The LIFA is a camera-based fast FLIM system that operates in the frequency domain and is compatible with Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF). TIRF-FLIM enables selective lifetime imaging down to 100nm from the coverslip, allowing exciting applications including quantitative membrane trafficking studies using FLIM-FRET and Multi-Color FLIM.
The LIFA is easy to install - within the hour - and very easy to operate. The attachment is compatible with Leica®, Nikon®, Olympus®, and Zeiss® fluorescence microscopes. The LIFA is in addition well suited for high-content screening applications. The LIFA system has been judged "easy and highly quantitative" for a.o. FLIM-FRET studies.
Reference: In this paper by the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research (Glasgow, UK) the LIFA has been applied in TIRF mode.
Supported TIRF modules
Different TIRF modules have been succesfully evaluated in combination to the LIFA system including Leica, Nikon, and Olympus. The laser-TIRF unit is mounted to the epi-attachment of the microscope. The system's directly modulated laser diodes are connected to the laser-TIRF unit using fiber optics. The TRiCAM modulated ICCD camera is mounted to the camera port of the wide field fluorescence microscope.
TIRF users can upgrade their existing laser-TIRF setup with a LIFA system. For excitation a modulated laser source is required. Lambert Instruments offers the Multi-LASER, which is available with a range of excitation wavelengths among which 405nm, 445nm, 488nm, 515nm and 639nm.
