Echo Laboratories launches the Revolve Microscope

Over 450 years have seen the compound microscope evolve into an incredible instrument. From simple contrast viewing, we’ve moved to super resolution systems capable of sub-diffraction accuracy. But for all this advancement, we’ve been stuck with the architecture of the microscope platform. Over 70% of labs end up buying both inverted and upright microscopes….until today!

I’m happy to introduce the Revolve Hybrid Microscope! A scope that combines both inverted and upright observation into one instrument. I’ve worked in this industry for over a decade, and this is by far the biggest evolution in the idea of a scope I’ve ever seen! I’m so excited to share this with the research community, and I hope you’ll enjoy learning more about it!

The Concept

We all know that uprights and inverts use similar objectives, illuminators, position systems and cameras. Why duplicate all of these expensive components? Can’t we find a way to merge these two systems into one unified instrument? Echo Labs has done just that, with the Revolve.

As you can see above, this a completely new way of approaching what a microscope should be! The revolve is two microscopes in one. It provides a fully capable inverted research instrument, AND a fully capable upright microscope, into one device. So the revolve is 2x the microscope at 1x the price, size and maintenance. While the revolve brings so much more capability, it’s also less, in all the ways less can be good. You’ll note the lack of a tower computer. It’s gone! The integrated iPad drives everything inside the scope. No more rat’s nest of wires on your lab bench. Of course, with the iPad, training isn’t required for new users. Both my boys (6 & 7yrs old) got a chance to use the fluorescent side of the app, and were capturing multichannel fluorescence with a few seconds. Using the touchscreen is simple and an easy extension to the other controls on the scope, so the keyboard and mouse won’t be missed. You may also note a lack of wires. In normal marketing pictures microscope manufactures won’t connect all the boxes, so things “look clean”, but the revolve IS clean. Only 1 power wire is required for operation, and all of the other brightfield, and fluorescent components are placed inside the body of the scope! To see these functions live, Echo Labs has produced a great website which includes demonstration videos, at www.echo-labs.com 

The Revolve Microscope

Let’s get right to the specs. This is a compound, infinity-path microscope. Current glass selection includes the entire line of Olympus objectives, with everything from long working distance phase to high NA oil immersion lenses. Both a high NA and long working distance transmitted light condenser are available to support phase and brightfield. The instrument uses the Apple iPad for control, interface, storage and display of images. The body and chassis are designed to be compact, fitting inside a fume hood or a lab bench with shelving installed. A single power supply runs all internal components, so there is only a single power connection required, and aside from that, no other cables need to be connected.

Brightfield

In brightfield mode the iPad camera is optically coupled to the lightpath, providing sharp, color balanced, auto exposed images. Optical coupling is set to provide the full objective field within the iPad camera FOV, with pinch+zoom available should the user want a traditional square view. On-screen controls are provided for color balance, brightness and contrast.

Due to the unique nature of the upright/inverted combination, both high res close working condensers as well as long working distance phase condensers are available. A high accuracy locking mechanism is used to securely hold the condenser assembly in place, while still allowing for easy removal by a single lever.

Fluorescence

In fluorescent mode the Revolve uses a high sensitivity quantitative monochrome camera, which is wirelessly connected to the iPad display, providing a no-latency view when scanning a fluorescent plate or slide. High power discrete LED’s provide fluorescence excitation. Fluorescent wavelengths are specified by “light cube”, with a cube and filter block set provided for popular fluorescent excitation/emission spectra.

The user interface for fluorescence includes enough control to be useful, but avoids the excessive detail usually found on older imaging programs. You won’t have to worry about parallel shift voltage settings, or pre/post sensor clearing options just to snap an image! On-image display scaling, a simple high/low gain selection, and attenuation control are easily controlled. The physical knob on the right side of the microscope controls the current fluorescent channel in parallel with the app, providing a bidirectional link for the user’s preferred mode of operation.

Mechanical

The body includes a USB hub which can accept common memory sticks, allowing for quick USB transfer of images obtained by the iPad app. The engineers spent an extensive amount of time working on the question of “what do we do with the images on the iPad?”. This is an important question for every microscope, yet it never seems to be completely addressed. How many times have you realized images you captured simply were lost, because someone deleted them from your scope’s hard drive! With the Revolve you can save your images almost anywhere: USB, AirDrop, DropBox, with more cloud options coming soon. Or, just take your iPad….and walk away!

The focus mechanism is duplicated for easy access in either upright or inverted configuration, providing a common coarse/fine knob adjustment. X/Y adjustment is provided by dual knob control placed close to the user’s hand. The stage is locked into the microscope with a secure, but easily removable cam lock and alignment pins. This makes removal of the stage easy for revolving the scope, but keeps the stage securely in place when in use. Check out this video for an example of each of the above functions!

Conclusion

During my time working with the Echo Labs team, I’ve seen the attention to detail put into the user-focused features of this microscope. My previous posts have hopefully allowed a sense of understanding as to why I am so excited to work with this team! This company is a completely new approach to an old industry. The management team consists of veterans in the microscopy industry with a passion for high end imaging. The engineers are an amazing cadre with broad experience in the music, medical, defense, and research industries. Watching this team put the combined skill and experience into this microscope has been simply incredible. I hope you get a chance to experience using this microscope, as you’ll never look at scopes the same way again! Of course, in keeping with the idea of a new-generation company, you don’t need to talk with anyone just to check out pricing, an online and interactive quote configurator is available, which allows you to easily build the revolve for your work.

I believe Echo labs is well on the way to completely changing the microscopy industry. The Revolve is only the first step in bringing easy to use, fair price research instruments into the lab. Welcome to the Revolution.

-Austin Blanco