Multicolour Led Light For Fluorescence Microscope

[mattthemuppet2]

alright, had to do some rejigging to get this to work reliably and then I found out that it wasn't bright enough

rework plan includes a new fiber optic light guide, as the current one is ancient and probably not very efficient, and a 4up LED board, with 1 white LED, 1 Royal Blue LED (460nm) and 2 blue LEDs (485nm). First job was to make an adapter to use the new light guide.



this is the LED end, with a 60deg included angle to collect as much of the light as possible


this is what it looks like with the light guide screwed in


finished product (almost, have to drill and tap for a set screw). 4 holes on face are for bolts to secure it to the LED heatsink. 2 holes on top are for screws to secure it to the base of the light


next up is reflowing the LEDs onto their base, then drilling/tapping the bolt holes in the heatsink

 

[mattthemuppet2]

got the light all finished up..



..and unfortunately it doesn't excite the GFP protein. Nuts

Spent 1/2h talking to the inventor of the Nightsea adapters, who we bought the filter from, and his opinion is that the fiber optic design is the issue. He reckons that most of the light is entering the optic at too acute an angle and not getting internally refracted, so the intensity isn't high enough to excite the protein.

Got lots of ideas though, so as soon as we get the Nightsea light, I'll tear this one down and start having a play.