By incorporating on-chip multiplication gain, the electron multiplying CCD achieves, in an all solid-state sensor, the single-photon detection sensitivity typical of intensified or electron-bombarded CCDs at much lower cost and without compromising the quantum efficiency and resolution characteristics of the conventional CCD structure.
In the digital image presented above, microtubules were stained using immunofluorescence by treating a fixed and permeabilized culture of MDCK cells with mouse-anti-alpha-tubulin primary antibodies followed by goat anti-mouse antibodies conjugated to Alexa Fluor 488 (pseudocolored green). Nuclei were counterstained with Hoechst 33342 (pseudocolored cyan). Images were recorded in grayscale with a Hamamatsu ORCA-AG camera system coupled to an Olympus BX-51 microscope equipped with bandpass emission fluorescence filter optical blocks provided by Semrock. During the processing stage, individual image channels were pseudocolored with RGB values corresponding to each of the fluorophore emission spectral profiles.