IMB Microscopy

Installed in early 2017 is the Leica STED 3X Super Resolution Microscope, which provides multicolour super-resolution imaging of cells. It is the only microscope of its type in Queensland capable of resolving the interactions between single molecules within a living cell in real time.  The system comes complete with incubation for live imaging, a resonant scan head capable of 8KHz scan speeds, the super-resolution STED module and also Fluorescent Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM) capabilities making it a truly versatile and powerful imaging system.

“The STED microscope allows us to look at cells with ultra high magnification in three dimensions. We can reconstruct cancer tissues or small animals, like fish or fly’s, in 3D. It gives us a whole new way to look at cells in health and in disease.” Professor Jenny Stow, Leader The Stow Group - Protein Trafficking and Inflammation.   

Installed in March of 2018 is the Andor Dragonfly incorporates a Spinning Disc Confocal allowing researchers to image 3D volumes at greater speed and over larger areas than ever before.  It comes complete with incubation for live cell imaging and also features TIRF imaging capabilities.  It is the only microscope of its type in Queensland and only the second Australia-wide.

Another new addition to our arsenal is the Zeiss LSM 880 Confocal, installed in April 2018, this system comprises an inverted microscope with full incubation control for live cell imaging and also features Zeiss' Fast Airyscan detector.  The Airyscan in super-res mode uses a honeycomb detector array that is capable of achieving not only greatly improved signal to noise, but will also allow users to achieve down to 120nm resolution without the need for any changes in dyes or staining protocols. The Fast Airyscan component will also allow for fast imaging of a single fluorescence channel with speeds up to 150 frames per second.

Rounding out our new equipment is the Nikon SMZ18 Stereo Microscope, a motorised stereo-microscope providing brilliant images and uniform fluorescent with more automated functionality than anything else we have had access to before.  This system features bright epi-fluorescent imaging, motorised focus control, customisable experimental design, excellent signal to noise ratio and a built in Extended Depth of Field (EDF) funtionality which allows users to achieve flat focus images of large samples such as zebra-fish, embryos and large tissue samples.  It comes with both 0.5x and 1.0x magnification objective lenses as well as adjustable microscope zoom up to 13.5x giving us a huge range of possible magnifications to suit any researcher needs.

The IMB Microscopy facility built in 2009 is a world-leading example of technology designed for discovery. It has continued to evolve, as have the questions it is set up to help answer. The facility has a significant and wide-ranging capability, with technology that is programmed specifically for the needs of the 30 research teams that utilise it. Researchers can perform multiple experiments within one facility, leaving no stone unturned.

Explore our range of hardware

Taking the images is only half the job. The Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research has awarded a joint infrastructure grant to IMB, QBI, CMM and the RCC to purchase what will be the largest GPU cluster in Australia, if not the southern hemisphere.  This cluster will allow extremely high speed image processing of the massive datasets produced by the lattice lightsheet and other imaging platforms at IMB and UQ.  Processing that would normally take days will take minutes with this new hardware.

“Computing and microscopes are intimately tied – you can’t have one without the other. To keep up with the advances in laser microscopes, we also need advanced computing capability to process the data.

“The imaging from the Lattice Light Sheet allows us to collect and record an enormous amount of data – the equivalent to half the entire iTunes library per fortnight. We can look at hundreds and thousands of cells...instead of one.

“With so many examples of what cells are doing, we can harness the power of computing to analyse and build models of the data. Eventually this will replace long expensive experiments and help us to predict cell behaviour.” Professor Jenny Stow, Leader The Stow Group - Protein Trafficking and Inflammation.  

Less time waiting for access to technology means more time for discovery. Our equipment list is abundant, with the facility housing 23 high-end microscopes.  For example, we have six point scanning confocal microscopes, a rare concentration for such complex equipment in one location.

Given the large amount of high end systems housed and managed within the IMB Microscopy Facility, we highly encourage external users to come and use systems that may not be accessible through other sources, such as the Lattice Lightsheet, Dragonfly Spinning Disc, Leica STED Super-resolution with Falcon FLIM and others.

Hours of use for external users: Monday to Friday: 9 am to 5 pm

Charged at an hourly rate - please contact a member of the Microscopy Facility Staff to discuss further.