New spinning disk confocal microscope coming soon thanks to a BBSRC award

The IMPACT imaging facility based in INCR have been successful in the BBSRC ALERT 2024 call (UKRI2240) to acquire a Nikon/CrestOptics X-Light V3 dual camera spinning disk confocal microscope with a DeepSIM super-resolution module. This multi-purpose microscope will give us drastically improved speed, field of view and resolution that will be valuable across our INCR research areas.

spinning disk confocal microscope

What will this new microscope be useful for?

This imaging system has been designed to be as flexible as possible and we welcome interest from researchers across INCR and the whole of College. To get an idea of the breadth of research being performed with these microscopes, from cardiovascular physiologists measuring tissue mechanical homeostasis to imaging of 3D tumour spheroids or understanding binding patterns of mAbs against bacteria please see the application notes on the CrestOptics website.

As examples from some of the areas where IMPACT currently works, the drastically improved speed, field of view and resolution of will allow researchers to develop spatial transcriptomics techniques to understand how neuronal connections are organised to support diverse functions throughout the brain; to perform exceptionally fast, dual channel, imaging to understand integrated communication networks in the brain and to image deep into complex tissue across scales. 

Where will it be and how can I access it?

The microscope will be installed in the Hugh Robson Building, George Square in late 2025 and will relocate to QMRI in late 2026. It will be available to internal and external academic researchers and interested commercial clients. Please contact Iain Porter at iain.porter@ed.ac.uk for more information.

Who led the bid to acquire this new microscope?

The application for funding for this new microscope was led by Iain Porter, manager of the IMPACT imaging facility, and supported by Principal Investigators from across the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. Co-applicants were:

  • Ann Wheeler - Institute of Genetics and Cancer (IGC)
  • Jamie Davies - Institute for Neuroscience and Cardiovascular Research (INCR)
  • Nathalie Rochefort - INCR
  • Mark Evans - INCR
  • Gulsen Surmeli - INCR
  • Nicola Romano - INCR
  • Clare Muir – Institute for Regeneration and Repair (IRR) / Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies
  • Thomas Theil - INCR
  • Susana Ribeiro dos Louros - INCR
  • Lida Zoupi - INCR
  • Sam Booker - INCR
UKRI

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