Invitrogen™ iBright™ Imaging Systems
Western blot imaging systems designed around your image capture needs
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Everything you need in a single instrument
General laboratory
The product brings together the main photodocumentation tools needed by any laboratory in a single device: Agarose gel imaging, western blotting by chemiluminescence and fluorescence. Easy to use, intuitive and robust. The purchase of the three devices separately doubles the value of this one machine that brings them all together. The after-sales service is always attentive and any problem is taken care of.
Review Date: 20 Feb 2024 | Thermo Fisher Scientific
Too much money and bad interface. I want flexibility and simplicity.
Gel (protein and DNA)
I think this machine tries to do too much, and that eats into cost and practicality... Personally, the flexibility of having a PC operate the machine is a much better option rather than having an integrated GUI. Sure, you may need a bit more bench real estate for a small PC workstation, but I'd like to highlight a few points on how it's better and how Thermo may be losing sight of what customers need and benefit from. First, configuring an imager to a network or transferring large files via USB is an unnecessary, and possibly tedious step. Relying on a USB stick is likely to be what most occasional users might do and this also increases the chances of cross-contamination with potentially harmful reagents. Secondly, from my personal experience of using the highest-end model (iBright FL1500 Imaging System), I immediately noticed how slow and clunky the interface is. Why charge extra premiums by adding all the extra peripherals to run the imaging and analysis software when it only eats into the cost of the device and the hardware is sluggish? It ultimately makes for a very VERY unpleasant operating experience. Removing the onboard interface would reduce the price by a large fraction and just a small portion of those savings can afford the user a PC that's going to perform better in every way. Emptying the stored data to make room for new data? A tedious extra step. Processing units and digital peripherals need a firmware or software update or repair costing you thousands in tech support from Thermo? A tedious (and costly) extra step. Having to wait for a colleague to not only image their gel but also analyze results on the touchscreen? Tedious and time-consuming extra steps; I don't know why anyone would want to stand in front of a machine and play with parameters (that take literal tens of seconds to load) after imaging when it makes a lot more sense to do it at a desk with a faster, more powerful computer... Why Thermo encourages its equipment users to do this and thinks it's convenient is beyond me, now you've got buffer spots all over the touchscreen! (Who here likes using a touchscreen with gloves on? I DO NOT!) Alternatively, a computer hooked up to the machine which only provides the essential hardware to operate is much easier. Run out of space? No problem, swap out a drive, or the whole computer, but that's highly unlikely because affordable PCs routinely come equipped with terabytes of storage which would likely last a busy lab years(in comparison to the 256 GB of storage onboard). Don't even get me started on the automated drawer... When I have a busy day at the lab, the last thing I want to do is wait for a sluggish interface to decide to initiate the drawer opening function which also takes time to initiate the drawer closing function. I just wish we could have the same hardware functionality without all the silly bells and whistles that 90% of users won't touch or appreciate.
Review Date: 14 Feb 2024 | Thermo Fisher Scientific
Great results and worth the money in time saved.
Analyze metabolic enzymes in skeletal muscle tissue
The machine is very user friendly and produces high quality results quickly. It has saved our lab an immense amount of time during imaging. The iBright's smart exposure gives an optimal image and reduces the amount of time playing with different exposure times. Worth the money!
Review Date: 1 Nov 2021 | Thermo Fisher Scientific
Great workhorse machine with many options and wifi.
Blot and gel imaging
We purchased an iBright about 2 years ago and I have to say it has been a fantastic machine. It is a workhorse for us. The best parts are that it connects to the internet for easy uploading of images and analytical files to the cloud, it has many pre-loaded dyes to select from when imaging, and the support care team has been fantastic. We haven't had any problems with the machine, so we have only used the after-sales care for questions about how to use the machine in different applications.
Review Date: 16 May 2021 | Thermo Fisher Scientific
Excellent results, easy to use.
Imaging and analysis of western blots
iBright Imaging is a good instrument for western blot imaging. We have been using it over the past year. You can do quantification of bands using their inbuilt option and free software on your laptop. I found the images are much sharper with better resolution compared to our previous gel doc. It has much higher camera zoom option.
Review Date: 27 Aug 2020 | Thermo Fisher Scientific
This instrument has a fatal flaw with its HRP-based detection.
Western blot analysis
We obtained iBright FL-1000 in December as a one-stop solution for all our protein and DNA gel-based analysis. Unfortunately, iBright FL-1000 is already decommissioned and waiting to be repaired from less than a month's usage. There are several major issues with this machine: first of all, the drawer opening and closing gets old very quickly. The camera cooling sometimes takes over 5 mins before any imaging can begin. The resolution and camera sensitivity with chemiluminescence-based detection is very poor. Western blot analysis works better for over-expressed proteins, however, for endogenous proteins, iBright is just not adequate. You will have to expose much longer than other imagers and play with gain and contrast to detect any reasonable bands. Strangely, we have obtained better sensitivity using alkaline phosphatase (AP)-based detection method compared with their chemiluminescence-based imaging. We have shared our data with Thermo technical support staff as it is possible that the instrument that was sent to us was defective in some ways; however, due to a terrible after-sale service, that issue has still not been resolved. They are very aggressive at selling products, but just simply horrible at after-sales support. iBright is excellent for DNA work, however, at the price-point, it is a just very expensive DNA gel-doc.
Review Date: 17 Mar 2020 | Thermo Fisher Scientific
Great product
Western blot and gel scanning
A super easy and versatile system, means it is full value for money.
Review Date: 26 Feb 2020 | Thermo Fisher Scientific
Great instrument
Western blot and Northern blot
Very efficient, simple, and great value for money. Plus, excellent customer support.
Review Date: 6 Nov 2019 | Thermo Fisher Scientific
An indispensable instrument in the lab!
Cell imaging
Great product that is fast and easy to use. Very reproducible and accurate too.
Review Date: 18 Apr 2018 | Thermo Fisher Scientific
It is a very effective instrument.
UV imaging of colored electropherogram
It was very effective giving high quality results, and was easy to use. I needed it to have documentation of every stage of my research work.
Review Date: 18 Apr 2018 | Thermo Fisher Scientific
Experience effortless data capture and analysis of gels and western blots with Invitrogen iBright Imaging Systems. Designed with a streamlined, intuitive interface and smooth workflows, iBright Imaging Systems are easy to use for researchers of all experience levels.
Two iBright Imaging Systems models are available: the iBright CL1000 and the iBright FL1000. The iBright CL1000 model is capable of imaging chemiluminescent western blots in addition to stained protein and nucleic acid gels. The iBright FL1000 model features the same imaging modes as the iBright CL1000, yet also offers fluorescent blot imaging capability, in both visible and near-IR channels.
The iBright Imaging Systems offer:
- Push-button optimized exposure—Smart Exposure™ acquisition technology for the rapid determination of optimal exposure times—helps minimize the need to repeat exposures to get the desired signal
- Powerful 9.1 megapixel cooled CCD camera—capture crystal-clear images with robust imaging potential
- Advanced automated features—automatic sample rotation, zoom, focus, and on-board data analysis provide a smooth imaging experience
- 5 channel fluorescent blotting—multiplex with the 5 fluorescent channels of the iBright FL1000; capture up to 4 proteins in a single blot for more meaningful and representative experiments
- Long life green LED-based transilluminator—provides a light source that effectively excites popular DNA dyes, without harmful UV rays
- Cloud connectivity to help increase productivity—export and securely store data in the Thermo Fisher Cloud—access, review, analyze, and share data wherever an internet connection is available using iBright Analysis Software, built on the web-based Thermo Fisher Cloud platform
- Full support—from our highly responsive technical and field support teams, to our comprehensive post-warranty service plans, get the support you need to keep your research running
