Imaging Suite Facility
The Imaging Suite is a purpose-built facility maintained by the department of Veterinary Basic Sciences.
It contains microscopes capable of experiments ranging from basic microscopy of cells or tissues up to complex imaging including three-dimensional reconstructions, live cell imaging, imaging of multiple fluorescent dyes or a combination of all of those.
Day to day operations within the Imaging Suite are overseen by Dr Andrew Hibbert and the Facility Manager is Professor Peter Chantler.
All of our microscopes are available for hire to external academic
or non-academic users.
For further information please contact Dr Hibbert.
(contact details are at the bottom of the page)
Equipment and Capabilities
Currently, the following equipment and capabilities are to be found within our Imaging Suite:
Wide field light and fluorescence microscopes
These are used for most normal imaging of cells or tissues, which might be stained with coloured dyes, fluorescent dyes or not stained at all. They can be imaged at scales ranging from entire tissues to details of a few cells.
Our five microscopes are fitted with high-resolution colour or sensitive monochrome cameras and we have both upright and inverted microscopes providing great flexibility in the types of sample we can image.
Confocal microscopes
These eliminate out of focus light to image fluorescent dyes in a thin "optical slice", as though a very thin section of your sample had been cut out. By stacking these slices on top of each other the creation of three-dimensional reconstructions of your cells or tissues is possible.
We have two confocal microscopes in the facility and are able to image all commonly used dyes.
Live imaging
We have a microscope at 37°C with a supply of humidified 5% CO2. This allows imaging of living cells over time courses up to overnight.
Image analysis
We have a range of software packages for the manipulation and quantitation of the images you collect in the Suite. Dr Hibbert is experienced in the use of all these programs and available to provide any assistance necessary with presenting or quantifying images.
Further Information and Contact
If you require any further details of any of the equipment capabilities or wish to request booking information then please contact:
Andrew Hibbert, Imaging Suite Technician, CBS Department, Royal Veterinary College, Royal College Street, London NW1 0TU
Tel: 020 7468 5257 or Email: ahibbert@rvc.ac.uk