Courtesy of BD Biosciences
BD Biosciences–Bioimaging Systems of Rockville, Md., has released a second-generation version of its CARV confocal imager. According to product manager Baggi Somasundaram, the CARV II is the only full spectrum (white-light), pinhole-based spinning disk confocal with real-time viewing and/or recording capabilities on the market. Competing products use either lasers, which are expensive, or slits instead of pinholes, which provide lower resolution. Laser-scanning confocals, with adjustable pinholes for variable Z-resolution, are too slow and harsh to be used for live-cell applications, he adds.
The CARV II scans the sample 1,000 times per second, and combined with the right CCD camera it can record live-cell events quickly without compromising resolution. Users can upgrade a conventional microscope with the CARV II for about $100,000 (US), half the cost of a laser-based system.
Pathologist Donald Winkelmann of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ, who uses the first-generation system, ...
