Lumencor ZIVA

Description

The ZIVA Light Engine delivers ~100 milliwatts of output power from each of its seven laser light sources at the distal end of a 100 µm/0.1 NA optical fiber. Similarly, the ZIVA quattro Light Engine provides an economical 4- or 5-line option with the same output power specifications. The laser outputs are allied to sophisticated control and monitoring systems to deliver the performance needed for structured illumination microscopy (SIM), stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) and other super-resolution microscopy applications. Lumencor’s complementary CELESTA and CELESTA quattro Light Engines® are optimized for applications requiring light output coupling via wider bore (≥ 400 µm diameter) optical fibers with larger numerical apertures. The ZIVA’s control system resides on an onboard computer with an embedded command library. These commands give access not only to the basic control functions of output channel selection, on/off switching and output intensity adjustment, but also to an extensive panel of operating status reports and preference settings. A GUI resident on the onboard computer and viewed using a web browser via an ethernet connection, provides convenient access to many of the command library functions. TTL trigger inputs are provided for all output lines for applications requiring fast (100 microseconds) switching. An onboard photodiode array continuously monitors the light output providing both real-time performance tracking and feedback stabilization.

ZIVA Light Engine for Yokogawa CSU
The Yokogawa CSU is a highly-regarded spinning disk confocal scanner in widespread use for 3-dimensional imaging of live cells, tissues, and microorganisms. However, the range of fluorescence excitation wavelengths provided by lighting installed on CSU systems is often limited to four lasers. Further, the cost of these lasers often exceeds that of the CSU scanner itself. Lumencor’s ZIVA Light Engine increases the number of lasers from four to seven at a price significantly below that of the CSU scanner. The ZIVA’s lasers are refined by bandpass filters, merged into a common optical train, passed through a despeckler, and directed to the light output port on the front panel. Output wavelength is selected by direct on/off switching of the lasers. There is no potential for light leakage through an external selection device such as an AOTF. The Light Engine output is directed to the Yokogawa CSU scanner through a precision-engineered adapter. This optical coupler provides intense and uniform illumination at the sample plane. All these capabilities are assembled in a compact, bench-top device with a 15 cm x 35 cm footprint.