Welcome to Insti-Fluor.com.
Insti-Fluor makes microscope test slides pre-loaded with fluorescent probes. This site explains what they probe for and how they work. The slides and site are dedicated to the CST teams in the US.
This company and these test slides came out of a class SR has been teaching at MCRI in Chicago for over 10 years (I recently completed my 30th class!) It started as a general course in fluorescence microscopy, and has evolved into a targeted course for the CST, teaching them how to use fluorescence microscopy to identify microbial agents in field samples.
I started out doing fluorescence using the standard lab-bench method. This involved aqueous probes, wet slide preps, etc. Around 2006 we came up with the first dry test slides, and the company grew from there. As we perfected the dry slide technique we also added new tests; first for Bacillus endospores, Live/Dead, etc., then for testing for the presence of fungi (yeast and filamentous). Recently we developed a test for the presence of “fluidized” endospores. This so far has been the most difficult test to perfect. We’re now on v3.