Light Microscopy Technologies & Instruments | NYU Langone Health

Skip to Main Content
Microscopy Laboratory Light Microscopy Technologies & Instruments

Light Microscopy Technologies & Instruments

For investigators needing assistance with light microscopy, NYU Langone’s Microscopy Laboratory offers competitive rates on experimental design, consultation, imaging assistance, instrument training, and access to image-acquisition equipment and data-analysis software packages.

All required forms are available in iLab.

Confocal and Two-Photon Microscopy

Our lab has a variety of confocal and two-photon microscopes to address many imaging needs.

Zeiss LSM 700 Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope (Inverted)

The Zeiss LSM 700 laser scanning confocal microscope (inverted) offers laser scanning confocal imaging with an environmental chamber. It is used routinely for fixed- and live-sample imaging with four laser lines, two fluorescence detectors, and a transmitted light detector.

The scope is located at the Alexandria Center for Life Science East Tower.

Zeiss LSM 800 Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope (Upright)

The Zeiss LSM 800 laser scanning confocal microscope (upright) offers laser scanning confocal imaging with slides. It has four laser lines and two GaAsP fluorescence detectors.

The scope is located at the Medical Science Building on the sixth floor.

Zeiss LSM 880 Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope with Airyscan (Inverted)

The Zeiss LSM 880 laser scanning confocal microscope with Airyscan (inverted) is the most popular confocal with up to 36 detectors using a photomultiplier tube, a 34-channel spectral detector, and a red-shifted GaAsP detector and a wide range of lasers with lines at 405, 440 458, 488, 514, 561, 594, and 633 nm. With a repeatable stage and autofocus, it can be used for tiling large areas or for live multi-position time lapse experiments. It can also be used for photoactivation, FRAP, and FRET. In addition, there is a transmitted light detector.

The scope has original Airyscan to boost spatial resolution up to two times standard confocal imaging. Other specialized applications include FLIM with the 440 nm laser and PicoQuant SymPhoTime, and FCS with two additional external GaAsP detectors.

The scope is located at the Joan and Joel Smilow Research Center, room C-17.

Leica TCS SP8 Confocal Microscope (Upright)

The Leica TCS SP8 confocal microscope (upright) is perfect for samples fixed on slides or live samples that can be imaged with a dipping lens. It offers a wide range of lasers at 405, 488, 514, 561, 594, and 633 nm, and 5 detectors with user-defined spectra including three HyD hybrid detectors. FRAP, FRET, spectral imaging, and photon counting are also available with this system.

The scope is located at the Science Building on the fourth floor.

Leica Stellaris Confocal Microscope (Inverted)

The Leica Stellaris 8 Falcon laser scanning confocal microscope on inverted DMi8 CS stand with Super Z Galvo and resonant scanner includes spectral freedom to choose excitation wavelengths at 405 nm or any wavelength from 440 to 790 nm with a tunable third-generation white light laser or up to 1060 nm with a MaiTai laser.

Users may choose any emission ranges from 420 to 850 nm with 4 HyD detectors and 1 transmitted detector. Both internal and transmission detector can be used for second harmonics imaging. Long working distance immersion lenses can be used for thick cleared tissues. Time domain fluorescence imaging is standard with this instrument including in conjunction with other imaging modes. Gating can also be used to reduce autofluorescence or discriminate similar spectra probes that have disparate lifetimes. With a repeatable stage and autofocus, the scope can be used for tiling large areas or for live multi-position time lapse experiments. It can also be used for photoactivation, FRAP, and FRET.

The scope is located at the Alexandria Center for Life Science West Tower.

Olympus Fluoview Multiphoton Microscope (Upright)

The Olympus FVMPE-RS multiphoton microscope (upright) has two lasers for excitation from 690 to 1300 nm, galvo and resonant scanners, and four detectors for multichannel deep fluorescence microscopy in live tissue. Ancillary support for intravital imaging is available.

The scope is located at the Science Building on the fourth floor.

Widefield Microscopy

Our lab is equipped with a variety of widefield microscopes.

Zeiss Axio Observer Epifluorescence and Crossed-Polarization Microscope (Inverted)

The Zeiss Axio Observer epifluorescence and crossed-polarization microscope (inverted) is a high-end epifluorescence imaging system with multiple channels, Z stacks with Apotome, time series, and automated stage for multi-position or mosaic scans. It offers full environmental control and autofocus for long time-lapse imaging. It features an additional color camera for bright-field color-stained samples and for crossed polarization. We have an up-to-date license for the Zeiss ZEN (blue) software.

The scope is located at the Skirball Building on the second floor.

Nikon Eclipse Ti Epifluorescence Microscope (Inverted)

The Nikon Eclipse Ti epifluorescence microscope (inverted) offers wide-field fluorescence microscopy using discrete color LEDs for excitation and independently addressable filters for emission. This is advantageous for live work, high speed, or long time lapse. Ratio FRET can be done on both live and fixed material.

The scope is located at the Skirball Building on the third floor.

Toggel FLIM Camera on Nikon Eclipse TE2000 Microscope (Inverted)

The Toggel FLIM camera on Nikon Eclipse TE2000 microscope (inverted), with excitation of fluorescent molecules at 445, 488, 515, and 561 nm, directly images widefield microscopy as frequency domain fluorescence lifetime on a pixel-by-pixel basis and may be used in live cell time lapse. The camera on an inverted fluorescent microscope simplifies FRET assays.

The scope is located at the Joan and Joel Smilow Research Center on the 12th floor.

Zeiss Axio Zoom.V16 Fluorescent Microscope (Upright)

The Zeiss Axio Zoom.V16 fluorescent microscope (upright) is a fully automatic controlled macro- to microscope with a wide field of view for imaging from centimeters to microns. It is equipped with 1x and 2.3x Plan-Neofluar objectives, four fluorescent filter blocks, Zeiss AxioCam, and motorized stage. Polarized light may be available on request.

The scope is located at the Joan and Joel Smilow Research Center, room C-17.

Zeiss Elyra 7 with Lattice SIM (Inverted)

The Zeiss Elyra 7 microscope (inverted) has three high-resolution imaging modes: single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) modules for Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM) and Photoactivated Localization Microscopy (PALM) with lasers at 488, 561, and 640 nm delivers molecular resolution; structured illumination with Lattice pattern offers 2x resolution of confocal or conventional fluorescent microscopes; and Standard Total Internal Reflectance Fluorescence microscopy (TIRF) allows imaging of fluorescent molecules within 200 nm of substrate. It is equipped with full environmental control for time lapse of live samples.

The scope is located at the Joan and Joel Smilow Research Center, room C-17.

Zeiss Lightsheet Z.1 Microscope

The Zeiss Lightsheet Z.1 microscope system is excellent for transparent live organisms, such as embryos and zebrafish, and for small cleared organs. It complements confocal/multiphoton microscopy by imaging larger tissues. The lightsheet microscope works with living samples in water or media and with fixed and cleared samples both aqueous and solvent-based media. With lasers at 405, 488, 568, and 638 nm, the system images most genetically encoded fluorescent proteins and other popular fluorescent probes. Magnification is at 2.5x NA 0.12, 5× NA 0.16 or 20× NA 1.0. Images are collected with two 1920 × 1920–pixel sCMOS cameras. This system was upgraded in 2019 with a Mesoscale Imaging System for larger and organic solvent-based imaging medium, and was upgraded to new workstation and graphics card in 2021.

The scope is located at the Joan and Joel Smilow Research Center, room C-17.

Thermo Scientific CellInsight CX7 LZR High Content Analysis Platform

This system installed in 2019 comes paired with an Orbitor RS automatic plate loader and on-stage incubator for high throughput and high content imaging. Widefield and spinning disk confocal imaging modes are available to perform robust screening of multiwell plates and glass slides. It is an ideal imaging platform for 3D organoid and spheroid imaging. The system features four excitation wavelengths at 405nm, 488nm, 561nm and 638nm to cover a wide gamut of fluorescent probes. Six objectives are available to meet rapid plate scanning collections and high-resolution imaging for later analysis: 2xNA0.08; 4x0.18NA; 10xNA0.40; 20xNA0.45; 20xNA0.70; 40xNA0.60. Built-in image analysis software allows for online quantification and statistics during imaging. Stage features built-in incubation with temperature and CO2 control to allow for long term kinetics assays of live samples.

The scope is located at the Joan and Joel Smilow Research Center, room C-17.

Evos Routine Microscopy

We offer two Evos Routine microscopes screening live cells in plates, document at low resolution micrographs, including one that has an incubation chamber for long-time lapse imaging.

The scope is located at the Joan and Joel Smilow Research Center, room C-17, and Alexandria Center for Life Science West Tower.

Dell Precision Workstations and Image Analysis

We offer a few high-end Dell and HP Precision workstations that support quantitative large-volume data processing with Bitplane Imaris, ThermoFisher Amira, ORS Dragonfly, FIJI/ImageJ, IMOD, and other software.

The workstations are located at the Medical Science Building, third floor; the Joan and Joel Smilow Research Center, room C-17; and Alexandria Center for Life Science West Tower on the fourth floor.

We also offer full service experimental design, training, analysis, and presentation for publication.