News for Leica TCS SP5 II

Leica International Confocal Microscopy Course 2011

October 2011: Leica Confocal Imaging Center, Mannheim, Germany

18. October - 21. October 2011

In October 2011, Leica Microsystems CMS, Mannheim, Germany again offers to Leica confocal users from all over the world the opportunity to gain technical skills and know-how in advanced confocal microscopy techniques.

This year’s course will focus on Live Cell Imaging, FRAP, FRET and FLIM.  Leica confocal application experts will give insight in confocal and lifetime imaging methods with introductory lectures and will keep a main focus on practical sessions, tips and tricks.

Register here:

Registration to Leica International Advanced Confocal Microscopy Workshop

More Information about the Advanced Confocal Microscopy Workshop

Flexibility – for imaging and analysis without limits

Collaboration will Complete Confocal Data Acquisition with Advanced Analysis in High-Content Screening

Wetzlar / Munich, Germany. Leica Microsystems, a leading global designer and producer of precision optical systems, and Definiens, the leading Health Image Intelligence™ company, today announced a co-marketing agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Definiens and Leica will cooperatively market their complementary products and host joint workshops and educational events. Customers will benefit from streamlined high-content image analysis, allowing them to better identify and understand pathways and mechanisms.

Flexibility – for imaging and analysis without limits

This partnership will cover a range of Leica microscopy hardware and Definiens XD software, which will be seamlessly integrated to optimize imaging and analysis workflows.

Leica Microsystems’ confocal instrumentation produces the data bases necessary to turn images into knowledge. Precision and sensitivity pair up uniquely at highest resolution of up to 64 megapixels, producing a wealth of information. The company recently released its first High Content Screening Automation package for confocal research microscopes, Leica HCS A, a highly flexible tool for automated imaging in multiple dimensions. The package enables fast and efficient multi-position experiments – from automated image recording routines to complex multi-dimensional high-content screening experiments with simultaneous image export for immediate analysis by external analysis software, such as Definiens Developer XD.

Definiens Developer XD is an integrated software development environment designed for the entire range of biomedical image analysis problems. It works with any imaging modality as well as 2D, 3D and time-lapse applications and reliably analyzes the wealth of data generated by Leica’s confocal microscopes. Definiens Developer XD enables the automated analysis of cases that previously required tedious manual segmentation.

“Definiens and Leica Microsystems share a commitment to developing powerful imaging solutions that help researchers understand biological pathways faster and more accurately,” said Thomas P. Heydler, CEO of Definiens. “This partnership will provide Leica customers with access to Definiens’ advanced image analysis software, enabling high-content screening that directly aids drug discovery efforts around the world.”

Any device format is supported – any amount of data can be processed

With the combination of Leica Microsystems TCS SP5 confocal imaging instrumentation, single and multiple projects are easy to handle – from single images that need to be evaluated at high standardization to 3D image stacks and 4D time series. Even smallest series of throughput are possible in manual process steps. The results are exported and analyzed by Definiens Developer XD within a highly automated workflow to fulfill today’s demand for throughput in advanced life science research.

“Together with Definiens, we look forward to the opportunity to make highly developed and future-proof high content screening solutions widely available for academic research as well. The combination of high-sensitivity confocal technology, miniaturized sample handling and reproducible evaluation with optimized data management is a sine qua non among drug discovery strategies and the analysis of their physiological relevance,” says Dr. Stefan Traeger, Managing Director of the Life Science Division of Leica Microsystems.

From single files to terabytes of data – Leica Microsystems and Definiens offer a fast, reliable and adaptive high-throughput solution to modern life science research creating a new approach to multidimensional image analysis in high content screening.

Please find more information about this topic during the ‘Focus on Microscopy’ conference in Constance, Germany, from April 17 – 20 at the booths of Leica (25) and Definiens (24).

• Press Release Leica Definiens (English)
• Press Release Leica Definiens (German)

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Leica Microsystems is a world leader in microscopes and scientific instruments. Founded as a family business in the nineteenth century, the company’s history was marked by unparalleled innovation on its way to becoming a global enterprise.

Its historically close cooperation with the scientific community is the key to Leica Microsystems’ tradition of innovation, which draws on users’ ideas and creates solutions tailored to their requirements. At the global level, Leica Microsystems is organized in four divisions, all of which are among the leaders in their respective fields: the Life Science Division, Industry Division, Biosystems Division and Medical Division.

Leica Microsystems’ Biosystems Division, also known as Leica Biosystems, offers histopathology laboratories the most extensive product range with appropriate products for each work step in histology and for a high level of productivity in the working processes of the entire laboratory.

The company is represented in over 100 countries with 12 manufacturing facilities in 7 countries, sales and service organizations in 19 countries and an international network of dealers. The company is headquartered in Wetzlar, Germany.

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Definiens is a leading Health Image Intelligence™ company that develops software solutions for biomedical image analysis, data mining and clinical decision support. The company’s software analyzes images from cell-based assays, whole tissue slides and full body scans and allows users to correlate this information with data derived from other sources, supporting better decisions in research, diagnostics and therapy. By automating analysis workflows and generating new knowledge, Definiens provides pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, research institutions, clinical service organizations and medical professionals with deeper insights, faster results and better decision support. Harnessing the power of image intelligence, Definiens supports personalized medicine and aims to significantly improve the quality of patients’ lives.

Definiens is headquartered in Munich, Germany, and has offices throughout the United States. Further information is available at www.definiens.com.

Definiens – from images to clinical decisions.

The new Leica DMI6000 B with Adaptive Focus Control (AFC) for researchers who demand consistent multidimensional imaging without loss of focus.

Leica Adaptive Focus Control is based on the reflection of a LED light beam at an appropriate surface such as the bottom of a Petri dish or multi well plate. The light is projected through the objective to the surface and reflected onto a light-sensitive sensor. The position of the light spot on the sensor is defined by the position of the specimen in relation to the objective. Due to temperature drift, this distance changes and the light spot on the sensor is shifted in relation to the original position. A feedback mechanism records this shift in the light spot position and corrects the z-focus position accordingly.

Explore Life in All Dimensions

Wetzlar, Germany. Imaging dynamic processes in living cells is challenging, even for the most precise and reliable microscopy systems. The Leica DMI6000 B inverted microscope stand is at the heart of our widefield or confocal systems for live cell imaging, offering unsurpassed stability inherent to its design. But even the most robust microscope will be susceptible to sudden changes in temperature, for instance when a climate chamber is opened during an experiment to apply a drug to the specimen. This can result in out-of focus images during time-lapse recordings. Leica Microsystems has now developed a Leica DMI6000 B with Adaptive Focus Control (AFC) for researchers who demand consistent multidimensional imaging.

The fully automated AFC is based on the reflection of a light beam at a suitable surface (e.g. petri dish) to keep the distance between the objective and the specimen constant. Available for both widefield (including TIRF) and confocal applications, AFC dynamically regulates the focus position, whenever or wherever the experiment requires it. For more flexibility, AFC can also be operated in stand-alone mode and requires neither a PC connection nor additional external control devices.

The underlying technique works for all selected contrasting methods and does not involve the acquisition of images. This ensures that cells remain viable for longer, delivering reliable results even over extended periods of time. The intelligent automation of the system provides the ultimate in ease of use, automatically optimizing all settings for each objective. With the option to effectively combine AFC with a high-speed digital auto focus, cells which change their morphology and shape during the course of the experiment are now easy to follow, while minimizing exposure to light.

The new Leica Adaptive Focus Control is available for Leica DMI6000 B, Leica AM TIRF MC, Leica TCS SP5 II, Leica TCS SP5 II DS, and Leica TCS SP5 MP.

• Press Release Leica DMI6000 B with AFC (English)
• Press Release Leica DMI6000 B with AFC (German)

Leica Microsystems is a leading global designer and producer of innovative, high-tech, precision optical systems for the analysis of microstructures. It is one of the market leaders in each of its business areas: Microscopy, Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy with corresponding Imaging Systems, Specimen Preparation, and Medical Equipment. The company manufactures a broad range of products for numerous applications requiring microscopic imaging, measurement, and analysis. It also offers system solutions for life science including biotechnology and medicine, research and development of raw materials, and industrial quality assurance. The company is represented in over 100 countries with 13 manufacturing facilities in 8 countries, sales and service organizations in 19 countries and an international network of dealers. The international management is headquartered in Wetzlar, Germany.