Prior offers metal halide illumination systems for fluorescence imaging. Our systems are compatible with both upright and inverted microscopes and can be easily integrated with all major microscope brands – Nikon, Zeiss, Olympus/Evident, Leica – as well as with our OpenStand modular system and ProScan Controllers.

Whilse LED illumination is increasingly common for fluorescence microscopy, metal halide illumination can provide higher power in the green part of the visible spectrum, and can provide more flexibility when using non-standard combinations of fluorescent probes.

Metal halide bulbs are superior to traditional mercury (HBO) bulbs. The light intensity peaks with a larger bandwidth to improve excitation, and the overall light brightness is greater, without affecting spectral intensity. This means that the Lumen 200 are an effective replacement mercury bulbs for all fluorophores. Additionally, metal halide bulbs offer 10x the lifespan compared to HBO bulbs.

In comparison to LED fluorescence illumination, the Lumen 200 can offer significantly higher excitation power in the green part of the visible spectrum, where LEDs are often lacking in intensity. For multiplexing applications where five to seven different labels need to be imaged simultaneously, additional excitation intensity in this region can allow the use of fluorophores that are challenging to image with a white light LED source.

In addition, numerous LED illumination options are available for Prior’s OpenStand product range.