Re: Advice on building multi-channel image splitter

[RJ3]

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It seems as though most resellers in the US offer the Cairn OptoSplit rebadged, or very similar designs.

I was just wondering if anyone has compared it to the only other design option I have found, the Hamamatsu W-VIEW GEMINI? Hamamatsu has a transmittance curve on their website, but I haven't found that data for the OptoSplit. Particularly, I was wondering if there is anyone out there who has tried both and can comment on QE or other features.

[Zdenek Svindrych-2]

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Hi Rafael,
then there is the classical DualView (ours is labelled Optical Insights, but
now apparently Photometrics took over).

Just make sure the system you choose supports the whole chip of the camera
you plan to use (18.5 mm diameter for Orca Flash4.0 and similar CMOSes,
microscopes typically support up to 28 mm diameter field of view, but there
are even bigger chips out there, such as Dhyana 95) with zero vignetting.
There is also some maximum aperture (input light cone angle, related to the
back focal plane aperture diameter of your objective) the splitter will
transmit, but that should not be an issue, as these apertures are small in
normal microscopes. But check with the vendor to make sure.

Assuming there is no vignetting or aperture limitation, there is little to
influence transmission. You can count 1% loss for every lens and mirror, but
that is minor contribution. So it boils down to the dichroics and
interference filters you choose.


There is much more to splitters than transmittance (aberrations,
deformations, mechanical stability, alignment, ...), and hands-on experience
is invaluable here. I've used all three mentioned systems, but only briefly
and on different microscopes... Sorry.

Best, zdenek


---------- Původní e-mail ----------
Od: Rafael Jaimes <[hidden email]>
Komu: [hidden email]
Datum: 31. 8. 2017 14:03:28
Předmět: Re: Advice on building multi-channel image splitter
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It seems as though most resellers in the US offer the Cairn OptoSplit
rebadged, or very similar designs.

I was just wondering if anyone has compared it to the only other design
option I have found, the Hamamatsu W-VIEW GEMINI? Hamamatsu has a
transmittance curve on their website, but I haven't found that data for the
OptoSplit. Particularly, I was wondering if there is anyone out there who
has tried both and can comment on QE or other features.
"

[Philippe CARL]

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Dear James,

In Europe, or at least in France, the situation is/was (= about 2 years ago) completely inversed with a very easy access to the Hamamatsu W-VIEW GEMINI system for testing but way more difficulties for accessing Cairn systems for testing.

But I have heard that this situation has changed lately since Cairn has a new distributor that is somehow more active.

So historically, a group in our laboratory had acquired 2 Gemini systems one year before we got an interest in such systems in my group.

And short after their acquisition, they contacted me for improving the code within the UnwarpJ ImageJ plugin in order to correct the color pixel shifting effect they had for super resolution applications with their Gemini system.

You will be able to find some discussions about these code improvements here: http://forum.imagej.net/t/unwarpj-scripting-documentation/2939/3

Thus when our group got as well the project and budget for such a picture splitting add-on, we already knew the color pixel shifting issue of the Gemini (probably due to the fact that the last lens in their principle drawing is crossed once within the half top, once within the half bottom of the lens).

So we looked for alternative options and found the Cairn system for which we contacted directly the company for getting a testing unit as loan.

They sent us then an Optosplit II with Bypass they even still had under development at the time of our request.

We tested then this system in comparison with the one of Hamamatsu for the question of color pixel shifting and found no detectable issues when imaging some tetraspeck beads.

As concerning the QE for both Cairn and Hamamatsu systems I can’t tell you their values on top of my head, but they were quite comparable.

Following these tests we were then the first (I think worldwide) acquiring an Optosplit II system with Bypass.

As for the simple Cairn Optosplit II system you are referring to, I will not make any comments on it since we didn’t test it.

Nevertheless, be aware that my comments are applying only on our optical system and with our applications.

I can only recommand you that (in the case you have enough time to take your decision) you requests both systems for side by side testings on your optical system with your samples and with your own applications.

Have a nice week-end.

My best regards,

Philippe

 

Philippe CARL

Laboratoire de Biophotonique et Pharmacologie

UMR 7213 CNRS - Université de Strasbourg

Faculté de Pharmacie

74 route du Rhin

67401 ILLKIRCH

Tel : [phone]

 

 


Subject:

Re: Advice on building multi-channel image splitter


Date:

Thu, 31 Aug 2017 13:02:28 -0500


From:

Rafael Jaimes  <mailto:[hidden email]> <[hidden email]>


Reply-To:

Confocal Microscopy List  <mailto:[hidden email]> <[hidden email]>


To:

[hidden email]

 

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It seems as though most resellers in the US offer the Cairn OptoSplit rebadged, or very similar designs.
 
I was just wondering if anyone has compared it to the only other design option I have found, the Hamamatsu W-VIEW GEMINI? Hamamatsu has a transmittance curve on their website, but I haven't found that data for the OptoSplit. Particularly, I was wondering if there is anyone out there who has tried both and can comment on QE or other features.

[James Kerin]

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****** COMMERCIAL POST ******


Dear Rafael,


Naturally we at Cairn have been following this thread with particular interest, but we felt we should await at least one third party report, which Philippe has now provided, before making our own comments.


My understanding from Philippe's posting is that &ldquo;colour pixel shifting&rdquo; was observed with the Gemini, but that there was no such detectable effect with the Optosplit Bypass. &nbsp;I presume this refers to some differential image distortion between the images on the two channels on the Gemini, which became apparent when they were overlaid in software, but that there was no comparable issue with the Optosplit.


We certainly would not expect such issues with any of our splitters, and indeed our proprietary design principle was specifically intended to exclude them, as we consider this to be a potentially important requirement. &nbsp;In the Optosplit the two internal pathways are symmetrical and of equal length, each following two adjacent sides of a rectangle, with the input and output being on opposite corners (and this concept is extended into three dimensions in our four-channel Multisplit), whereas in the Gemini design one channel is direct, and the other follows the other two sides of a triangle, so there is a potentially significant asymmetry. &nbsp;Perhaps that is relevant to Philippe's observations?


However the Gemini design does make it easy to switch to bypass mode, as you can just use the direct channel for that, whereas in the Optosplit design principle the output is laterally offset from the input in order to achieve the internal symmetry, and that does mean that switching to and from a single-channel to bypass mode is potentially more fiddly. &nbsp;We address that issue in the Optosplit Bypass variant, where an alternative pair of mirrors can be switched into the optical pathway in order to provide the lateral offset in bypass mode. &nbsp;This allows you to switch to bypass mode without needing to adjust any of the other splitter settings, potentially to give the best of both worlds.


We would greatly welcome any further comparisons between the Hamamatsu and Cairn designs, and we will always be happy to provide any of our products for comparative evaluation purposes. &nbsp;Ultimately it is up to the customer to decide which is the better product!




Dr Martin V Thomas
President
Cairn Research Ltd


www.cairn-research.co.uk


Optosplit II - https://www.cairn-research.co.uk/product/optosplit-ii


Optosplit II bypass - https://www.cairn-research.co.uk/product/optosplit-ii-bypass/

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On  08/31/2017, 07:02pm, Rafael Jaimes ([hidden email]) wrote:
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To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
 
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*****
 

 
It seems as though most resellers in the US offer the Cairn OptoSplit rebadged, or very similar designs.
 

 
I was just wondering if anyone has compared it to the only other design option I have found, the Hamamatsu W-VIEW GEMINI? Hamamatsu has a transmittance curve on their website, but I haven't found that data for the OptoSplit. Particularly, I was wondering if there is anyone out there who has tried both and can comment on QE or other features.