Unique computer-controlled laser position

The Saturn Active™ laser system eliminates the need to move the embryo. With computer-controlled accuracy, this system allows the user to simply select the area of zona to be removed and fire.

The unique moveable Saturn Active™ laser has many advantages for laser-assisted procedures. For Blastocyst Biopsy the Saturn Active™ is unparalleled in its ease of use. Being able to make multiple ablations across the Trophectoderm without needing to move the Blastocyst gives superb accuracy, safety and incredible speed.

For Blastomere Biopsy, you are also able to leave the embryo in the centre of the field of view and select the area of zona to be removed without manipulation. This ensures the embryo does not rotate and the perfect amount of zona can be removed with great ease.

For Assisted Hatching no micropipettes are required at all. By controlling the position of the laser, accurate AH ablations can be made to any area of zona in the field of view.

Perfect focus

Just as the image of the embryo is in focus across the field of view, so Saturn Active delivers an accurately focussed laser beam anywhere it moves.

This incredible achievement is beyond the capabilities of competitor LAH systems and is testament to the tens of man years spent in product development. The video above is evidence of the this remarkable ability.

Watch the laser beam focus down to a sharp, even and round spot. Then watch as the beam moves to another position and is still sharp, even and round with no evidence of astigmatism.

Minimum heat to embryo

The maximised efficiency of the Saturn Active™ laser, coupled with high quality optics, ensures that it uses the lowest pulse times of any laser system to produce the same sized holes, and delivers the least amount of heat energy to the embryo compared to other laser systems.

Pilot laser

Ablation lasers are invisible, so how do you know that the laser is being delivered accurately?

Quite simply, with all other laser systems you don’t. The Saturn™ laser is the only system to allow the user to visualise the ablation laser. Using fibre-optic technology, the pilot laser exactly replicates the position and focus quality of the ablation laser. The two lasers cannot be out of alignment with each other.

Moving the microscope’s port selector or changing between objectives can easily result in a slight misalignment of the target.

Checking the beam is an essential part of quality assurance for a laser system, as non-optimised lasers could be delivering part of the invisible, infra-red beam into critical cells. If you cannot see the exact shape and direction of the beam, you cannot guarantee that the laser is perfectly aligned.

RI’s Saturn lasers are the only systems which allow the user to quickly check both beam position and focus quality, and guarantee that the beam is absolutely perfect.

RI Viewer software included

The Saturn Active™ laser system comes complete with the RI Viewer software providing a digital laser target, exclusion zone and digital video recording. It also offers pre-firing hole size indication, image capture, a measurement tool.

Hole size selector

RI Viewer software allows the required hole size to be selected in microns. It also stores multiple pre-set hole sizes for ease and speed of use and automatically adjusts the laser pulse time required to create the desired hole.

Exclusion Zone™

RI Viewer software also provides an Exclusion Zone™ (EZ) based on published medical research, which indicates how close to critical cells the laser can be fired.

Rock solid reliability

RI has developed the Saturn Active™ laser with a unique, stand-alone microcontroller, making the laser incredibly reliable.

  Saturn Active brochure (838.5 KiB, 1,040 hits)

  Saturn Active EU Declaration of Conformity (69.3 KiB, 428 hits)

Q: I have been told that an off-axis laser cannot focus properly. Is this true?

A: This only applies to a simple lens. The Saturn™ objective is a complex compound lens which is corrected for astigmatism, so the laser is focussed correctly everywhere in the range of movement. This is easily demonstrated by looking at the pilot laser diffraction rings as the beam is moved. Any focus error would be obvious. See the video on the Features tab.

Q: Other lasers can adjust the power as well as the pulse length. Isn’t this an advantage?

A: No. Our research shows that the most efficient way to deliver the laser energy is to keep the laser power at a maximum, and only to vary the pulse length to control the hole size. This means the lowest possible heat going to the embryo and lowest possible risk of thermal damage.

Besides which, other laser systems do not allow the user to vary the power in clinical use, only in a non-clinical evaluation mode.

Q: Isn’t a higher power laser dangerous for the embryo or the user?

A: Our lasers are Class 1 ( the safest level) as defined by international laser safety standards so they are safe for users, and no special safety precautions are required.

A low power laser needs a long pulse to make a hole, which means more time for heat to be conducted into the embryo. A high power laser needs a much shorter pulse, and the total heat energy delivered to the embryo is actually lower.

Q: Isn’t the alignment tedious?

A: No. Initial alignment is carried out once on installation, and normally never needs adjusting again. The motor position calibration should be checked each time the system is switched on, but this takes less than a minute.