Sensitive and rapid sCMOS camera for fluorescence fluctuation imaging

这项NSERC RTI拨款将支持购买背照式sCMOS相机，以取代无法操作和过时的电子倍增电荷耦合器件（EMCCD）相机，用于我们主要实验室显微镜的荧光成像。几乎所有的手机相机都使用CMOS图像传感器来捕捉图像。在过去的十年中，这种光探测技术的快速发展直接导致了我们希望购买的最先进的科学CMOS （sCMOS）相机。新的背光sCMOS相机具有95%的量子效率，可以在大部分可见光谱中进行光检测，它们具有更大的检测区域（更多像素），具有更快的帧速率，甚至比EMCCD相机更便宜。除了最微弱的样本外，它们的噪声响应已经提高到超过EMCCD检测的程度。因此，这种新相机将加强NSERC发现资助的研究荧光探针动力学的荧光波动成像，荧光生物分子在细胞中运动的运输测量，甚至允许亚衍射分辨率成像和单分子定位，通过荧光探针发射闪烁的敏感和快速成像。它将促进我们自己的NSERC支持的研究项目和合作的延续和扩展，这些项目和合作都依赖于定量荧光显微镜成像，这是我们实验室的核心。

This NSERC RTI grant will support the purchase of a back illuminated sCMOS camera to replace an inoperable and obsolete electron multiplying charged coupled device (EMCCD) camera for fluorescence imaging on our main lab microscope. CMOS image sensors are used in almost all cell phone cameras to capture images. The very rapid advance of this light detection technology in the past decade has led directly to the state of the art scientific CMOS (sCMOS) camera that we wish to purchase. The new back illuminated sCMOS cameras are 95% quantum efficient for light detection across much of the visible light spectrum, they have a larger detection area (more pixels), have more rapid frame rates and are even less expensive than EMCCD cameras. Their noise response has improved to the point where they surpass EMCCD detection for all but the faintest samples. Thus this new camera will enhance NSERC discovery grant funded research on fluorescence fluctuation imaging of fluorescent probe kinetics, transport measurements mapping movements of fluorescent biomolecule in cells and even allow sub-diffraction resolution imaging and single molecule localization via sensitive and rapid imaging of fluorescent probe emission blinking. It will foster the continuation and expansion of our own NSERC supported research projects and collaborations which all depend on quantitative fluorescence microscopy imaging which is the core of our lab.