Who are the key players of the two photon market? Part I.

The first page of the “two-photon story” was written in 1931 , when Maria Goepper Mayer first described it. The theory was proven and then applied in many areas of science. The next big chapter started in 1990 when two-photon absorption was combined with laser scanning microscopy. The original patent belonged to Winfried Denk and James Strickler from the Watt Wetmore Webb lab at Cornell University. In 2009 this patent expired; subsequently more and more companies entered the field.

The big companies have departments which are dedicated to microscopy and multiphoton microscopy and it is difficult to determine the number of employees in each department or the actual service and sales locations which manage customer requests in multiphoton systems. Following is a list of companies providing solutions for researchers in this field and brief descriptions of their high-end products. Text in quotes is taken directly from each company’s promotional materials.

Leica-Microsystems ( 1,000+ employees )

“Leica Microsystems has seven major plants and product development sites around the world. The company is represented in over 100 countries, has sales and service organizations in 20 countries, and an international network of distribution partners. Its headquarters are located in Wetzlar, Germany”. (map)

Zeiss ( 1,000+ employees )

“ZEISS is active globally in almost 50 countries with around 60 sales and service companies, 30 production sites and 25 development sites. The company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany.” (map)

Nikon ( 1,000+ employees )

Nikon Instruments is represented globally. If there is no sales and service organization locally, there is certainly a local distributor for researchers in a given county or region. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. (map)

Olympus ( 1000+ employees )

Olympus is represented globally. If there is no sales and service organization locally, there is certainly a local distributor for researchers in a given county or region. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. (map)

Bruker ( 1000+ employees ) (Bruker acquired Prairie)

The company is represented in over 90 locations. There are also distributor sites. In this specific multiphoton market Bruker has field engineers in each region to promptly cover any issues. The company is headquartered in the United States of America. Multiphoton manufacturing is located in Madison, WI, United States. (map)

Top product: Ultima ( 2pPlus, In Vitro, Investigator )

The Ultima product line provides high-quality imaging and photostimulation options. Bruker systems have large FOV ( 1+mm and tiling options ) and well developed SLM module optional. Microscopes from Bruker provide the same level of quality year after year.

Thorlabs ( 1000+ employees)

Outside its multiple locations in the United States, the company has offices in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, and the United Kingdom ( with red on the map). It sells approximately 20,000 different products. The company is headquartered in Newton, New Jersey, United States.

Top products: 1) RAMscope 2) Bergamo II 3) Custom built scope for monkey studies

1) Subcellular-Level Resolution over a Ø5 mm Field of View

2) The Bergamo provides optional use of: SLM , Bessel beam volume imaging. Fast wavelength switching (4000 nm/s ) by the Thorlabs Tiberius laser, large working space with fully rotatable microscope.

Sutter ( 100+ employees )

The company is well represented with many distributor partners. ( with blue on the map )The company is headquartered in Novato, California, United States.

Femtonics ( 50+ employees )

The company is well represented in Europe and has a wide distribution network for the rest of the world. (with light blue on the map) The company is headquartered in Budapest, Hungary.

Scientifica ( 50+ employee ) ( owned by Judges Scientific )

At the beginning of 2016 Scientifica opened an office in the United States, its first office outside of the UK. They also have a number of selected local distributors in countries around the world. ( see the map ) The company is headquartered in Uckfield, United Kingdom.

LaVision Biotec ( 50+ employees ) ( owned by Miltenyi Biotec )

“LaVision BioTec is a leading global specialist for advanced lightsheet and multiphoton microscopy solutions for life science applications.” ( with purple on the map ) The company is headquartered in Bielefeld, Germany.

3i (Intelligent Imaging Innovations) ( 40+ employees )

“3i designs and manufactures technologies for living cell, live cell, and intravital fluorescence microscopy including digital holography, spinning disk confocal, multi-photon and lightsheet”. (with black on the map) The company is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, United States.

NeuroLabware (5+ employees )

Neurolabware was started in 2011. It is the success story of Joshua Trachtenberg’s lab. ( see the map)The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States.