What is the 76316 LED Fiber Optic Illuminator?

The RWD 76316 is a 20 W LED cold-light source built for microscopy and precision benchwork. Rather than lighting the sample directly, it couples its output into a fiber light guide, so the heat and the electronics stay in the housing while only light reaches the specimen — the defining advantage of a fiber-optic illuminator over a lamp mounted at the stage.

The unit accepts a Y-type (bifurcated) guide or a single rigid fiber for directional lighting on a compound microscope or an inspection station, and an annular ring guide for shadow-free, all-round illumination under a stereo microscope. That last configuration is the one most rodent-surgery and micro-dissection labs will care about: even light across the surgical field, no thermal load on the tissue, and a continuous dimmer to set exposure without touching the camera.

Key Features

• 20 W high-power white LED: High luminous efficiency and high illumination from a compact head, with a 5000–6000 K colour temperature and a colour rendering index above 80% for accurate tissue and specimen colour.
• Linear continuous dimming, no stroboscopic effect: Smooth intensity control across the full range — important when the microscope is coupled to a camera, where flicker would otherwise beat against the sensor's frame rate.
• Cold-light delivery: Because the light travels down a fiber guide, no heat is delivered to the sample. Live tissue, cultures, and anaesthetised animals stay at temperature during long procedures.
• Engineered heat dissipation: A fan-and-chassis heat release design pulls waste heat away from the LED quickly, protecting output stability and the rated 20,000-hour LED lifespan.
• Low-noise operation: Overall noise level below 55 dB, keeping the illuminator quiet enough for behavioural and surgical suites.
• Wide voltage input, low voltage output: Accepts 100–240 V AC at 50/60 Hz, so the unit runs safely and stably on Israeli mains without a step-down transformer.
• Compact and portable: Small and light-weight, easy to move between benches or carry between rooms in a shared facility.

Choosing the Right Fiber Guide

The illuminator ships as a main unit with dual optical fibers, and the guide you attach determines what the light does:

• Annular (ring) fiber: Mounts around the objective of a stereo microscope and produces even, shadow-free illumination of the whole field. This is the standard choice for stereotaxic surgery, craniotomy, cannula implantation, and micro-dissection.
• Y-type (bifurcated) fiber: Two independently positioned arms let you place light from two directions — useful for raking illumination that reveals surface topography, or for filling shadows cast by instruments and the stereotaxic frame.
• Single rigid fiber: A focused, directional beam for spot illumination in compound microscopy and industrial electronic testing.

Why a Cold Light Source Matters in the Lab

Halogen illuminators radiate a substantial fraction of their input power as infrared. Over a procedure lasting an hour or more, that energy desiccates exposed tissue, drifts the temperature of a perfusion bath, and shortens the working window for live-cell imaging. Separating the emitter from the specimen with a fiber guide removes the problem entirely, and the LED source removes the second problem too: no bulb to replace mid-experiment, no colour temperature drift as a filament ages.

Where It Fits in an NBT Setup

The 76316 pairs naturally with a stereo zoom microscope and a stereotaxic frame for rodent neurosurgery, and with a warmed surgical platform for procedures where core temperature has to be held. If you already run RWD stereotaxic instruments, this is the illuminator designed to sit alongside them.