CARSLab

The NRC-Olympus CARSLab, located at 100 Sussex Drive Ottawa, offers state-of-the-art Multimodal imaging capability to perspective clients and collaborators. This facility provides traditional optical imaging techniques such as two photon fluorescence (TPF) second harmonic generation (SHG) and sum frequency generation (SFG) in combination with the NRC world leading femtosecond CARS imaging technology. See "CARS Microscopy Made Simple," Biophotonics, October 2009, Optics Express 17, p 2984, 2009.

The CARSLab (Coherent Anti-stokes Raman Scattering) microscope can be used on live cells, and is particularly sensitive to lipids or fats. Since the insides of cells are not naturally colour-coded, different components do not look very different under a standard microscope that uses visible light. Over the past century, researchers have developed dyes and stains that clearly show these different constituents. However, traditional staining techniques may affect some exceedingly complex biochemistry when used to study a live cell "in action." CARS microscopy avoids this problem by exploiting the internal vibrations or "Raman spectra" that are characteristic of different cell molecules, "lighting up" the molecules. CARS can make movies of live cell processes, without adding any dyes or stains that might alter them. This feature when simultaneously combined with TPF, SHG and or SFG, (hence multimodal imaging) gives the NRC facility a unique advantage over any two-photon biological imaging microscope facility.

Three types of services are provided:

Annual Workshops

• For those who are unfamiliar with the CARS technique but would like to learn more (CARS 101)
• A forum for experience CARS users to link up with other like minded users to explore and exchange ideas and objectives
• Workshop dates will be announced on the Events section of the NRC Website

Hands on training

• For those who do not know whether or not CARS can meet their needs, we provide access, under a suitable negotiated arrangement, for them to explore CARS in combination with multimodal imaging as a research tool for their research objectives
• The opportunity to test run a CARS system before committing to purchasing their own system such as the NRC inspired Olympus fv1000

Joint initiatives/partnerships

• NRC-SIMS can make the facility available to Centre of Research excellences or other research groupings as part of an in-kind contribution to Grant applications both national and international

Please visit the NRC-Olympus CARSLab website for up-to-date information.

Related Information

Institutes:

• NRC Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences