intelligent imaging innovations, inc.


Everest™

The 3i Everest™ system represents the ultimate upright digital microscopy workstation. Everest™ is composed of state-of-the-art optics, opto-electronics, software and computers optimized for the individual scientist's specific application. Everest™ fully integrates with SlideBook™ software. Everest™ is equipped for all widefiled fluorescence applications as well as transmitted illumination applications. Common uses of Everest™ include multi-channel fluorescence imaging, Ratiometric imaging, FRET, 3-D deconvolution, time lapse, large format montage, stereology and more.Everest™ is an expandable system with numerous high-end options such as spinning disk confocal, environmental control, FRAP, rapid 4-D, simultaneous dual camera acquisition and more.

Complete System Motorization - Everest™ is designed to have complete computer control of the entire microscope. This allows our SlideBook™ software to easily orchestrate complicated data collection protocols involving illumination control, filter selection, position regulation, detector selection, etc. The points of computer control and the precision of automation are listed below:

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  • X,Y-Axis (100 nm reproducibility due to linear encoders)
  • Z-Axis (25 nm minimum step, 50 nm reproducibility due to harmonic drive)
  • Fluorescence shutter (2 ms timing)
  • Fluorescence intensity (2 ms timing, 8 settings)
  • Fluorescence Excitation filter (4 positions, 2 ms switch time)
  • Fluorescence/Reflected light filter turret (8 positions, 0.5 second switch time)
  • Objective turret (automatic parafocal offset)
  • Transmitted light turret (bright field, dark field, DIC and phase ring position)
  • Transmitted field diaphragm
  • Transmitted aperature diaphragm
  • Transmitted light intensity
  • ND filter
  • Camera position prism
  • Spherical Aberration Correction Setting

Critical Fluorescence Illumination - Everest™ is equipped with a scrambled and stabilized 175 Watt Xenon light source designed to fill the back aperature of objectives delivering an intense, uniform and stably illuminated field.

The light scrambling is particularly important for deconvolution applications because it makes illumination axially and laterally uniform. This keeps the Point Spread Function (PSF) the same over the imaged volume.

Spherical Aberation Correction - Spherical Aberration is the most serious monochromatic aberration in microscopy. It arises when the observed sample does not have the exact cover slip, mounting medium and immersion medium specified by the lens designer. Practically, this occurs with every biological sample.

Everest™ comes standard with a patented motorized spherical aberration system from Infinity Photo-optical. This system, exclusively available from 3i, along with SlideBook™ for Everest™ automatically adjusts optics to dynamically correct for spherical aberration for every focal plane in the sample. This yields data with the highest possible resolution and greatest contrast. These aberration free data are optimal for Deconvolution and 3-D morphometrics.

Custom Optimized Optics Selection - Every scientific experiment has a different set of optical requirements for optimal data collection so each Everest™ system comes with optics specifically tailored to each researcher's individual requirements. System considerations include magnification, wavelength transmittance, working distance, DIC or phase optics requirements, and fluorescence probe requirements.

Each Everest™ system includes optimized filter sets that are thickness and wedge matched to have no lateral chromatic shift. In addition, filters are anti-reflective coated to maximize transmittance and optimize optical performance.

State-of-the-art Detectors - The camera on our Everest™ system is optimized for sensitivity and collection speed. The sensor is a Sony extended quantum efficiency interline SVGA CCD. The detector is cooled to reduce thermal noise. The cooling fan has been externalized to eliminate image distortion via vibration.

Everest™ can be equipped with additional detectors such as Cascade cameras or ICCD's for certain applications like rapid 4-D collection., A second standard camera can be added to Everest™ for simultaneous dual emission collection for experiments such as live FRET.

SlideBook™ for Everest™ - At the heart of every Everest™ system is our state-of-the-art SlideBook™ software. SlideBook™ for Everest™ includes all the high-end functionality to fully take advantage of the system's automation. SlideBook™ seamlessly integrates x-,y- and z- stage motion with filter control and light shuttering to easily configure experiments as simple as 2-D capture to as complicated as 4-D multi-fluor and multi-mode imaging.