First Leica TCS STED CW Inaugurated

Fruitful Cooperation between the Italian Institute of Technology and Leica Microsystems

The Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) with its Central Research Lab in Genoa-Morego ranks among Italy’s leading multidisciplinary facilities for basic and applied research. About 380 people from 37 countries work in its highly modern laboratories in the fields of Robotics, Neuroscience & Brain Technology, Drug Discovery & Development as well as Nanosciences. The research programs have a pronounced interdisciplinary focus. 

Top research needs top instruments

This is exactly the basis for the close and fruitful cooperation between the ITT and Leica Microsystems. Almost at the same time as the market launch of the Leica TCS STED CW, the first system worldwide was inaugurated at the IIT.

"The new STED CW opens up new avenues for us in nanoscopy. This technology helps us to develop new scientific models and find answers to questions that we can use for new technological developments", commented Professor Alberto Diaspro, Head of the Nanophysics Department at the IIT during the official inauguration of the STED CW.

Prof. Diaspro has already worked closely with Leica Microsystems for many years in the field of high-end confocal microscopy, long before he started working at the IIT, in fact. Diaspro and his team at the ITT were also involved this time in the development of the Continuous Wave STED – the IIT was one of the first institutes to subject the new system to intensive testing. Professor Fabio Benfenati, Research Director of the Department of Neuroscience and Brain Technologies, who also attended the inauguration, stressed: "The cooperation with Leica Microsystems as one of the innovation and market leaders in optical microscopy puts our work in Nanophysics, Neuroscience, and Neurotechnology at the cutting edge of research in this field."

"The cooperation with the IIT is extremely important for us, because the IIT has one of the highest excellence standards in optical microscopy worldwide", says Martin Hoppe, Head of Confocal Market Development at Leica Microsystems. "The close personal contact with the top research scientists at the IIT, who use various microscope systems of Leica Microsystems, gives us valuable feedback for the further development of our products. And it’s extremely exciting for us to see how our microscopes help to master new scientific challenges."