IMAGE: Thorlabs' acquisition of Digital Video Camera Company will expand its portfolio of scientific and industrial digital imaging solutions. (Image credit: Thorlabs)
Newton, NJ--Light source (http://www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/oiq/2012/03/thorlabs-adds-ultrafast-laser-line-and-brazilian-office.html), optical fiber, and optics component companyThorlabs acquired Digital Video Camera Company (DVC; Austin, TX). DVC specializes in the design and manufacture of high-performance digital imaging solutions for scientific and industrial applications. Founded by Ash Prabala, the organization’s products have been incorporated into a wide range of physical and life sciences applications.
Over the past several years, Thorlabs has invested heavily in the life sciences market (http://www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/oiq/2011/10/thorlabs-acquires-lumen-dynamics-product-line.html) space with the addition of its Virgina-based imaging systems group, which offers a range of microscopy-based products. The acquisition of DVC further strengthens Thorlabs’ life sciences portfolio through the addition of scientific cameras. Thorlabs’ camera offering will now include interline CCD cameras with optional time delay imaging capability, a novel approach that significantly increases the throughput of whole-slide scanning when compared to conventional methods. The group’s extensive experience with leading OEMs will be leveraged to further expand into the physical and life sciences OEM space while continuing to serve research scientists and other end users through traditional Thorlabs catalog channels.
"We are pleased to expand our life sciences product offering to include scientific cameras," said Alex Cable, founder and CEO of Thorlabs. "Our initial step into the life sciences market began over a decade ago with the development of our Optical Coherence Tomography systems. Since that time, a focused effort by our VA-based team has expanded our imaging systems offering to include confocal and multiphoton imaging systems. The acquisition of DVC is yet another step forward in terms of providing the tools and systems life sciences researchers need."
"We are excited to be a part of the Thorlabs team," said Ash Prabala, founder of DVC and now chief technologist and co-manager of Thorlabs Scientific Imaging. "We will continue to create new products and add value for our world-class OEM customers, while also serving the scientific imaging needs of Thorlabs’ expanding customer base. In addition, we look forward to developing solutions for whole-slide scanning and other challenging applications in collaboration with other groups within Thorlabs."
The DVC group and manufacturing facility will remain in Austin, TX and will operate under the name Thorlabs Scientific Imaging (TSI).
SOURCE: Thorlabs; http://www.thorlabs.com/PressReleases.cfm?ReleaseID=71