TIRF Technologies offers novel lightguide-based TIRF Microscopy (lgTIRFM) and traditional prism-based TIRFM (pTIRFM) flow systems. In contrast to through-objective TIRFM (oTIRFM), lg- and pTIRFM exhibit superior signal-to-background and signal-to-noise ratios, because the excitation light escapes from the opposite side of the prism or lightguide and does not interfere with the emission channel. The main advantage of lgTIRFM is its remarkable flexibility. Unlike oTIRFM, which dictates the necessity of using only specialized TIRFM objectives and laser light sources, lgTIRFM is compatible with broad range of lenses - dry, water- and oil-immersion objectives. Virtually any illuminator can be used with lgTIRFM, if it is capable of coupling light into a 2-mm diameter fiber. (See schematics at the right panel.) oTIRFM requires alignment of the laser beam, which results in irreproducible patterns of the evanescent wave between experiments. In contrast, lgTIRFM is a factory-aligned system, which provides highly reproducible pattern of the evanescent wave. lgTIRFM flow systems are supplied with open perfusion chambers designed for live-cell studies. For TIRFing microarrays we offer lg- and pTIRFM with closed flow chambers equipped with optical windows. lgTIRFM system is mounted on a 110 x 160-mm platform, which fits inside the window for 96-well plate of Ludl and Prior motorized stages, or can be installed on the top of manual X-Y translation stage. Supported microscopes are Nikon, Olympus, Zeiss, and Leica.

TIRF efficiently rejects the background signal - at least one order of magnitude better that confocal microscopy - and allows for visualizing single molecules located at the surface and within the evanescent wave. TIRF microscopy ideally suits for studies of surface-based interactions. Such studies include single molecule detection, endo- and exocytosis, membrane trafficking, protein-protein interactions, DNA hybridization, assay development, etc.

Turnkey TIRF Microscopy System

TIRF Technologies offers turnkey TIRFM systems built on Nikon, Olympus, Zeiss, or Leica inverted microscopes.

Prism-based TIRF Microscopy pTIRFM

Prism-based TIRFM uses single reflection of the excitation beam, which goes in and out through opposite facets of dovetail prism. The prism is in optical contact with 1-mm TIRF slide. Surface of the slide is imaged through optical window in the fluidics block, which forms closed flow cell at TIRF surface. pTIRFM is designed for use with dry objectives.