Leica LMD7 Laser Microdissection Microscope

Leica LMD7 uses a high-power laser at 349nm to isolate cells and tissue sections mounted on a special membrane slide or dish.

The cutting region of interest (ROI) is pre-defined in the software and can be in any shape. Under the force of gravity, the isolated specimen falls into a collector of choice, such as a PCR tube, the lid of which is attached directly under the specimen holder and is also aligned with the objective that provides the laser beam for cutting as well as other light sources (transmitted light/fluorescence) for sample illumination.

This microdissection approach handles specimens gently without much heat diffusion.

Equipment booking

Magnification	Numerical Aperture (NA)	Working Distance (mm)	BF, POL / FL/ DIC, PH	Laser Cutting	Cap Inpsection	Specimen Overview
5x	0.12	11.7	+ / + / –	+++	++	++
10x	0.32	11.0	+ / + / +	+++	+	+
20x	0.40	6.9	+ / + / +	+++	+	+
40x	0.60	3.3-1.9	+ / + / +	+++	–	–
63x	0.70	2.6-1.8	+ / + / +	+++	–	–

Light sources:

Brightfield TL: LED (PMax = 15 W) amp housing
Fluorescence Lamp Leica EL6000 (120 W metal halide) with filters for DAPI (358nm), GFP (488nm), Y7 (514nm), CY3 (550nm), and CY5 (649nm).
Laser Diode-Pumped Solid-State (DPSS), 349 nm (ultraviolet, UV), 120 µJ average energy pulse

Condenser:

Condenser head S28, 0.55 NA Motorized 7x condenser disk
Motorized polarizer

Detectors:

K3C color camera
K3M monochrome camera

Appropriate LMT350 inserts, available are:

Multi-collector insert with 4x 0.2mL / 4x 0.5mL PCR tube holders, a single 1.5mL tube holder, and 8/12-well strip tube holders
Large slide adaptor
50 mm petri dish adapter
18-well ibidi slide adaptor
96-well PCR / Live Cell Capturing (LCC) plate collector, also compatible to hold 384-well plates but well inspection is limited.

Sample Mounting

Appropriate slides or membrane-coated petri dish with samples
Glass vs frame
- High UV absorption. Air exists between membrane and glass backbone. Use of glass slides may require fresh samples for optimal performance
- Frame slides are great for old samples. Can be challenging for sample mounting but have higher cutting efficiency
- Usable area
- Regular slide: usable membrane area (glass) 19 x 41mm, and (frame) 16 x 45mm; total size: 26 x 76mm
- Large slide: usable membrane area 39 x 45mm; total size: 52 x 76mm
PEN slides are versatile, all-purpose membrane slides available in both glass and metal frame formats
Choose PEN or PET membrane slides for fixed sample proteomics and metabolomics (free of softeners)
PPS membranes have less autofluorescence, a smoother surface but are less resistant to certain chemical treatments
Use any type of membrane slides for genomics and transcriptomics
Choose DIRECTOR slides to work completely membrane free
Keep samples dry as humidity can affect dissected sample collection through gravity
40X and 63X are not available if samples are in the petri dish

Unique Features

The Leica LMD7 can be used to precisely microdissect single cells and regions directly from stained or target-labelled specimen such as H&E and IF tissue sections, preserving molecular integrity for downstream analyses.

This capability enables high-resolution study of archived clinical samples and complex tissue heterogeneity at the single-cell level.

Limitations

A key limitation of laser microdissection is the requirement for samples to be mounted on specialised membrane-coated slides. These membranes are essential to allow precise laser cutting and clean sample collection but add complexity to sample preparation.

Additionally, not all tissue types or staining protocols are compatible with membrane slides, which can limit flexibility and may affect tissue morphology or molecular preservation.