Microscopy partnership formed

Anne L. Fischer

The Microimaging Applications Group is a new partnership formed by four imaging companies that operate within the scientific and industrial imaging business of Roper Industries. The partners — Photometrics, Gatan Inc., Media Cybernetics Inc. and QImaging — will continue to work independently while also collaborating on microimaging applications. The alliance already has spawned a fifth brand, MAG Biosystems.

The Microimaging Applications Group offers microscopists instrumentation, systems and software for life sciences, materials science and industrial imaging applications, ranging from photodocumentation to lasers and spectroscopy. Together, the companies will address users’ imaging and analytical needs using a variety of optical inputs, including light, transmission electron, x-ray, and scanning electron microscopy.

Based in Tucson, Ariz., Photometrics designs and manufactures quantitative CCD and electron-multiplying CCD cameras for the life sciences. Gatan, based in Pleasanton, Calif., specializes in instrumentation and software that extends the utility of electron microscopes and x-ray microscopy systems. Media Cybernetics, based in Bethesda, Md., develops software that helps capture, analyze, display and manage images. QImaging, based in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, builds FireWire and USB 2.0 cameras for life sciences and industrial imaging applications. Systems for life sciences experiments, such as fluorescence recovery after photobleaching and spectral imaging, will be offered under the MAG Biosystems brand name.