| March 7 2012
Live cell imaging is made possible by a confluence of advances in imaging, computing, microscopy, and reagent technologies, connected by a deeper understanding and appreciation for cellular processes. Cell imaging has become one of the
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Optical, or light, microscopy systems are the most familiar. They range from plastic, schoolquality systems providing 10-100x magnification to research-grade instruments costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. All optical microscopes employ glass lenses, visible light illumination, and, in imaging mode, a digital camera to capture reflected or transmitted light. Microscopes operating in the ultraviolet and near- to mid-infrared regions (contiguous with visible wavelengths) work similarly.
UV and visible microscopy “see” electronic transitions inside highly absorbing molecules that contain aromatic rings or highly conjugated carbon-carbon double bonds and carbonyl groups. Ellen V. Miseo, PhD, scientific marketing manager at Analytical Answers (Woburn, MA), explains that, as with their nonmicroscopic counterparts, UV and visible microscopy confirm chemical characteristics but lack granularity. “UV and visible spectra are big lumps that work best when you know what you’re looking for.”
Microscopy encompasses a wide range of techniques. There are dozens of ways to dice and slice this marketplace: visible, ultraviolet, infrared, X-ray, Raman, 2-D, 3-D, electron microscopy, fluorescence, confocal, and probe-based are the most common, each having numerous variants. Instrument and method abbreviations arguably make up the most confusing “alphabet soup” in all of analytical science. According to data from Companies & Markets, microscopes and accessories were a $3.2 billion market in 2011. With expected compound annual growth of five percent, the research firm estimates the 2016 market at $4.1 billion. For microscopes alone the figures are $2.7 billion in 2011 sales and $3.4 billion in 2016.
In contrast to radiation-based optical and electron microscopy, scanning probe microscopy (SPM) employs an atomically fine mechanical probe that scans across a surface and moves along the z-axis under the influence of weak atomic forces on the sample or the tunneling force of electrons emitted from the tip. The two main scanning probe techniques are atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Both have many variants, but all share the common characteristic of creating a 3-D surface map based on topography, electrical modulus, elasticity modulus, contact, strain, density, and many others.
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., April 3, 2013 — Jumping silicon atoms are the stars of an atomic scale ballet featured in a new Nature Communications study from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
While the technology & fundamental operation behind visible light microscopes has not changed much in 200 years, the wider field of microscopy has continued to greatly evolve. The confluence of advances in imaging, computing, microscopy, and reagent technologies mean live cell imaging has become one of the most exciting subcategories of biological microscopy.
Microscopy is evolving toward greater functionality and capabilities. The Auriga FIB SEM platform from Carl Zeiss (Thornwood, NY) has been around for 11 years yet undergoes constant improvement. The system combines two distinct technologies: scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and focused ion beam (FIB). SEM’s capability of providing very high-resolution surface analysis is well known in the life sciences, materials, and semiconductor industries. SEM provides detail significantly beyond the diffraction limit of light microscopy, illuminating structures and events down to about 1nm.
Donated research microscope helps motivate minority students to pursue science careers.
ORION NanoFab
Carl Zeiss
www.zeiss.com/micro
Tilt Holder & AFM Tip Holder
Delong America
www.lv-em.com
Microscopes have been used by scientists for centuries, and are now more widely relied upon than ever.
ORION NanoFab
Carl Zeiss
www.zeiss.com/micro
Tilt Holder & AFM Tip Holder
Delong America
www.lv-em.com
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