Olympus cell^tirf enables ultra-sensitive simultaneous multicolour TIRFM using four laser channels with independent beam paths. Individual motorised angle control for each laser ensures equal evanescent penetration (±1 nm) to provide high-contrast images with minimal background noise for cell membrane, surface and single molecule studies.

Since the angle of each laser source is independently motorised, their penetration depths can be synchronised across each wavelength within the system using xcellence software. This also provides key data about the penetration depths possible with each laser/objective pair.

Switching between wide-field burner, wide-field laser illumination, critical angle or even to two different preset penetration depths is as simple as pushing a single button. The Experiment Manager also enables the penetration depth to be changed during the course of an experiment.

Olympus offers four dedicated TIRFM objectives with exceptional optical quality. The 100x objective with an NA of 1.7 provides the highest resolution currently available, while a 150x (1.45 NA) objective is also available. As a result, TIRFM investigations can now have single molecule precision. New 100x and 60x objectives provide increased NA of 1.49 to ensure exact angle control and shorter penetration depth, which is a great advantage for cell membrane studies.

The cell* family of lasers consists of 14 compact, silent and long-life diode and DPSS lasers from 405 to 640 nm with laser power of up to 150 mW. The lasers are self-configured in the xcellence software using the intelligent ODB (Olympus Digital Bus) connection. Shuttering and attenuation can be performed in real-time via the Experiment Manager.

The cell^tirf system provides the ideal optical settings for advanced HILO microscopy. By using a highly inclined, thin light beam, image intensity is increased and background intensity decreased, yielding a signal-to-background ratio about eight times greater than that of epi-illumination. HILO microscopy is especially useful for the observation of living cells that are sensitive to light, as well as for time-lapse studies.

Olympus cell^tirf has integrated point FRAP optics for the first laser line. This enables FRAP and photo-switching experiments without additional cost. Turning a button on the TIRF illuminator switches the light of one laser into a refraction-limited spot. This laser can be used for photomanipulation and the others for TIRF and wide-field microscopy. The real-time controller offers a switching time of 100 µs and outstanding data quality for these protocols.