Versatile luminescence macroscope with dynamic illumination for photoactive systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces a versatile, easy-to-build luminescence macroscope with dynamic illumination, enabling advanced fluorescence imaging protocols for biological and material systems without requiring specialized expertise.

Contribution

The authors develop and share a flexible, open-source macroscope design that simplifies complex luminescence imaging for diverse applications.

Findings

Supports a wide range of luminescence protocols

Demonstrated on plants, fluorescent proteins, and optoelectronic devices

Accessible to researchers without advanced optics expertise

Abstract

Luminescence imaging is invaluable for studying biological and material systems, particularly when advanced protocols that exploit temporal dynamics are employed. However, implementing such protocols often requires custom instrumentation, either modified commercial systems or fully bespoke setups, which poses a barrier for researchers without expertise in optics, electronics, or software. To address this, we present a versatile macroscopic fluorescence imaging system capable of supporting a wide range of protocols, and provide detailed build instructions along with open-source software to enable replication with minimal prior experience. We demonstrate its broad utility through applications to plants, reversibly photoswitchable fluorescent proteins, and optoelectronic devices.