Announcement of an Exempt Purchase

Zeiss LSM 900 Airyscan Microscope - The Zeiss LSM 900 with Airyscan 2 is a unique, one-of-a-kind confocal microscope that will allow us to visualize individual infecting bacteria at high resolution.

This purchase is exempt from the usual selection processes of the Procurement Code because the procurement expenditure is for performing sponsored research and other sponsored activities under grants and contracts funded by the sponsor or by sources other than State appropriations. (30 ILCS 500 / 1-13(b)(8)) The capability is necessary to support not only my work on two funded NIH grants but also several other NIH grants within the Department. Classic confocal laser scanning microscopes use point illumination to scan the sample sequentially. The Airyscan 2 is a new system featuring an area detector with 32 circularly arranged detection elements, versus the single detection of all other confocal microscopes. Each of the elements of the area detector acts as a small pinhole, contributing to super-resolution information, while the complete detector area collects more light than the standard confocal setting. This produces much greater light efficiency while capturing enhanced structural information. Such technology will enable us to define in 3D with high resolution how a bacterial pathogen gains access to mammalian cells and the structural changes that occur to the fetal and placental tissues as a result of bacterial infection.