Optics & Photonics News

Changing markets

The move to the life sciences market was somewhat fortuitous. We were fortunate to get an opportunity with a local firm to develop a laser source for a spinning disk confocal instrument. The project helped us to realize that the skills we used to develop space optics and remote sensing instruments were well suited to the development of microscope equipment.

In fact, many of the technologies applied to microscopy today have their roots in astronomy. After all, the same high-sensitivity camera technology that is currently used to image cells was first developed for viewing stars. And the localization methods now used in super-resolution microscopy also have their roots in positioning stars.

Spectral has been successful in bringing new insight to the field. Microscopy traditionally made extensive use of wide-band sources such as halogen bulbs, arc lamp sources and, more recently, LEDs. Lasers have also become prevalent. In fact, they are practically necessary for a number of the newer applications, such as confocal scanning microscopy and total internal reflectance fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy.

Laser technology has moved from large gas lasers to much smaller and less expensive solid-state ones, which offer a greater range of powers and wavelengths. Spectral was one of the earliest companies to package up to five lasers in a single enclosure; that made it easy for researchers to dial in the wavelength and power they required through software control. Today, nearly all laser illumination is done this way.

Fiber coupling allows lasers to be located remotely from the experiment and to be interfaced in a much less invasive manner. In most applications, single-mode fiber is used to couple the laser light to the microscope. Such fibers have core sizes of only 3 µm, which make them difficult to use and maintain. Spectral advances the use of much more robust multimode fibers for microscopy.

One product of particular importance is Borealis, which is a modification of

Richard Berman The MOST space telescope during a test integration.

What customers want and what they need are often different— but, ideally, you want to give them both. Then be ruthless in your self-assessment as to whether you are really delivering what you claim.

the highly regarded Yokogawa confocal spinning disk, CSU. Through the careful application of multimode fibers, the Borealis design created a more robust product that also improves the performance of a class-leading imaging device. In the case of the CSU, total throughput, excitation uniformity and wavelength options all improved through the use of multimode fibers.

Looking ahead

Spectral has grown to include 25 employees. The team remains focused on finding new technologies and in some cases borrowing old ones and applying them to the rapidly changing world of microscopy research.

We have learned that the customers’ needs must come before a technology push. It is critical to find out what your end users really need and want. We find what they want and what they need are often different—but, ideally, you want to give them both. You must be ruthless in your self-assessment as to whether you are really delivering what you claim.

Spectral actively seeks collaborations with researchers to explore new ideas or to define requirements for future instruments. With the advances in life science research growing at ever-increasing speed, there seems to be unending potential for innovation. We feel fortunate to be contributing to a field that includes so many dedicated researchers working towards a greater good. The strong force of competition only helps to accelerate the pace of progress.

Moving forward, Spectral is looking to develop increasingly sophisticated designs for the life science market and to penetrate overseas markets. Longer term we are looking at moving into the clinical marketplace.

After 11 years in business and many lessons learned along the way, Spectral has shown that good science can become the foundation for good business. t