SMT1-FL-QC


Low-Cost Fluorescence Stereo-Microscope Multi-Fluorophore System

Quantity Pricing
$11,886.49 † - Regular price.
$11,616.22 † - 2 or more.
$11,454.05 † - 3 or more.

Base and Illumination

Trans-Illumination

Top Illumination

1st Fluorophore

2nd Fluorophore

3rd Fluorophore

4th Fluorophore

5th Fluorophore

Camera Mounts

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For a scientist like you, we've included lots of details about our new fluorescence dissecting scope so that you can understand it and compare it with others, but feel free to pick up the phone and call our tech support staff, 24/7 with any questions! The SMT1-FL-QC (Pats. issued and more pending) is the culmination of years of research to bring a research-grade, full-featured, low-cost fluorescence dissecting stereomicroscope to the scientific community that's affordable to the education community as well. It allows for rapid switching between different fluorophores like eGFP, mCherry, tdTomato, CFP, misc RFPs and even DAPI in under 1 second and is reconfigurable between multiple fluorophores in just seconds with no tools! With our technology, excitation sources are incredibly bright and background fluorescence is minimized, so dim signals are often visible and many phenotypes can be seen even in a brightly lit room. This is not a mediocre add-on kit. This is a complete fluorescence microscope system for less than the price of other high quality plain dissecting stereomicroscopes!

If you are considering the Zeiss Axio Zoom.V16, the Leica MZ10 F, M205 FA, M165 FC, the Nikon SMZ25, SMZ18, or the Olympus SZX16, MVX10, or SZX10, you really need to take a look at our SMT1-FL-QC to see how much money you can save - not only on purchase price, but on lower maintenance cost and increased equipment life span (no Hg arc lamps or expensive polychromatic sources). Before getting into the great features of our low-cost fluorescence dissecting scope: our better prices do not equate to lower quality… they derive from superior engineering and a different company philosophy. When someone buys a microscope from the "Big 4", they are not just paying for the microscope… they are paying for tons of advertising, marketing, sales commissions and other hidden costs. At Tritech Research, we forgo all of those expenses and rely on great word-of-mouth recommendations within the scientific community. Your precious grant budget or start up funds can be stretched further since they only pay for the microscope itself! Tritech Research isn't a start up; we've been selling dissecting stereomicroscopes for over 30 years, since our inception in 1991. We operate on a lean budget and put money from your purchase back into Research and Development of new products to save even more money for the scientific community while delivering new enabling technologies like this microscope!

4 quick-change LED fluorescence modules

How does it work?

First, we replaced the expensive mercury arc lamp, power supply, and bulbs that cost > $200 yet last only 200 hours with super-bright, energy-efficient LEDs that last > 40,000 hours. We've sourced the brightest LEDs in the world, and designed optics to harvest almost every photon relevant to exciting your fluorescent samples.

Our modules employ two excitation beams that intersect in the focal plane of your specimen. This doubles the signal without doubling the background fluorescence (Patent No. 11,885,951 and Pats. Pending). Each compact, interchangeable module uses the finest dichroic filters to refine the excitation and emission wavelengths for bright, clean imaging and a powerful magnetic system for easy, tool-free installation and changing of configuration to suit any single, double, or triple labeled experiment.

We also invented a slider system uses magnetic detents (Patent No.10,705,324 and Pats. Pending) for robust, wear-free operation. A single sliding operation precisely positions the excitation and emission filters, and energizes the module.

The microscope is available with a few different options for the base/stand and illumination. Fluorescence illumination is always from the top, and we have options that allow for different types of standard white-light illumination of your specimens. For top lighting, select our standard "ergonomic" base and add our dual goose-neck LED illuminator. For transillumination (through the sample), you can use our standard "ergonomic" base with frosted glass plate and built-in fixed LED illumination of an area of ∼30mm in diameter. For an upgraded transillumination option, select our taller, narrower, triangular transillumination base with a large rotatable and translatable mirror. This upgraded base employs a larger frosted mirror and clear glass plate. Moving the diffusion farther from the specimen increases contrast and resolution. The larger mirror can illuminate a sample ∼50mm in diameter, and changing its angle and position allows for optimal contrast to visualize internal structures (for example structures within the C. elegans pharynx and embryos, or within internal organs of Zebrafish, Xenopus, chick and mammalian embryos). Click here to see the scope on the triangular base (this photo also shows the optional trinocular c-mount adapter and one of our USB cameras attached). An optional foot pedal allows for the white illumination to be flashed on as needed to orient samples without moving your hands or losing your dark-adapted vision.

As this is a Tritech brand product, it is covered by our money-back guarantee and limited warranty. Order it with confidence and try it in your own lab or classroom. If you have concerns about being able to visualize a particular sample, you can even mail us a sample, and we will e-mail you a photo of what we can see with the scope!

If the videos seem unavailable, try refreshing the web page
Here is a video that shows C. elegans worms expressing eGFP in their bodies and dsRed in their pharynges. You can see both simultaneously if you choose our eGFP longpass emission filter, as below (or for separate channels, choose the bandpass filters and use eGFP with mCherry):



Here is a video that shows how easy it is to assemble the scope and use the scope:




Here are some images of samples examined with the scope:

HC114 GFP

The nematode C. elegans expressing 3 eGFP transgenes in the mitochondria of cells in the 4-cell embryo, and the pharyngeal muscle and gut cells at later stages.


HC-114 brightfield image

The same stain as above, in brightfield trans-illumination. Great optics!


UNC-25 GFP

C. elegans expressing the [Punc-25::GFP] transgene (juIs76). unc-25 encodes glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD). UNC-25 is expressed specifically in GABAergic neurons and localizes to cell bodies, axonal branches, and synaptic regions in the 19 type D motor-neurons, most notably shown here in the 13 ventral nerve cord neurons.


MYO-2 RFP

C. elegans expressing a [Pmyo-2::dsRed] transgene. myo-2 encodes a tissue-specific myosin class II heavy chain. MYO-2 is expressed specifically in the muscles of the pharynx, as shown here by the expression of the Red Fluorescent Protein dsRed.


DROS-8 GFP
Larvae of transgenic Drosophila melanogaster expressing GFP in their salivary glands.

"Tritech Research is the first and only company to offer LED-based complete GFP Dissecting Stereo-microscope Systems, saving customers thousands of dollars. Traditional Mercury arc lamp based fluorescent systems cost up to $35000. They have perfected the LED-based GFP microscopy and completely eliminated the mercury arc lamp and associated optics, bringing the price of the microscope to one third of its previous cost!."

FAQ's

Q: On the SMT1-FL-QC I noticed that there is a partial field of view when looking at fluorescence but this only is visible at 6x magnification - I can see the whole field clearly at higher magnifications. Why is this?
A: To get the brightest fluorescence of what you are looking at, and minimal photobleaching of the remainder of your sample, the illuminated spot is purposely smaller than the 6x field of view. At 12x, the edges are a little dimmer, and at 25x + the field should be fully illuminated. The best, brightest images will be seen at 12x and 25x. Hopefully the modules were still aimed perfectly when they arrived. If you're careful when you install and remove them, you won't have to re-aim anything; however, see the question below about centering the modules. Sometimes the "slider holder" (the black part under the objective that the slider slides through) can shift in angle if someone pulls down on one side of the slider. In that case both modules will still illuminate the same spot, but it will be off-center.... in that case, please fix the slider-holder (by loosening and remounting it) instead of re-aligning the modules.
Perhaps your question is not referring to the portion of the 6x field of view that is illuminated by the converging beams, but instead you are referring to the entire field of view (for example what you see when the sample is illuminated from the bottom. If that is the case, it sounds like the slider is just not exactly stopped in the center of its magnetic detent. Try manually sliding the slider left and right while looking through the scope and see if you can get rid of the non-illuminated gibbous.

Q: How can I prevent the slider from getting loose?
A: Make sure that the slider-holder is all the way up as far as it can go on the objective lens, and orthogonal to it, before tightening the set screw. It is permissible to give the set screw a little bit (let's say 30 degrees) of extra tightening, using pliers, past what a normal person can do with their fingers. The idea is that you don't want it to get loose or charge angles when using the slider.

Q: How can I ensure that the modules are centered?
A: You can periodically check that the modules are still centered by putting a dot on a piece of white paper and centering it on the stage plate. At 6x, make sure that the scope head is centered left-right and move it on the pole as needed to get it centered. Next, make sure that the slider-holder is on perfectly. Focus on the dot at 25x so it is in perfect focus, then go back to 6x. With each module, when it is the active position, there should be a single spot centered on your dot. If there are two spots that don't overlap, call us for tech support. They should only overlap in the plane of focus. If they overlap but are not hitting the dot in the center of the stage, you can adjust the left-right position by rotating the main metal part of the module relative to the colored plastic part. You can adjust the up-down position by turning the little jack-screw with needle nose pliers or forceps.

Q: What if the red anti-glare shield is in the way?
A: If someone with large hands finds that the red anti-glare shield is in the way, it can be installed upside-down and still be somewhat effective. Normally the curved part should be inserted into the slot on the front of the slider-holder. In the alternate arrangement, insert the straight part in the slider holder so that it comes toward you before curving down at the very end.

Q: Can the SMT1-FL-QC scope detect weak tdTomato signals in mouse brain cells through the skull?
A: Maybe... The dsRed/tdTomato/TRITC module will emit a pair of intersecting beams of extremely bright green light (525-550nm) that will excite an area of a bit less than 1 square cm. This light will have to shine through the skull to excite tdTomato in the brain below. The module then blocks all of the green light that it emits and allows orange+red fluorescence that escapes through the skull to enter the microscope. The other issue will be the signal-to-noise ratio - for example if the skull or some other tissue auto-fluoresces orange-red to the same magnitude as your signal, it will obscure the signal.

Q: What is the purpose of the Foot-pedal trigger listed under Trans-llumination options?
A: When screening samples with a dark background, it is sometimes nice to add some context with a low level of regular light. If it's something that you like to do often, then, instead of manually adjusting the transillumination brightness each time, you can preset a suitable low level and use the foot pedal with your foot or hand to add the context with a simple click.


† These are our list prices. If you are paying with an Institutional Purchase Order or by check, you qualify for a 7.5% discount. Click here to change your payment method and see the lower prices.