The Lumina enables real-time, non-invasive visualisation and tracking of bioluminescent or fluorescent cells, proteins or gene activity within a living animal. It can also be used to visualise dishes, plates, and tissue samples. The system integrates a highly sensitive charge-coupled device (CCD) cooled camera capable of detecting exceptionally low light levels, with a light-tight imaging chamber and includes a broad range of filter sets that permits imaging of a wide range of fluorophores.