The technology advances on the traditional limitations of optical microscopy, by providing an insight into the workings of living samples in real-time, in full colour,and in normal conditions causing minimum impact on the sample, avoiding fixation, staining or dehydration.
The RTM's ability to produce images of living samples in real-time makes it suitable for many applications in the life sciences, including, drug pathogen reactions, drug development cell pathogen interactions and cell signalling.
A spokesman for Richardson Technologies told DrugResearcher.com: "We wanted to open a new window in cancer research in hopes that people could advance the research using this technology."
"There wasn't a microscope on the market that you could use to see inside cells in full colour at video frame rates and combine fluorescence information with the structural and morphological information of the cell."
The microscope reveals intra- and extra-cellular movement, enabling viewing of the ultra structure of life closer to its natural state. Particle resolution below 150 nm and detection below 50 nm allow the observation of organelles and vesicles, which have never been seen moving inside cells.
She added: "There really isn't anything on the market that enables you to see the internal cell structure without stains or dyes at a very high resolution while they are living."
The company were keen to stress the RTM system is an all-analog, all-optical set of techniques, not digitally enhanced microscopy. Digital input is only used for image acquisition and for analysis, and in some cases for repositioning image data.
"The technology is primarily aimed at the medical research community, drug discovery and pharmaceutical company research and development," she added.
The RTM, which consists of a microscope, monitor, video camera, video recorder, computer system and software is currently being shown at the IBC's Drug Discovery Technology conference, taking place August 8 - 13. It is available now with pricing dependent on option selection.