Applications: Bioluminescence Microscopy for Live-Cell Imaging

Bioluminescence Microscopy Comes Into Focus

A recent study published in Nature highlights a clever new approach to bioluminescence microscopy—pairing a sensitive quanta image sensor with a telescope-inspired optical setup to capture long-duration, low-light signals from live cells. The results show real promise for imaging tiny structures like extracellular vesicles and low-abundance proteins in real time, without the trade-offs often associated with fluorescence.

We’re excited to see this kind of momentum building around bioluminescence. It’s a technique that opens up new possibilities for watching cells continuously, gently, and without the need for external light. That aligns closely with our own goals at Etaluma.

Meet Lumi: Our New Bioluminescence Microscope

We’ve been working on a dedicated bioluminescence system of our own, and it’s finally here. The Lumi microscope brings real-time, long-term imaging of live cells into reach, with high sensitivity and no phototoxicity. It’s a short-path, inverted microscope designed to fit in your incubator and quietly record what your cells are doing over hours—or days.

Bioluminescence imaging has been on the edge of mainstream use for a while now. With advances like QIS and compact systems like Lumi, we think it’s finally ready to shine.

For more information on these new systems, read the full research paper here.