What is Cellvizio^®?
Cellvizio^® is a brand-name created by Mauna Kea Technologies to describe its in vivo microscopy technology platform.

Can Cellvizio^® be used in clinical studies or on human beings?
Cellvizio^® has different avatars. Cellvizio^®-Lab is meant for research on small animals only. However, Mauna Kea Technologies has developed other products, for clinical applications, which have been approved for clinical use with certain indications.

In what way is the Cellvizio^® different from a regular confocal microscope?
Cellvizio^® is quite similar to a regular confocal microscope with one big difference – being the ProFlex, which is our flexible imaging microprobe. By virtue of being long, flexible, and very slender (down to 300 µm), the ProFlex carries the scanning laser into the body of the lab animal and transmits the emitted fluorescence back to the Laser Scanning Unit. Cellvizio® can thus image cells and other microscopic structures deep within the body of the lab animal.

Has there been any scientific publications citing the Cellvizio^®?
Yes, though the Cellvizio^® was introduced for the first time in May 2004, there are already several scientific papers citing ground breaking work done with the Cellvizio^® that have been published. Please refer to our bibliography for a most recently updated list of these publications.

What is the lateral resolution and field of view of a ProFlex?
Depending on the ProFlex, the lateral resolution ranges from 5 microns for an S microprobe to 2.5 microns for an HD microprobe and down to 1.8 microns for our new MiniO. The field of view ranges from 600x500 µm for an S microprobe to 160x120 µm to an HD microprobe.

What happens when I am looking at objects smaller than the ProFlex resolution?
The quality of images of such resolution depends on the type of ProFlex in use. With the HD-series ProFlex, objects smaller than its resolution will appear at the size of its resolution. With the S-series ProFlex, objects smaller than the inter-core distance of the ProFlex flexible imaging microprobe, could blink when moving across the field of view. This occurs because the same object is picked up by different fibers that are adjacent to each other. The object will be seen at the current resolution, but with varying intensities. Quantitative analysis should not be performed on such objects.

What is the axial resolution of a ProFlex (i.e. the thickness of the observed optical slice)?
The thickness of the optical slice obtained with the Cellvizio® depends on the characteristics of the ProFlex in use. An S-series ProFlex has an axial resolution of 15 µm. This means that signals are only acquired from the first 15 µm of the tissue it is in contact with, and the signals originating from layers deeper than 15 µm are removed (optically and electronically). HD-series ProFlex microprobes have a 20 µm axial resolution but their working distance is greater than zero, which means that they focus the light at a given distance inside the tissue. The MiniO has a axial resolution of 5 microns at a working distance of 30 microns.

Can you vary the working distance of an ProFlex HD or MiniO?
A given ProFlex imaging guide has a fixed working distance. Therefore the working distance of an ProFlex HD or MiniO cannot be varied.

Is Cellvizio^® a multi-color/multi-fluorescence imaging system?
Cellvizio^® uses a single excitation wavelength (488 nm or 660 nm) and a broad collection bandwidth in a single detection line for fluorescence imaging. This allows for maximum sensitivity to in vivo fluorescence of the most common fluorophores by collecting their complete emission spectra instead of a narrow band. Cellvizio^® can therefore detect simultaneously two or more fluorophores but they will not be spectrally separated.