TY - JOUR
T1 - TWINKLE
T2 - An open-source two-photon microscope for teaching and research
AU - Schottdorf, Manuel
AU - Rich, Dylan D.
AU - Diamanti, Mika M.
AU - Lin, Albert
AU - Tafazoli, Sina
AU - Nieh, Edward H.
AU - Thiberge, Stephan Y.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Schottdorf et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2025/2
Y1 - 2025/2
N2 - Many laboratories use two-photon microscopy through commercial suppliers, or homemade designs of considerable complexity. The integrated nature of these systems complicates customization, troubleshooting, and training on the principles of two-photon microscopy. Here, we present “Twinkle”: a microscope for Two-photon Imaging in Neuroscience, and Kit for Learning and Education. It is a fully open, high performing and easy-to-set-up microscope that can effectively be used for both education and research. The instrument features a >1 mm field of view, using a modern objective with 3 mm working distance and 2 inch diameter optics combined with GaAsP photomultiplier tubes to maximize the fluorescence signal. We document our experiences using this system as a teaching tool in several two week long workshops, exemplify scientific use cases, and conclude with a broader note on the place of our work in the growing space of open scientific instrumentation.
AB - Many laboratories use two-photon microscopy through commercial suppliers, or homemade designs of considerable complexity. The integrated nature of these systems complicates customization, troubleshooting, and training on the principles of two-photon microscopy. Here, we present “Twinkle”: a microscope for Two-photon Imaging in Neuroscience, and Kit for Learning and Education. It is a fully open, high performing and easy-to-set-up microscope that can effectively be used for both education and research. The instrument features a >1 mm field of view, using a modern objective with 3 mm working distance and 2 inch diameter optics combined with GaAsP photomultiplier tubes to maximize the fluorescence signal. We document our experiences using this system as a teaching tool in several two week long workshops, exemplify scientific use cases, and conclude with a broader note on the place of our work in the growing space of open scientific instrumentation.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0318924
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0318924
M3 - Article
C2 - 39946384
AN - SCOPUS:85217823641
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 20
JO - PloS one
JF - PloS one
IS - 2 February
M1 - e0318924
ER -