Maestro Imaging Systems
The standard for all-optical in vivo imaging
Award-winning Maestro™ systems (from CRi) enable in vivo fluorescence imaging of small animals with unprecedented sensitivity. Maestro provides users with a patented method of removing autofluorescence emitted from images of skin and other tissues to reveal otherwise hard-to-detect labeled targets of interest. The dramatic improvement in signal-to-noise can increase sensitivity up to several hundred-fold, enabling much smaller or fainter signals from biological targets to be detected earlier and accurately measured. The increased sensitivity over standard imaging techniques provided by Maestro’s high-quality spectral imaging technology enable experiments and models which simply cannot be performed on any other system.
The Maestro Dynamic™ system uses our patented DyCE™ (Dynamic Contrast Enhancement) technology to generate time-based kinetic images and movies of fluorescent reagents and labeled antibodies, providing quantitative data on the temporal biodistribution of fluorescent markers at much earlier time points than is possible using conventional imaging methods, and enabling better discrimination between bound and unbound antibodies. These kinetic imaging data can be used either to generate all-optical anatomic organ maps of a mouse or as a part of body-compartment modeling, pK value calculations or rate of uptake and washout determinations.
Upper mouse has a tumor in the left groin, revealed by an antibody bound to Alexa Fluor 680. The rest of the shaved area is non-specific signal. Lower mouse is a negative control mouse.
Sample courtesy UC-Davis Molecular Imaging Workshop
Note: Alexa Fluor® 680 is a registered trademark of the Invitrogen Corporation.
The Maestro comes in three models:
| Maestro EX | Maestro 2 | Maestro Dynamic | |||
| Filter Selection | Manual | Manual | Automated | ||
| Stage Adjustment | Manual | Automated | Automated | ||
| Light-Tight Chamber | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Wavelength Range | 500 - 950 nm | 500 - 950 nm | 500 - 950 nm | ||
| Bandwidth Selections | 20 and 40 nm | 20 and 40 nm | 20 and 40 nm | ||
| Min Wavelength Spacing | 2 nm | 2 nm | 2 nm | ||
| Fluorescence Sensitivity* | 300x | 300x | 300x | ||
| CCD/Cooling | Sony ICX285 / 8° C | Sony ICX285 / 0° C | Sony ICX285 / 0° C | ||
| Spatial Resolution | 25 micron/pixel | 25 micron/pixel | 25 micron/pixel | ||
| Max Field-of-View | Up to 3 mice | Up to 3 mice | Up to 3 mice | ||
| Typical Exposure Time | 2 - 5 sec | 2 - 5 sec | 2 - 5 sec | ||
| Max Exposure Time | 10 min | 20 min | 20 min | ||
| Anatomic Organ Maps and Kinetic Imaging | Optional | Optional Yes | |||
| *Maximum sensitivity over standard monochrome imaging methods. | |||||
