally, to acquire the final mixed image, a mechanical switch is used to change the optical path between both cameras, and the fluorescence


www.imveurope.com @imveurope


automatically. Te sensors are pre-aligned, which means images are automatically and precisely overlaid, without user intervention. ‘Inside the DP80, there is a highly precise mechanical switch, making sure that the correct chip is in the optical path, and that the alignment is maintained over time,’ noted Giacobone. ‘It is automated, very precise, quick, and guarantees effortlessly mixed fluorescence and brightfield images.’ Multi-wavelength imaging is another


technique for detecting two different dyes on a sample. Tis is particularly useful for fluorescence microscopy, as the vast majority of applications in this field involve the use of more than one fluorescent probes. ‘[Using two fluorescent dyes] is for example important for co- localisation studies,’ noted Hamamatsu’s Bader. For these types of study, cameras containing


image splitting optics are used. Te W-View Gemini from Hamamatsu contains a dichroic mirror and two fluorescence filters, which enables the acquisition of dual colour fluorescence, Bader added. ‘It has also the capability to correct for chromatic aberration very easily.’ O


Matrox Design Assistant 4 lets you deploy your inspection project to the platform of your choice. Whether it’s any computer with GigE Vision® USB3 Vision™


or cameras, a Matrox


smart camera, or a Matrox vision system, you’ll get the processing power you need.


www.matrox.com/da4/imve


Olympus


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