MIDDLETON, WI — Bruker announced that the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute has purchased both an Opterra Multipoint Scanning Confocal Microscope and a Vutara 350 Super Resolution Microscope to further research on cardiac function.

The Opterra utilizes a number of innovative features to obtain the speed of wide-field imaging and the resolution of traditional confocal systems while minimizing phototoxicity, making it a solution for gentle and fast confocal imaging of live-cell preparations. The Vutara 350 can break the optical diffraction limit by an order of magnitude, opening up a myriad of research opportunities in single-molecule cellular processes.

“Our primary interests are in studying cardiomyocyte function at both the cellular and molecular level,” said James Smyth. Ph.D., assistant professor of biology at the Center for Heart and Regenerative Medicine Research, Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute. “It is critical that we are able to perform experiments at both levels on live-cell preparations at the highest data acquisition rate possible. The Bruker Opterra confocal microscope system provides us a microscopy tool for our cellular studies that allows us to optimize speed, signal level and sensitivity to our preparations. The Vutara super-resolution microscope system provides us with a unique tool that will allow us to understand protein interactions at the molecular level in our preparations. Being able to obtain technology from a single manufacturer that allows us to cover such a wide range of applications will be a benefit for us in terms of applications and technical support.”

“Bruker has been investing in fluorescence microscopy for the last two years, first with the acquisition of Prairie Technologies, which formed the nucleus of Bruker Fluorescence Microscopy, and with the more recent acquisition of Vutara,” said Steve Minne, executive vice president and general manager of Bruker's Flourescence Microscopy Business. “Each of our wide range of instruments is differentiated in its application space. Here our video-rate super resolution and low-toxicity, live-cell confocal systems have been combined to create a unique and enabling suite of research capabilities for this group."

For more information, visit research.vtc.vt.edu/heart_center.