Goldstone Scientific Blog
Extra Long, Flexible Fiber-Optic Implants for Optogenetic Stimulation of Peripheral Nerves
While at SfN 2015 in Chicago quite a few people that stopped by the Prizmatix booth asked how they could optically stimulate neurons in parts of the body far from the brain. One researcher explained that due to the NIH’s SPARC program, there is an increased interest in researching peripheral nerves. Their plan was to implant a ferrule in [...]
Specialty Fiber Coupled LEDs – Broad Band White and Battery Operated LEDs
Prizmatix is known for its high power LEDs for fiberoptic applications. Frequently people have special requirements and they ask us for help. Here are two products we designed for customers who requested something a little different.1. Violet Pumped White LED for Spectroscopy Most white LEDs use a blue source and phosphor to make the white light. The result is a [...]
Prizmatix Microscope LEDs, Low Noise and New Low Price
Prizmatix has upgraded their Mic-LED line to a new controller, the BLLC-04, and at the same time lowered their pricing. A complete single wavelength system now costs just $1560. This includes the new BLCC-04 controller, which features advanced low noise driver electronics (<0.03% RMS), and both TTL and analog input for pulsing and intensity control.The [...]
Tissue Heating During Optogenetic Experiments Using Laser and LEDs
During a recent LinkedIn conversation regarding light sources for Optogenetics a concern was raised about LEDs causing heating of the tissue. The concern was based on information in a paper “Optogenetics in Neural Systems” published by O Yizhar et al., Neuron, 2011. A careful reading of this paper shows that the concern is relevant only to small LEDs implanted in the tissue, [...]
Illumination Inside of an Incubator for Optogenetics or Phototoxicity Research
Note: For the Latest information see “Illumination Inside of an Incubators and Co2 Chambers – Part II” One challenging application we get asked about occasionally is illumination inside of an incubator. These hot, humid and often crowded conditions make it difficult to deliver high intensity light. In one instance, a cardiology researcher using Optogenetics needed intense blue light over an [...]
What is Numerical Aperture (NA) and why would a neuroscientist need to know?
Someone once told me that neuroscientists are exceptional. Neuroscientists are not afraid of integrating many areas of knowledge and technology into their research and methods. Well, I can certainly say that neuroscientists have a lot of puzzle pieces to put together to get their research going. And with Optogenetics becoming more widespread I find myself explaining a lot about [...]
What Is Different About Prizmatix LEDs? – Our Answer to 5 Not-so-Obvious Questions
I recently wrote a blog post called, “Five Not Very Obvious Questions to Ask when Choosing an LED Source for your Fluorescence Microscope.”Well, as I warned – there will be a follow up post with the answers regarding Prizmatix LEDs. 1) How do I choose the LED that will get the most light to the microscope objective?As [...]
Five Not Very Obvious Questions to Ask when Choosing an LED Source for your Fluorescence Microscope
More and more researchers are considering using an LED source for their fluorescent microscope. There are good reasons to do so, but what are the things you need to be careful about?Some questions such as choosing a spectrum that will be effective are pretty straightforward. But some are not. You might not want to know about [...]
Three Reason to Consider Replacing Your Mercury or Xenon Lamp with a Prizmatix LED
In the past, research laboratories have relied on mercury or xenon lights as a light source for fluorescence and brightfield microscopy. In recent years however, many researchers have chosen to switch to using LEDs, such as Prizmatix Ultra High Power LEDs instead. Here are three reasons why:1. Prizmatix LEDs are lower cost, more energy-efficient and [...]
LED Illumination to Eliminate Shutter Vibration Noise
Did you know that using LED illumination can eliminate shutter vibration noise? The following figure was created by a Prizmatix customer to illustrate this advantage:Here is one figure that shows the problem that your LED illuminator solved for us. The figure shows a neuron in a slice filled with a calcium indicator dye. We measure [...]