Conventional microscope frames are optimised for transmission and fluorescence applications and are not sensitive enough to detect bioluminescent cells or luminescence probes. To remedy this, Olympus has developed a completely new optical path including a tube lens with high exit NA and an extremely short distance between objective and detector, which allows highly sensitive imaging of bioluminescent cells.

Due to the great increase in light output of the LV200 compared to a conventional microscope setup, the use of low-resolution photon counting systems or high pixel binning has become obsolete. Depending on the required time resolution, EM-CCD cameras or cooled, slow-scan CCD cameras can be used.

The unique optical design of LV200 still uses standard, high-NA fluorescence objectives. This means that the whole range of magnifications and immersion techniques enabled by fluorescence objectives is available.

Bioluminescence techniques are often used for prolonged live cell analyses, for example gene expression levels are monitored over a time period of one or two weeks. An inbuilt system for temperature control, humidity and gas flow (e.g. CO₂ and O₂ mix) helps to keep the cultured cells or tissue slices in a healthy condition throughout the entire observation.

The unique LV200 light-tight enclosure shields the sample and optics from external light. Thanks to this technology, most applications do not require a darkroom, which increases work efficiency.

For a combined bioluminescence and fluorescence image, motorised filter wheels have been integrated in the LV200. The emission filters can also be used to discriminate between bioluminescence probes with separate emission spectra.