A while ago, John Altman inquired as to whether there were any inexpensive fluorescence microscope options to provide a 'scope for checking droplet delays to sit next to the sorter. Some years ago, Mike Makler, in Portland, Oregon, developed a relatively inexpensive system made up of an objective with dichroics and filters built in, to which light was delivered from a quartz halogen lamp via a light pipe. The Makler objective could fit into any microscope, converting it into a fluorescence microscope. I contacted Mike about this after John's posting, and found out that his system was no longer being made. However, I recently discovered that a system which appears to do pretty much the same thing, the FluoreslenS, is available from Portable Medical Laboratories (www.portable-medical-lab.com). It apparently costs less than $2,000. I am working toward development of a similar illuminator using a high brightness blue LED, which would probably be smaller and cheaper and consume less power, but I am not sure if or when it will be commercially available. -Howard
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