Mightex’s market-leading Polygon DMD pattern illuminator provides precise spatiotemporal control of light with subcellular resolution, making it the perfect illumination tool for life science research.
The Polygon uses digital mirror device (DMD) technology to illuminate multiple regions simultaneously. A DMD is composed of hundreds of thousands of micro-mirrors that can be individually turned on to reflect light onto the sample. Thus, you can control each mirror to control the area(s) of illumination and create any number of different sized patterns. The Polygon DMD pattern illuminator can be mounted into the infinity-path of any microscope.
The Polygon provides great flexibility when it comes down to wavelength selection. From UV to VIS/NIR range, the Polygon can project light of different colours suitable for your light-sensitive constructs.
The Polygon can be used with a wide-range light sources, including LEDs and lasers. The Polygon is also compatible with Mightex’s OASIS Implant for freely-behaving imaging and optogenetics and OASIS Macro for cortex-wide imaging and optogenetics.
The Polygon is designed to be coupled into the infinity space of any microscope model (Leica, Nikon, Olympus, Zeiss) with Mightex’s microscope-specific adapters. The Polygon comes with BNC connectorized TTL trigger input and output for easy synchronization with different lab equipment.
Illumination patterns using the Polygon synchronized with slice electrophysiological recordings (Courtesy of Matthew Tran and Dr. Blake Richards, McGill University).
Below is a select list of Universities that are using the Polygon.
Kauvar et al. used the Mightex Polygon to optogenetically inhibit the activity of multiple cortical regions—at the same time—in awake mice. They designed a calibration system to align the illumination to specific regions of cortex, and could synchronize illumination to different parts of a task the mouse was performing. This calibration system is demonstrated in these images. The Mightex system enabled them to target nearly the entirety of dorsal cortex.
van Haren et al. 2018 illustrated the development of a novel optogenetic system to manipulate microtubule organization. Targeted light stimulation from the Polygon was used to precisely inactivate the microtubule-binding protein End-binding protein 1 (EB1), which is responsible for binding microtubules and recruiting plus-end-tracking proteins (+TIPs) to their positive ends.
Butler et al. 2016 explored intrinsic production of gamma oscillations in CA1 region of the hippocampus. Slice electrophysiology was used to measure hippocampal activity, and ChR2 was expressed to manipulate network activity. Mightex’s Polygon was used to illuminate select layers of the hippocampus expressing ChR2 to measure the oscillatory activity produced.
With over 700 systems installed in research labs all over the world, Mightex’s market-leading Polygon Pattern Illuminator has enabled scientists to conduct cutting-edge research on a wide range of frontiers such as neuroscience optogenetics, cell biology optogenetics, photoactivation & photoconversion, photopatterning, and microfluidics etc.
Is it possible to undo cell death in the brain? And can neural functions that are lost as a result of brain damage be regained? Tang et al (2021) explored this topic in their paper Restoration of Visual Function and Cortical Connectivity After Ischemic Injury Through NeuroD1-Mediated Gene Therapy.
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Comparison of cell specific markers in astrocytes. White arrows represent cells co-expressing mCherry and GFAP. Yellow arrows represent cells co-expressing mCherry and Neun. (Courtesy of Dr. Yu Tang & Prof. Alexander Chubykin, Purdue University).
Relevant Publications Using Polygon:
Optogenetic toolkits have expanded to offer cell biologists unprecedented spatiotemporal molecular and cellular control. From cell migration to gene regulation or developmental processes, cell biologists now have the ability to elicit specific biological responses with an incredible amount of precision in specific cells within organisms or subcellular regions of individual cells using optogenetics.
Select gradient illumination of a cell expressing a novel optogenetic construct using the Polygon (Courtesy of Elliot Dine & Dr. Jared Toettcher, Princeton University).
Relevant Publications Using Polygon:
Johnson HE et al. (2020). Optogenetic Rescue of a Patterning Mutant. Current Biology.
Advances in fluorescent protein technology have made photoactivation techniques broadly available in the cell biology lab. By using these techniques, researchers can fluorescently highlight/label specific protein populations in the cell such that their movement and behavior can be tracked over time. Also, photoactivation methods can be applied at different scales, allowing researchers to track proteins within cells, or alternatively to track cells within tissues.
Relevant Publications Using Polygon:
Many techniques have been developed to manipulate the different properties of the cellular microenviroment. Recently, the advent of light-induced biochemical compounds has allowed scientists to define the biochemical and structural features of cellular matrices by photo micropatterning and photolithography. Scientists can precisely define the spatial distribution of UV light to create unique cellular microenvironments without any use of masks or physical contact with the substrate.
UV Photopatterning (Courtesy of Gayla Berg, University of Colorado).
Relevant Publications Using Polygon:
Optoeletronic tweezers to move specific cells (Courtesy of Dr. Shuailong Zhang, University of Toronto).
Micro-Fluidic devices are made by photo-patterning thin film precursor materials on a substrate to create microscopic channels, chambers, and even flow-controlling mechanisms. Small amounts of fluids containing reactive chemicals or other substances can then flow through the micro-channels and mix in the micro-chambers of the device and react with other substances that may be deposited in the micro-channels.
Confined neural networks in vitro with optical interface can be used to classify spatiotemporal information.
Patterned optogenetic stimulation to cultured ChR-expressing dissociated neurons resulted in suppression of population bursts. Strong correlation between outputs and input patterns that indicates processing of spatial information. Further analysis showed that the cortical network in vitro could classify and store information of spatiotemporal patterns up to 500 msec
By applying distributed optical stimulation patterns in the network, population bursts can be suppressed and simultaneously used to classify spatiotemporal information in the output neurons. These findings outline a paradigm of reservoir computing with living neural network which can be used to study spatiotemporal information in neural networks.
Courtesy Zubayer Ibne Ferdous & Dr. Yvgeny Berdichevsky, LeHigh University, USA
Development of an effective method for suppressing seizures in such a way that activity in stimulated region is not completely shut off during the intervention. This allows stimulated area to participate in information processing and exchange of information with other brain regions, and may be a more gentle method of suppressing seizures than existing protocols.
Selective patterned optogenetic CA3 stimulation with ChR2 resulted reduction of seizure rate is lower and duration while not tetanizing the cells during stimulation and retaining the ability process other inputs during stimulation.
Courtesy Md Joynal Abedin & Dr. Yvgeny Berdichevsky, LeHigh University, USA
Fluorescent signals caused by the release of DNA from three 3-domain hydrogels that have unique embedded DNA within each domain.
Each row depicts the time-lapse for each multi-domain hydrogel, while each column represents the time of each photo. The blue domain activates first, followed by the red and then the green domain.
The digital masks uploaded to the DMD are shown in the left-most panel – each mask (row 1, 2, and 3) is used for the patterning of a hydrogel section with unique DNA molecules embedded within: Mask 1 contains red stage-1 DNA (released first), mask 2 contains blue stage-2 DNA (released second), and mask 3 contains green stage-3 DNA (released third). Scale bar is 200 µm.
Courtesy Misha Rubanov & Dr. Rebecca Schulman, Johns Hopkins University, USA
By projecting different patterns, it is possible to control where molecules are attached, and so obtain monolayers of arbitrary shape. This results in monolayers with partial coverage – by breaking down a grayscale image into a series of different black and white images, researchers can individually control the exposure time at each pixel, and correspondingly tune the density of deposited dye molecules at each position.
The images are: 1) “Girl with a Pearl Earring” by Johannes Vermeer, 2) black-and-white version of “The Scream” by Edvard Munch, 3) “The Cardsharps” by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, and 4) the seal of Marquette University. Each image in the figure has an area of only 0.48 mm^2.
Courtesy Mark Mitmoen & Dr. Ofer Kedem, Marquette University, USA
The Mightex Polygon used to mimic “odors” by optogenetically activating spatio-temporal patterns in the early olfactory system of the mouse. Presentation of even monomolecular odorants already results in complex patterns of neural activity with unique but rigid spatiotemporal properties.
The Mightex Polygon provides full parametric control over both spatial and temporal properties of the optogenetic “odors” by precisely activating light spots over the dorsal olfactory bulb.
Courtesy Pedro Herrero-Vidal, Dr. Dima Rinberg, & Dr. Cristina Savin, New York University, USA
The Mightex’s Polygon1000 model used to form pixelated wrinkles on various surfaces. In addition, the continuous exposure technology of the Mightex Polygon has made it possible to locally expose the surface in conjunction with Nikon’s microscope software.
The optics based on a digital micro mirror technology (Polygon) assembles wrinkle pixels of a notably small dimension over a large area at fast fabrication speed. Furthermore, these pixelated wrinkles can be formed on curved geometries
Courtesy Kitae Kim & Dr. Jun-Hee Na, Chungnam National University, Korea
In vivo optogenetics and electrophysiology used to map connectivity of a major inhibitory population: V1 (En1+) neurons in larval zebrafish. Using the unique illumination patterns available with the Mightex Polygon, a 16×16 grid projected spanning approximately one spinal segment and sequentially activated 0-6 V1 neurons at a time. By translating this grid illumination to different spinal segments rostrally and caudally, connectivity tested from V1 neurons along significant lengths of the spinal cord.
Courtesy Dr. Mohini Sengupta & Dr. Martha Bagnall, WUSTL, USA
Polygon system used to stimulate the peroneal nerve in small segments starting from the distal muscle insertion moving proximally towards the sciatic nerve in a rat expressing Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) in the peroneal nerve after an intramuscular virus injection in the Tibialis Anterior (TA) muscle. Simultaneous recording of muscle response to the optical stimulation in the TA muscle with intramuscular electromyography.
Courtesy Emma Moravec & Dr. Jordan Williams, Marquette University, USA
Patterned optogenetics stimulation of transgenically expressed ChR2 in Purkinje cells combined with electrophysiological recordings to evaluate patterns of connectivity between Purkinje cells and cerebellar nuclei neurons.
The Polygon is used to sequentially stimulate different cerebellar lobules in quick succession to assess the presence of a functional connection. These data are then used to characterize how different kinds of information are integrated within the cerebellum, and how these patterns may be implicated in behavior.
Courtesy Kim Gruver & Dr. Alanna Watt, McGill University, Canada
(a) Illustration of highly targeted optical stimulation of a single ChR2-mCherry expressing neuron in the mouse somatosensory cortex. Using a small (25 μm diameter), low-powered (3 mW) spot of illumination centred on the target cell, action potentials could be induced in current clamp (top trace), without any indication in voltage clamp of post-synaptic currents caused by spiking in other neurons (bottom trace).
(b) Illustration of illumination with a large (125 μm diameter), high-powered (15 mW) spot. Multiple spikes were induced in current clamp, and voltage clamp traces showed evidence of post-synaptic currents caused by spiking in other neurons.
Courtesy Matthew Tran & Dr Blake Richards, University of Toronto, Canada.
(A) Image of an acute brain slice prepared from a Thy1-ChR2-EYFP mouse with ChR2 expression in L5 pyramidal neurons. Whole-cell patch clamp recording from a L2/3 cell.
(B) Light-activated excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) triggered by patterned illumination of a 10×10 grid with 473 nm LED.
(C) Colormap of the activation pattern.
(D) Histogram of automatically measured responses from all cells in a grid. Objective lens is 10X.
Courtesy Qiuyu Wu & Dr Alexander Chubykin, Purdue University, USA.
Light-evoked inhibitory postsynaptic current (IPSC) recorded in a transgenic mice expressing ChR2 in GABAergic neurons. The postsynaptic cell is non-GABAergic (ChR2 negative) and blue light stimulates GABAergic afferents expressing ChR2. Blue bars indicate the time of light illumination. Spot 1 illuminated by Polygon400 evoked reliable IPSCs whereas Spot 2 caused no response.
Courtesy Dr Wataru Inoue, University of Western Ontario, Canada.
This video shows a protein-protein interaction that is inhibited by blue light exposure. One component is coupled to the coverslip through biotin surface chemistry, the other is labeled with mCherry, and binds to the coverslip in the dark. Patterned illumination with the Polygon400 results in revesible dissociation of the mCherry-tagged protein, which rebinds within minutes of turning off blue light exposure. The Wittmann lab is working on developing this into a cell adhesion surface that can be controlled by light.
Courtesy Dr Torsten Wittmann, University California San Francisco, USA.
E18 Sprague-Dawley rat neurons were transduced with CamKII-ChR2-GFP lentivirus. Somatic activity was recorded via whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology. Each field was illuminated by the Polygon400 at 100% power and 20ms exposure time. Intensity of magenta pattern represents depolarization with respect to the instantaneous resting potential prior to stimulation with the Polygon’s 470nm LED. In the image, green represents the magnitude of GFP signal and black represents the fluorescence intensity of AlexaFluor 594 backfilled by the patch pipette.
Courtesy Dr Jacob Robinson, Rice University, USA.
A 50 um film of liquid tetra (ethylen glycol) diacrylate, containg 1 wt% Irgacure 819 photointiator was irradiated through a glass coverslip, using the Polygon400 and a 400nm LED light source to project a pattern onto the film surface. (A) Projection of CU logo image using the 400nm LED and a 4X objective. (B) Brightfield image of the resulting pattern in the film. Photopolymerization causes a large change in refractive index in the resin, allowing immediate visualization of the pattern. Standard development techniques could subsequently be performed by washing the film in solvent to remove the unexposed areas of liquid resin.
Courtesy Gayla Berg, University of Colorado, USA.
NMDA-receptor mediated synaptic currents recorded at a +40mV membrane potential were elicited by light activation of channelrhodopsin-expressing terminals of thalamocortical afferents onto an upper layer cortical GABAergic interneuron. moving the 470nm rectangular illumination to the right or the left of the cell activates inputs of different strength innervating different somatodendritic domains of the cell. In black and red are the individual and the average traces respectively.
Courtesy Dr. Theofanis Karayannis, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Publications by this Customer using Polygon:
A) Light-evoked response of a head-fixed larva expressing channelrhodopsin (right). Photostimulation site was indicated by a blue circle (470nm).
B) A schematic diagram of the Polygon400 patterned illumination in in vivo optogenetic mapping system.
Courtesy Dr. Sachiko Tsuda, Saitama University, Japan.
An example of connectivity mapping that allow to reproduce some results from in Valera et al. (elife, 2016). 100um RuBi glutamate was uncaged at various locations in the granular layer with 20ms pulses (blue bar), exciting notably granule cells. We can then measure the spatial organization of the granule cells to Purkinje cell (PC) connections by recording PCs in whole cell patch clamp. Granule cells triggers both monosynaptic excitatory current onto PCS (left map, measured a -60mW), but also disynaptic inhibitory currents via molecular layer interneurons (right map, measured at 0 mW). Average evoked responses at one location (dotted blue square) are shown at the bottom of the figure. Data storage, measurements, and map representations can be made online, using a homemade software in python.
Courtesy, Dr. Antoine Valera & Dr. Angus Silver, University College London, UK.
A) Patch-clamp recording of the current generated by the channelrhodopsin when activated with the blue LED light from the Polygon400 illuminator as indicated by the blue bar.
B) Activation of an action potential (upper trace) and the corresponding current under voltage-clamp conditions (lower trace). The action potential could be evoked by a 0.5ms stimulation of the blue LED light from the Polygon400 illuminator at 60% intensity.
Courtesy, Dr. Hans van Hooft, University of Amsterdam, Netherland.
The first figure a repetitive stimulation with a larger circular pattern which elicited increasing responses until an action potential is generated. The second figure is increasing the intensity of stimulation from 30% to 100% and keeping the size of the pattern the same. Here we’re driving the cell at 10Hz at 100% and one can see that the stimulation is sufficient to drive doublets of action potentials during each bout of depolorization.
Courtesy, Dr. Geoffrey G. Murphy, University of Michigan, USA.
A) Acute brain slice from a YFP-channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR-2) mouse depicting its expression in cortical L5 pyramidal neurons. B) L5 pyramidal neuron from the somatosensory cortex filled with Alexa 594 to allow visualization of neuronal compartments without stimulating ChR-2. Blue dots indicate on the illuminated areas (Blue LED – 470 nm) along the apical dendrite. Expansion of the marked areas depicting the delicate dendrites that were stimulated. C) Electrophysiological (patch clamp) current recordings from the soma, corresponding to local photostimulation of ChR-2 by blue light. The numbers in the bottom of the trace corresponds to the stimulated dot numbers as indicated in B.
Courtesy, Dr. Yossi Buskila, University of Western Sydney, Australia.
Purkinje cell (PC) firing is monitored, while various light stimulation patterns are delivered to the granular layer (gl) and/or molecular layer (ml) of acute mouse cerebellar slices. The mice cerebellum was injected with AAVs carrying the ChR2 construct. The figure shows the firing frequency increase caused in a PC unit (scale bar 500ms) by optogenetic activation of a granular layer ROI (blue rectangle).
Courtesy, Dr. Lisa Mapelli & Dr. Simona Tritto, University of Pavia, Italy.
Relevant White Papers & Application Notes Using Polygon:
White Paper: Optical Patterned Illumination in Microfluidics
Relevant Publications Using Polygon:
Optogenetic toolkits have expanded to offer cell biologists unprecedented spatiotemporal molecular and cellular control. From cell migration to gene regulation or developmental processes, cell biologists now have the ability to elicit specific biological responses with an incredible amount of precision in specific cells within organisms or subcellular regions of individual cells using optogenetics.
Select gradient illumination of a cell expressing a novel optogenetic construct using the Polygon (Courtesy of Elliot Dine & Dr. Jared Toettcher, Princeton University).
Relevant Publications Using Polygon:
Johnson HE et al. (2020). Optogenetic Rescue of a Patterning Mutant. Current Biology.
Advances in fluorescent protein technology have made photoactivation techniques broadly available in the cell biology lab. By using these techniques, researchers can fluorescently highlight/label specific protein populations in the cell such that their movement and behavior can be tracked over time. Also, photoactivation methods can be applied at different scales, allowing researchers to track proteins within cells, or alternatively to track cells within tissues.
Relevant Publications Using Polygon:
Many techniques have been developed to manipulate the different properties of the cellular microenviroment. Recently, the advent of light-induced biochemical compounds has allowed scientists to define the biochemical and structural features of cellular matrices by photo micropatterning and photolithography. Scientists can precisely define the spatial distribution of UV light to create unique cellular microenvironments without any use of masks or physical contact with the substrate.
UV Photopatterning (Courtesy of Gayla Berg, University of Colorado).
Relevant Publications Using Polygon:
Optoeletronic tweezers to move specific cells (Courtesy of Dr. Shuailong Zhang, University of Toronto).
Micro-Fluidic devices are made by photo-patterning thin film precursor materials on a substrate to create microscopic channels, chambers, and even flow-controlling mechanisms. Small amounts of fluids containing reactive chemicals or other substances can then flow through the micro-channels and mix in the micro-chambers of the device and react with other substances that may be deposited in the micro-channels.
Relevant White Papers & Application Notes Using Polygon:
White Paper: Optical Patterned Illumination in Microfluidics
Mightex offers multiple Polygon models that have been designed with different features to meet the needs of a wide-range of applications that use patterned illumination. Please see below for all available Polygon models.
The Polygon1000-G is a flexible solution for patterned illumination, as this patterned illuminator can be used with any lightsource (350-1000nm) that accepts a 3mm core lightguide. Thus, the Polygon1000-G provides future flexibility for different wavelengths and lightsources, depending on your application.
Key Applications: Neuroscience Optogenetics, Cell Biology Optogenetics, Photoactivation, Photoconversion
* Focus readjustment may be needed when using two wavelengths that are greater than 350nm apart.
The Polygon1000-DL is a flexible solution for a large field of view or high-power patterned illumination applications, as this patterned illuminator can be used with any fiber-coupled lightsource (350-1000nm), such as high-power lasers. This Polygon1000 model has been designed for high-power applications, such as in vivo optogenetics.
Key Applications: In Vivo Optogenetics, Cortex-Wide Optogenetics, Photoactivation
* Focus readjustment may be needed when using two wavelengths that are greater than 350nm apart.
Mightex’s market-leading Polygon DMD pattern illuminator provides precise spatiotemporal control of light with subcellular resolution, making it the perfect illumination tool for life science research.
The Polygon uses digital mirror device (DMD) technology to illuminate multiple regions simultaneously. A DMD is composed of hundreds of thousands of micro-mirrors that can be individually turned on to reflect light onto the sample. Thus, you can control each mirror to control the area(s) of illumination and create any number of different sized patterns. The Polygon DMD pattern illuminator can be mounted into the infinity-path of any microscope.
Select illumination of individual cells expressing ChR2 in slice using the Polygon (Courtesy of Matthew Tran & Dr. Blake Richards, McGill University).
The Polygon enables scientists to precisely control where light will hit their sample. With subcellular resolution, the Polygon can illuminate any cellular feature in any shape or size simultaneously on their sample.
The Polygon provides great flexibility when it comes down to wavelength selection. From UV to VIS/NIR range, the Polygon can project light of different colours suitable for your light-sensitive constructs.
Select gradient illumination of a cell expressing a novel optogenetic construct using the Polygon (Courtesy of Elliot Dine & Dr. Jared Toettcher, Princeton University).
Control the initiation, duration, and intensity of light stimulation patterns using the Polygon. Create different waveforms to control the light intensity and duration outputted from the Polygon.
The Polygon can be used with a wide-range light sources, including LEDs and lasers. The Polygon is also compatible with Mightex’s OASIS Implant for freely-behaving imaging and optogenetics and OASIS Macro for cortex-wide imaging and optogenetics.
UV Photopatterning (Courtesy of Gayla Berg, University of Colorado).
The Polygon is compatible with UV light sources (350nm+) and provides sub-micron illumination for photopatterning and microfabrication experiments.
Illumination patterns using the Polygon synchronized with slice electrophysiological recordings (Courtesy of Matthew Tran and Dr. Blake Richards, McGill University).
The Polygon is designed to be coupled into the infinity space of any microscope model (Leica, Nikon, Olympus, Zeiss) with Mightex’s microscope-specific adapters. The Polygon comes with BNC connectorized TTL trigger input and output for easy synchronization with different lab equipment.
Mightex’s PolyScan software platform is bundled with every Polygon to help you execute sophisticated patterned illumination experiments for your research.