Jul 21 2007
The German Leica Microsystems CMS GmbH and Danish Koheras A/S signed a non-exclusive license agreement on several of Leica's fundamental patent rights relating to the usage of supercontinuum sources in a multitude of applications in January 2006.
The license agreement will entitle Koheras to produce and sell supercontinuum light sources patented by Leica Microsystems. Koheras will supply Leica Microsystems with light sources for use in confocal microscope systems in the future. According to this agreement, Koheras will also be entitled to market this technology for all other applications outside microscopy.
By using a supercontinuum source a system user can tune the wavelength to the optimal absorption and is not limited to the historical laser wavelengths, which were not usually at the absorption peak. Another advantage is that just one supercontinuum source can replace many discrete lasers at the same time.
Supercontinuum technology is useful for illumination and fluorochrome excitation in microscopy, particularly in confocal laser scanning microscopy. The modern laser light source of the high-tech optical manufacturer can for example also be used in flow cytometry, lithography, endoscopy and many imaging applications.
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