Scientific instrument provider Bruker Corp. has acquired Luxendo, a privately held spin-off of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) that develops and manufactures proprietary light-sheet fluorescence microscopy instruments. Luxendo's proprietary single plane illumination microscopy (SPIM) technique significantly reduces sampling times over conventional laser scanning confocal microscopes while reducing phototoxicity and damaging side effects on living specimens. This SPIM technology also enables the fastest scan speeds for volumetric imaging of small organisms, cell monolayers and cleared tissue. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. "With its strong IP position and unique SPIM technology, Luxendo has quickly established itself in the light-sheet microscopy market, particularly in Europe," said Mark R. Munch, president of the Bruker NANO Group. "Similar to our recent acquisition in super-resolution microscopy, the new capabilities provide valuable application synergies to our current suite of instruments, and we feel that we can take the business to the next level in both global market reach and next-generation development, which should greatly benefit our life sciences research customers."