The Optical Imaging Facility of ION was established in 2002. At present, the facility has seven technical staff members and runs under the supervision of Dr. Qian Hu (qianhu@ion.ac.cn, TEL: 54921811). The facility is equipped with 25 sets of large-scale optical microscopes: fourteen confocal microscopes, four two-photon microscopes, four high-throughput virtual tissue slice systems, one ultra-high-speed confocal microscope, one super resolution fluorescence microscope and one live cell imaging system. By opening 80 hours per week (Monday to Friday: 9:00 am-10:00 pm, Weekend: 2:00 pm - 10:00 pm), the facility now provides roughly 30,000 hours of optical imaging experiments per year. It is supported by a team of experienced technical staffs who provide services including experimental consultation, instrument usage training, data acquisition, image process and analysis. The facility has some of the most advanced equipments in China with a high utilization rate. 

The facility consists of three groups: 

The first group is located on the first floor of the Biological Research Building (Room A119 & A107, TEL: 54921734), and is equipped with 7 sets of large-scale optical microscopes: three BRUKER two-photon microscopes, one BRUKER super resolution fluorescence microscope, one BRUKER ultra-high-speed confocal microscope, one NIKON A1R upright confocal microscope and one NIKON Ti live cell imaging system. Among them, the two-photon microscopes are mainly used for deep imaging of living animals (drosophila, zebrafish, mice, rats) and whole brain reconstruction (by sectioning during imaging, or by tissue clearing); the super resolution fluorescence microscope is mainly used for dSTORM super resolution imaging and TIRF imaging; the ultra-high-speed confocal microscope is mainly used for high-time resolution imaging, uncaging experiment, and rapid 3D reconstruction of transparent specimens. 

The second group is located on the fourth floor of the Biological Research Building (Room A438 & A434 TEL: 54921820), and is equipped with 8 sets of large-scale optical microscopes: one BRUKER two-photon microscope, five NIKON (A1, A1+FLIM+FCS, A1R, C2) confocal microscopes, and two OLYMPUS FV1000 confocal microscopes. Among them, the two-photon microscope is mainly used for deep imaging of brain slices, retinas, zebrafish, mice and rats; the NIKON (A1, A1+FLIM+FCS, A1R, C2) confocal microscopes are mainly used for multi-color and high resolution fluorescence imaging of fixed specimens, large-scale 3D imaging, live cell imaging, FRAP, FRET, FLIM, FCS, FCCS and other experiments. 

The third group is located on the third floor of the Biological Research Building (Room A331 TEL: 54921935), and is equipped with 10 sets of large-scale optical microscopes: four OLYMPUS FV3000 confocal microscopes, four OLYMPUS VS120 high-throughput virtual tissue slice systems, and two OLYMPUS FV10i confocal microscopes. Among them, the FV3000 confocal microscopes are mainly used for multi-color and high resolution fluorescence imaging of fixed specimens (multi-area or large-scale 3D imaging), zebrafish whole brain reconstruction, and live cell imaging; the VS120 high-throughput virtual tissue slice systems are mainly used for wide-field fluorescence imaging and large-scale 2D imaging of fixed brain slice specimens; the FV10i confocal microscope is mainly used for long-term live cell imaging experiments. 

The image process and analysis room of the facility provides a large number of commercial software(AutoQuant, Image Pro Plus 3D, Imaris, Neurolucida, Neurolucida 360, Stereo Investigator, SVI Huygens Essential, Volocity, Voloom, etc.)and free shareware(ImageJ, Fiji, IMOD, NeuroStudio, TeraStitcher, Vaa3d, etc.)for users. Custom image process and analysis methods can also be created according to the needs of users. In 2009, in order to meet the increasing needs of big data analysis among users, the facility has created the ImageJ plug-in Neurite Tracer nn, which can be used for big data clipping, browsing, and neuron tracing (making use of the famous Simple Neurite Tracer and NeuroStudio). 

The Optical Imaging Facility of ION provides a paid service. Users can reserve experiments through the Shared Appliances Management Platform of Chinese Academy of Sciences (http://samp.cas.cn/) (External users need to call 54921811 in advance to consult the experiment ). Investigators are welcome, and for more information, please download the Manual of the Optical Imaging Facility.