What are the Benefits of Confocal Spinning Disk Microscopy and Andor’s Dragonfly?

Dr Peter March moved to Manchester for his Biochemistry degree at the University of Manchester and after his PhD, become the resident microscopist. At the time, facility management was not a common job. Nevertheless, Peter started as the “Microscopy Facility Manager” at the University of Manchester and 20 years later is still running the facility and teaching high-end microscopy to researchers.  

In this short interview, Dr Peter March presents an expert view about confocal spinning disk systems and Andor’s Dragonfly during a relaxed and informal conversation.

Take 15 minutes to listen to Dr Peter March’s expert opinion in microscopy. 

Questions include:

• Why use commercial imaging systems?
• What are the advantages of a confocal spinning disk?
• What are the key features of the Dragonfly Multimodal Confocal system?
• What is your opinion on Andor’s Super-resolution SRRF-stream option and Dragonfly’s Fusion software?
• How is Andor’s technical Support? 

Here are some key quotes from our interview:

“The Andor Spinning disk is an ideal facility Multi-User piece of equipment.”

“What´s really cool (about Andor Dragonfly) is the fact that we can acquire 2 colours simultaneously to get even faster speeds.  For fast dynamic events, you do not have the problem that you are doing it sequentially anymore; you just do it simultaneously. “

Dr Peter concluded with some thoughts about what a Facility manager looks for in a system and why the Andor Dragonfly is an excellent system for a core facility.

“You have to have a system that is working more than 90% of the time… And yeah- the Dragonfly has been pretty good!”

It was an absolute pleasure to have this interview, thank you so much, Dr. Peter March. If you are interested in Peter’s career as a Facility manager – listen to our Podcast “Life of a Microscopy Facility Manager”.