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mesoSPIM_galvo_selection

Fabian F. Voigt edited this page Mar 10, 2019 · 2 revisions

Selection of galvo scanners for the mesoSPIM

Overview of the optical path

Excitation arm overview Simplified overview of the mesoSPIM excitation arm (several additional fold mirrors are missing here).

The mesoSPIM uses a galvo scanner in each arm to create the light-sheet by scanning a Gaussian beam up and down.

Galvo selection

The Galvos can be selected for 10 mm or 15 mm beam diameter with the following advantages and disadvantages:

10 mm beam size (NA 0.1 in excitation)

➕ standard diameter for scanners, short delivery times as it is a stock item

➕ higher galvo frequencies possible (i.e. 199 Hz for Zoom 1) which leads to better uniformity of the axial resolution

➖ the mesoSPIM is designed for 15 mm beam size, therefore, using a 10 mm beam will lead to a lower excitation NA (0.1 instead of 0.15) and possibly a marginally thicker light-sheet due to the lower NA

➖ lower NA means slightly worse shadow reduction (the lower the NA, the longer the shadow cone behind absorbing objects)

15 mm beam size (NA 0.15 in excitation)

➕ standard diameter for scanners, utilizes full excitation NA

➕ excellent shadow reduction due to higher excitation NA (see above)

➖ requires custom scanners from Scanlab or Cambridge Instruments with long lead times

➖ needs custom electronics to be built

➖ larger scan mirrors are slower, this can lead to lower feasible galvo frequencies before overheating (i.e. 99 Hz for Zoom 1)

Link to Scanlab documentation

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