Expansion microscopy turns the attention to the specimen. It achieves high-resolution images via a chemical rather than optical approach. Preserved specimens are physically enlarged within a swellable hydrogel to allow 3D nano-imaging using conventional microscopes. Tuning the sample may sound tempting, but it comes with some relevant drawbacks. Details >
Knowledge Base
Have you ever wondered how superresolution microscopy works? What’s the difference between STED, STORM, and MINFLUX? What is “resolution” and what is a “PSF”? What is so special about the STEDYCON? Read on to find out.
If you have any suggestions, questions or ideas for our knowledge base, we would be very happy to hear from you.
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How does STED work?
You have heard of STED but don’t have a clear idea how it overcomes the diffraction-limited resolution of confocal microscopes? You maybe even think it to be somewhat complicated? In fact, it isn’t. It’s just physics, smartly applied. Details >
Since the 1990s, confocal microscopes have been a staple in labs visualizing biological or material specimens. The development of STED microscopy prompted the question: how does the established confocal microscope compare to the (now not so) “new kid on the block”? Details >
Structured illumination microscopy offers some advantages over confocal, most notably increased resolution. Comparing it to STED, however, reveals its limitations. Details >
Which microscope has the best resolution?
The elctron microscope achieves the highest magnification and resolution. But does "highest" always equal "best"? Well, that depends on what you want to do with the resolution. Details >
Confocal microscopy offers superior optical sectioning. But what is that exactly? And what about other ways to get rid of the background, such as array-based detectors like the MATRIX? Details >
Today’s research microscopes are increasingly powerful, modular, and combinatorial. There’s a lot of options out there. While the price is unquestionably a deal-breaker for purchase, a more helpful criterion is value. Details >
Deep and clear: where confocal beats out wide-field microscopy
Confocal microscopes were designed to get rid of background signal. How do they work? And when do you know it’s time to use one? The answer is in the pinhole. Details >
Fluorescent labeling strategies have become more and more sophisticated and offer ever-new options to improve microscopic imaging. Among the latest are exchangeable HaloTag ligands that put an end to photobleaching for good. Details >
Every technique that allows to observe cells is more or less invasive and fluorescence microscopy is no exception. Many imaging situations profit from a reduction in light dose as provided by FLEXPOSURE adaptive illumination. Details >
MATRIX STED is the next level of STED microscopy – combining superior resolution with outstanding signal quality and clarity. Details >
Ideal imaging conditions are often compromised by imperfections in the optical path. These can severely compromise a microscope’s performance, unless they are eliminated by RAYSHAPE's deformable mirror. Details >
For STED microscopy, similar sample preparation techniques may be utilized as for conventional microscopy. However, the increase in special resolution requires additional precautions to ensure the structural preservation of the specimen. Details >
Superresolution for biology: when size, time, and context matter
The spatial resolution achievable with today’s light microscopes has unveiled life at the scale of individual molecules. Size is no longer a barrier to seeing biology at the most fundamental level. But life is not static. It emerges from movement and change. How do superresolution technologies hold up to the challenges of documenting dynamic biological mechanisms? Details >
STEDYCON: ease-of-use in a shoebox
A sleek, black-and-orange box transforms your widefield microscope into a confocal and a superresolution STED instrument and your exploration of subcellular structures into a seamless, discovery-rich experience. Carefully designed with masterly engineering, STEDYCON breaks the stereotype of the finicky, hard-to-use scope. It opens new possibilities at the press of a button for any user and almost any location. How does it do it? The secret’s in the box. Details >